Startup Funding: Rema Alyahya, Vice President - Venture Capital, Merak Capital Rema Alyahya, Vice President - Venture Capital, Merak Capital, on how to raise funds and build long-term investor relationships.

This article is part of Startup Funding - Investor Insights Every Entrepreneur Needs by Entrepreneur Middle East, a series where the MENA region's leading venture capitalists share practical advice to help founders navigate the challenges of building and scaling a startup.

Rema Alyahya, Vice President - Venture Capital, Merak Capital, on how to raise funds and build long-term investor relationships.

What are the top three things founders should absolutely do when preparing to raise their first round?

First thing would be (as cliché as it sounds) to have your 30 second pitch ready in plain language. It needs to be so clear and memorable that I can repeat it to someone outside your industry. And always bring it back to market size and inevitability: why this matters, why now, and why it could be big. Your deck should also reflect that in a clean, basic format: problem, solution, market, traction, forecast, how much you're raising, what you'll use it for, and why your team is the one to back.

Second, I would suggest keeping your cap table simple. Investors want to see a straightforward ownership structure. It's always better to have fewer, more aligned partners on your cap table than a long list of people.

And lastly, I would say to show that you're operating with what's current. Every founder today says "we're using AI" so if you are doing that, then own it and be specific about how you're integrating new tech to be more efficient and capital-smart. Whether you think we're in a bubble or in the middle of a real transformation, have a stance, because investors want founders who are keeping up with what's happening in 2025.

What are you really looking for when evaluating early-stage startups?

Beyond the basics of team, market, and product, I look for a few specific signals that don't always show up in pitch decks.

First is a founder's obsession with the problem, not the solution. I want to see that they understand the customer's world so deeply that the solution seems inevitable. They speak the language of their industry fluently because they've lived the problem themselves. That kind of insight is an unfair advantage, and it's what carries a company through the pivots and challenges that always come.

Second is clarity of thought, especially around the business model. You can have a great product, but if you can't simply explain how it will make money, it's not a business yet. We look for founders who have a clear, logical hypothesis for customer acquisition and can easily walk us through their unit economics.

Finally, I look for early evidence of resourcefulness. Did you convince a major company to run a pilot? Did you build a waitlist of a thousand people with zero marketing budget? Especially in a market like Saudi, seeing a founder's ability to navigate the ecosystem and turn conversations into tangible progress is a powerful signal.

Can you share a personal anecdote—either a pitch that truly impressed you, or one that missed the mark and why?

The most compelling pitch I've heard recently wasn't from a founder. I was at an event a couple of days ago speaking with a founder when his client, who was also there, essentially took over the conversation. The founder just stood by while his client started pitching me, explaining how obsessed he was with the product and why it needed to be funded to keep going. That's the ultimate signal, honestly. When your customer sells for you, right in front of you, it's of course more powerful than any deck you could prepare.

How should founders approach a "no"? What's the best way to build long-term investor relationships even if they don't get a cheque right away?

Honestly, getting a "no" is one of the worst parts of being a founder, and giving one is one of the worst parts of being an investor. It's a moment that has a shared responsibility. The investor owes the founder a clear and honest reason for passing. In return, the founder ideally can hear that feedback without taking it personally. In terms of building long-term relationships, there's no single formula for this. The right approach depends entirely on the culture you're operating in and your ability to be genuine. My best advice is to simply be nice, and be open. If you can build a real, respectful connection, the relationship will take care of itself. And that can open opportunities beyond a check that you may not realize now, like an introduction to a partner, to a customer, or to a potential investor down the line.

What startup sector or trend are you most excited about right now—and why?

What's genuinely exciting to me is the idea that the tools we use every day don't have to be boring. For so long, the apps we used for learning, health, or managing our tasks felt like a burden and I'm fascinated by how ideas from gaming and media are changing that. Rather than just making people more "productive", it's about using the principles of play and community to make achieving personal goals genuinely engaging. Plus, I just love the concept that we can use technology to bring more joy and engagement into the necessary parts of life.

Related: Startup Funding: Noor Sweid, Author and Founder and Managing Partner at Global Ventures