Diadem Capital is entering the competitive market by making high-growth startup investment easier. It claims your next round will close “5x faster.”
The Buffalo-based fundraising platform, which calls itself a “warm introduction network,” is establishing a company, investor, and financing matching program like SeedInvest with a $600,000 pre-seed investment headed by Launch NY.
Stephanie Rieben and Joe Hammill founded Diadem two years ago after a decade in Wall Street investment banking, capital markets, and trading. After some time apart, they reunited at Hum Capital, a venture debt fundraising platform that paired lenders and startups. 
Rieben and Hammill met startups that required equity but were too early or unable to give up a share of their firm at Hum.
What they made: It created a low-code platform for founders to raise funding. Rieben and Hammill review applications and meet with founders they like. After platform acceptance, entrepreneurs are linked with institutional investors.
Participating firms must be VC-backed and have $1 million in yearly recurring revenue. Everyone, even bootstrapped enterprises with up to $50 million in ARR, will receive loan assistance. According to Rieben, the firm wants to reach $100 million in ARR.
The state of their ties with new contacts might show the founders their growth. To decrease friction and ensure investors follow through on introductions, investors may immediately use the platform but cannot see their deal flow until they meet with Rieben.
“We check in with the founder and investor,” Hammill added. Due to system design, founders never receive meaningful feedback. As middlemen, we’re creating a platform where investors may submit honest, aggregated feedback. When three investors offer a review on the initial call, the founder aggregates that data and individual input.
Hammill defended Diadem’s VC-backed strategy, noting that while the business wants to support all entrepreneurs, it isn’t aiding with pitch decks or pitches.
“We will not turn down someone who is not VC-backed and running an amazing business,” he stated. “Pitching is science and art. We don’t mind, but we prefer VC-backed companies since they know how to pitch and close VCs.
Over 100 lenders and 800 venture capitalists use Diadem. Over 1,500 firms have applied, and 17 have raised over $60 million. Rieben said Diadem had cut equity fundraises from four to six months to two to three months.
Diadem is presently reporting income, although the couple did not disclose its revenue. Since Rieben and Hammill are licensed bankers, they charge a success-based fee, unlike their competitors.
Rieben stated, “We’re very different from competitors that have SaaS models or a pay-to-play model where early-stage founders have to pay $5,000 a month for six months. They often receive few investor introductions or no funding. Fundability is our priority.”
