I've been where you are.

I'm Tom Constant. I help pre-seed founders get investment-ready and raise with confidence, mostly in the UK, and I do it hands-on.

Before consulting, I built BeoBia (aka The Bug Factory), an insect-farming startup. We built a 10,000 sq ft R&D farm in Leicestershire, turned organic waste into insect protein, oils and fertilisers, and took the product to paying customers across the UK, US, EU and Australia. Along the way I won Innovate UK funding, raised from angels, and picked up Barclays Entrepreneur of the Year (2022) and UK Young Innovator of the Year.

I also made the mistakes. Hired wrong. Burned time and money on the wrong priorities. Learned the hard way that the decisions you make when it's messy are the ones that change the outcome.

These days I put that experience to work for other founders. I'm Entrepreneur in Residence at Loughborough University's incubator (LUinc), where I co-run a pre-accelerator for graduate founders, and I've helped raise over £4m across my own company and the startups I've worked with. My work has been featured by Business Insider and Sky.

I work with pre-seed and early-stage founders across a whole range of sectors, in the UK and across Europe and North America. Impact is my specialism, not a requirement.

Common questions

Who do you work with?

Pre-seed and early-stage founders, primarily in the UK, across a whole range of sectors. Impact is my specialism - climate, food systems, health, social impact - but most of my clients aren't impact startups. If you need help raising funds or commercialising, we'll probably get on.

Do you only do fundraising?

No. Fundraising is usually the trigger, but most engagements end up covering operations and commercial strategy too, because investors fund businesses that work, not just decks that look good.

Where are you based?

London. I work with founders across the UK remotely and in person, and internationally over video.

What does an engagement look like?

It starts with a free Funding Clarity Call. If I can help, we agree objectives, scope and timelines before any work starts. If I can't, I'll say so and point you to someone who can.

What's the Startup Playbook?

My free library of UK-specific guides on validating, funding and pitching a startup. Start there if you're not ready to work together yet.

Ready to talk? Book a free Funding Clarity Call.