You Need Investors with Hearth

Bootstrapping, smart money. Crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding. These are just a few funding methods, but María Cebrián, our guest at the second TalkX of this edition of Santander X Explorer, knows them all. In her conversation with Patricia Araque, Executive Director of the programme, she shared the ones that are most relevant for projects like yours (most likely), which are still in very early stages.

María is the founder and CEO of Terraseed and a mentor for women entrepreneurs. Before that, she created an online yoga and meditation platform, Aomm.tv. When Gaia, another streaming platform, was interested in buying this project… she was included in the package! Her profile was very interesting for the international expansion that the new owners of the company wanted, so they signed her up and, somehow, she continued to be in charge of a startup that had gone ahead when our protagonist applied to a project incubator and was chosen.

This meant she didn’t have to rely on her own resources (the well-known bootstrapping); instead, she received what’s known as ‘smart money’ — not actual cash, but access to tools and resources that allowed her to build her company. That’s how she met an SEO expert who helped optimise her website, and other professionals who filled in her knowledge gaps. “I learned a lot, very quickly,” she says.

“Money has no feelings” When she founded Terraseed (vegan nutritional supplements), María knew she didn’t want to follow the same formula again. She had realised that “investors’ interests didn’t align with mine. One of them told me, ‘money has no feelings’. But growth isn’t just about revenue; it’s a learning journey. So I thought, ‘there must be another way to do this’.”

\

“We’re very focused on sustainability, so we wanted a different type of investor — someone with ‘patient capital‘. That’s when I discovered equity crowdfunding: a more collaborative, democratic funding model. The people who contribute — these micro-investors — become your supporters. They’re ‘heartfelt investors’. They’re not chasing a return; they invest in your project because it moves them,” she explains. Can you imagine having that kind of support?

María Cebrián’s advice: “When choosing a platform for your campaign, make sure you look into reviews on how founders are treated there.”

How to Prepare Your Campaign “Campaigns are called that for a reason — they are marketing campaigns. And you need to prepare for them as such,” advises María. But how?

“The most important part of your strategy is the start of the campaign: it has to be very strong. For that you need a lot of preparation,” she explains. For example, when she launched Terraseed, what she did was:

• Mapped out Friends, Fools and Family, along with her customer base (“which, in my case, was already established,” she notes).
• Research; you may find niches that are interesting to contact or to make your project known to (‘that’s how I discovered that there were vegan investors’ clubs’, says María).
• Make a good campaign video. ‘It should be professional, motivational, explain your product well and, at the same time, appeal to the emotions’, says our TalkX guest.

Once the campaign was live, communication was key. The Terraseed founder kept in touch via weekly newsletters sent to a list of people she considered relevant. Later, she began sending these updates to her backers as well: “It’s good to keep people informed about your progress — some investors need to fall in love with you and your project. Knowing how you operate and what you’re achieving can help them decide to invest,” she says with conviction.

What if it doesn’t go well? “No matter what, you’ll end up in a valuable place with your venture — because people will get to know you. It’s a powerful communication and marketing exercise,” María points out.

Fancy launching your own crowdfunding campaign? If you sign up to Santander X Explorer and your project is selected, you’ll receive training and support with this type of funding. No risks involved — you’ve got nothing to lose.