Molly Gilmartin

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Less favourable term sheets combined with shifting priorities, from growth to stability, means that a number of founders are biding their time before raising a round, he adds. ### Controlling the narrative Another reason founders are increasingly building in stealth is that more are aware of the importance of public perception in securing investor and customer interest. “People are jumping on that trend and there's a good reason for it: it puts you in control of that narrative of what your company is to potential customers and investors,” says Molly Gilmartin, investor at AlbionVC. Energy storage startup Allye waited until June to emerge from stealth after raising a £900k seed round in February. The move was all about generating momentum for its next round. [...] Controlling the public perception of what a startup does is also key to securing those first customers. “When you’re in that iteration period you can be changing your approach on a weekly basis,” says Gilmartin. “You don’t want to go out to the public and say what it is you’re doing because with some of the first customers, you’ll only get one chance to pitch a product to them.” ### More inbound from VCs? The changing ways that VCs source their deals is also making operating in stealth a more attractive option, particularly thedata tools that investors are increasingly turning to in the search for dealflow. [...] Stealth mode is an “untold hack” for getting VC inbound, says one founder who preferred not be name