I’m Milo, CEO at Rollr. I finished university with a degree in social innovation and marketing, and did an accelerator in my final year. After graduating, I traveled and spent time in New Zealand, where I got into meditation and realized our deep connection with nature.

Reflecting on my accelerator experience, I questioned why we start our days using chemicals and plastic — this led to creating Rollr. 

Rollr is the world's most advanced natural deodorant. It’s about looking, feeling, and smelling good — while being environmentally conscious.

I started Rollr during the lockdown after spending all my money traveling. With nothing else to do, I created an MVP in my kitchen using an off-the-shelf bottle

During the lockdown boom for DTC businesses, the market valued my idea at around £1M.

I had two options: take £200k from private angels or partner with professional co-founders who offered £80k in cash plus invaluable services — I chose the latter.

These co-founders are C-suite executives from major companies, and they provided access to top-tier resources like Mother Design.

About 14 months ago, I began raising funds again. We started by raising £100k of our £400k goal at a £1.9M pre-money valuation. 

Last year was tough for fundraising — especially for pre-revenue businesses.

Despite these challenges, we managed to secure commitments that should help us overfund our round to closer to £450k.

The team's track record, the market size, the unique proposition in a proven, growing market, the IP (2 patents pending) and brand.

We used the present value of future cash with a big discount rate. 

This is hard to do as future cash projections are estimates built around assumptions.

Our focus has been on R&D, securing patents, and creating tooling — all while developing a strong brand to transform the perception of deodorant from cheap and boring to premium and exciting.

I haven’t mastered this outreach. The best advice I could give anyone is to be really granular. Don't do it from the hip — be a sniper.

Find 1 person, listen to 3 of the podcasts they've done, and reach out with something that shows you really did your research — make them feel special.

I got a bit lucky because when I was going through my network, I was doing more of a shoot-from-the-hip approach. I reached out to anyone in finance or related to my industry — and it worked — but I don't think that's the best way to do it.

A mixture of cold outreach and personal networks.

I found people on LinkedIn that I was connected to. I went through all my network — including my old school and university.

When you send a message on LinkedIn, the receiver can only see the first six words — you need a point of reference to get them to open it. Mention something relatable, then ask for advice instead of money. 

People are more open to giving advice — it flattens the relationship. Tell them you're looking to start raising soon and want to get investment ready. 

Show them your respect for their experience and ask for feedback on how to improve. If you take their advice and show them you did, it shows you're serious.

I also met tons of people at events and using platforms like Lunch Club.

With Lunch Club there's no power dynamic. Both of us want to help each other if we can — we're both signed up to chat with random strangers at 2pm on a Tuesday.

We almost had a guy come in with $100k but he ghosted us. Another guy we're talking to now was an intro of an intro through Lunch Club. 

Our deck is good, but some of the biggest leaps came from random Lunch Club meetings. Luck is helpful, but hard work makes you luckier. Speak to everyone — you never know who might help.

Cold outreach rarely gets you anywhere. You really need someone to introduce you. Your time is better spent getting one person you know to introduce you to someone than doing cold outreach.

I must've reached out to thousands of people. A few hundred saw our deck. From that, we got 8 investors this round — with two more committed.

We emphasized that we wanted to be the Tesla of deodorants. It made it easy to describe what our goal was and allows the investor to instantly identify something they can relate the brand to.

We are seeking a better experience to drive sales — part of that experience is the innovation related to sustainability and natural ingredients — but that isn’t the main purchase driver for most customers. 

This strategy makes it easy to offer a unique value proposition in a way that already resonates with your investor.

I’d explain how their investment would make a big difference and create a snowball effect. I'd say something like, "If you give me your money now, it'll allow us to do this." I'd flatter them by acknowledging their value add and how their involvement would attract others.

I’d ask them to take the first step and promised to repay their trust. I always stayed very honest with my investors — openly answering all their questions.

For me, it was about making them feel comfortable and building a genuine connection.

I gave a talk at my old school and wanted to show both the good and bad sides of being an entrepreneur. If I had known how hard it would be, there's no way I would have done it.

I have friends who are founders — it seriously affects your mental health.

If anyone sees this, don't just jump in. The journey is amazing and crazy. You're your own boss — but every founder I know has had issues with mental health. 

A year ago we had a check that was going to change the trajectory of our business. They ended up pulling the check the day before my cousin's wedding — I felt completely numb because these guys were keen and then just disappeared. 

They didn't give a reason other than that they weren't doing any DTC investing anymore — after 3 months of due diligence.

I met a serial entrepreneur who said, "If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, it's mostly determination. If you stay determined, eventually you will succeed." 

It doesn't mean go down with a sinking ship, but keep going if you believe in what you're doing.

One guy introduced me to our current biggest investor. I said to the guy who introduced us, “what’s your address?”

The guy asked why, and I said, “I want to send you a bottle of whiskey to say thank you for introducing us. That guy ended up investing, and I really appreciated your help.”

The guy who introduced me to the investor was impressed that the investor ended up investing and subsequently gave us a small check as well. That 40 quid was the best money I've ever spent.

Not advice for a raise, but more so for general founders. Definitely have a co-founder. Don't do it alone. It's lonely and hard to motivate yourself. Staying determined is challenging. No one understands what you're going through. 

When you choose your co-founder(s), make sure you're not good at the same stuff. It's good to have some overlap for constructive conversations, but you don't need two designers. You want one designer and one business mind to complement each other.

I recommend looking for investors who genuinely fight in your corner.

You want someone who believes in you and will actively help you succeed. They're not just outside the ring betting on you — they're there supporting you.

Anyone you can form a genuine connection with is worth considering. 

Pitch Drive is a cool VC I'd recommend — they were keen on us but couldn't invest for various reasons. 

Don't take VC money unless you have to because the terms can be tough — try to find an angel investor who will support you.

Go to Lunch Club — it's a nice way to break up your day when you're not trying to sell or be sold anything. Use Founder Catalyst, not SeedLegals. SeedLegals is pretty good but expensive. 

Founder Catalyst is a great community. The founder is on WhatsApp all the time, you can ask him questions, and it's much cheaper. Shopify is great for DTC.

Don't spend more than a grand on your first site because you'll change it. Spending $20k on a site is nice, but you don't need to. 

Surround yourself with people who are more experienced than you. If you're better than someone, why do you want their advice? You need advice from people who will teach you.