You are heading into a raise
The round is six to twelve months out and the story, the numbers and the data room are in three different states. The work that decides the terms happens now.
Fundraising & M&A Advisory
Most deals are decided long before anyone names a number.
We prepare companies for a raise or a sale, and run the process end to end.
Thirty minutes. We will tell you plainly if a process does not make sense yet.
Owners and founders in the mid-market. Europe, the Gulf and the offshore centres in between.
Who this is for
Three situations we are built for.
You are considering an exit
Someone has approached you, or you have started to think about it yourself. You want to understand what a real process would look like before committing to one.
You are already in a process that has stalled
Conversations are open and nothing is converging. Usually the positioning is wrong, the timeline has slipped away from you, or both.
How we work
Four phases, in order.
The method is the part we can show you. Every mandate runs through the same four phases, and the first one decides most of the outcome.
01
Preparation
Numbers, story and documents in order.
02
Positioning
What the company is, and to whom.
03
Process
Outreach and momentum, on a timeline.
04
Close
Terms, diligence, signing.
Where to start
You do not have to start with a mandate.
Four ways in. Whatever you spend at one step comes off the next, so nothing you spend early is spent twice.
01
Intro call
Fifteen minutes. Whether a process makes sense yet.
Free
02
Readiness Review
Ninety minutes on the deck and the raise, plus a written memo.
€900
03
Preparation Sprint
Four weeks. Deck, model, investor list, rehearsal.
€6,000
04
Full mandate
All four phases, run end to end.
Min. €75,000
A word on discretion
Why there are no client logos on this page.
Every mandate we run carries confidentiality. That means we cannot show you a client list, name a transaction, or publish a case study. When you become a client, the same protection covers you.
What we can show you is the method, the people doing the work, and how we are paid. If you want to speak to someone we have worked with, ask on the call.
A firm that will name its clients to you will name you to the next one.
Who we are
Meet the partners
You will be working with the two of us.
Dafne is two partners. There is no team behind us that you will be handed to after the first meeting.
The monthly note
One note a month on what is actually clearing.
What is getting funded, what is getting bought, and at what kind of terms. Written for owners and founders. No news roundup.
Is now the wrong time to look at this?
Thirty minutes, no materials needed. We will tell you plainly if a process does not make sense yet.
Or write to joey@dafneadvisory.com
How we work
A process, run on a timeline.
Four phases. The durations below are ranges because they are ranges. Phases overlap, and readiness at kickoff moves every number on this page.
Most processes are lost in phase one, months before a term sheet exists.
01
Preparation
Numbers, story and documents put in order before anyone outside sees them. Most processes are lost here, months before a term sheet exists.
- Financial model rebuilt so it survives questioning
- Equity story written and pressure-tested
- Data room built and populated
- The list of things a buyer will find, found first
Typically4–8 weeks
02
Positioning
Deciding what the company is to a buyer or an investor, and which room it belongs in. The mapping follows from the positioning.
- The one-sentence version of the company, agreed
- Buyer and investor mapping, tiered
- Materials written to that positioning
- Approach sequence and timing set
Typically2–3 weeks
03
Process
Outreach, meetings, questions and pressure managed on a timeline, so that momentum belongs to you rather than to the counterparty.
- Outreach run by us, on a schedule you can see
- Meetings prepared and debriefed
- Questions answered once, consistently, from one place
- A weekly status you can forward to your board
Typically8–16 weeks
04
Close
Terms, diligence and signing. The phase where advisors earn their fee, and where an unprepared seller gives back everything gained earlier.
- Term sheets compared on the terms that matter
- Diligence project-managed against a live list
- Counsel briefed and kept to the timeline
- Signing
Typically6–12 weeks
Indicative timeline
Preparation
Weeks 1–8
Positioning
Weeks 6–10
Process
Weeks 10–26
Close
Weeks 24–36
Indicative only. Phases overlap, and every process differs by sector and readiness.
What we need from you
The mandate works when three things are true.
One decision-maker in the room
Someone who can say yes to a term, a timeline and a price. Processes that route every question through a committee lose the counterparty.
The numbers, as they are
Including the bad quarter and the customer who left. We will find it in phase one anyway, and finding it first is the entire value of phase one.
Time in the calendar
Roughly half a day a week from you during preparation, and more during close. A raise or a sale run in the gaps takes twice as long.
Where to start
Four ways in, and each one is credited against the next.
Most companies arrive at the first step and stop there, which is a fine outcome. Whatever you spend at one step comes off the next, so nothing you spend early is spent twice.
01
Intro call
Tell us where the company is and what you are weighing up. We will tell you plainly whether a process makes sense yet, and which of the steps below fits.
15 minutesFree
02
Raise Readiness Review
You present for fifteen minutes. We spend the rest on the deck, the numbers, the valuation question and the investor list. A written memo follows within two working days naming the three things to fix first, in the order to fix them.
- Ninety minutes with both partners
- One partner instead of two: €500
- Credited in full against step 03
Fixed fee€900
03
Preparation Sprint
Four weeks, fixed price, delivered against a list you agree at the start. This is phase one of the full process, bought on its own.
- Deck rebuilt and pressure-tested
- Model reviewed and questions anticipated
- Investor or buyer list built and tiered
- One rehearsal before you go out
- Credited in full against the retainer in step 04
Fixed fee€6,000
04
Full mandate
All four phases, run end to end. A retainer covers the work, and a success fee is paid at close with every retainer already paid subtracted from it. The fee is therefore weighted to the outcome.
- Retainer scales with transaction size and readiness
- Success fee on a descending scale, so the rate falls as the price rises
- Minimum fee €75,000, because a small process takes the same nine months as a large one
- Below roughly €2M we will propose a fixed fee instead, which is usually cheaper for you
- Term, tail period and exit terms agreed in writing before phase one
Retainer plus success feeMinimum €75,000
Prices are net of VAT and quoted in euro. Steps 02 and 03 run in English or German.
Open item
These numbers are a proposal, not an agreed schedule. Steps 02 and 03 need Joey's and Marirena's sign-off before this page is public. The retainer level and the success-fee scale stay unpublished, because a published percentage becomes a ceiling in every negotiation that follows. The €75,000 minimum is published on purpose: it qualifies enquiries before they reach a call and it is what makes "on application" read as discipline rather than evasion. ⚠️ Check it against the live Monaco mandate before this goes public, where the working valuation sits below the level at which this minimum is comfortable.
Scope
What sits outside the mandate.
We advise, prepare and manage the process. Legal drafting belongs with your counsel, audited numbers belong with your accountant, and we work alongside both.
We take one mandate at a time in a given sector, so that the work we do for you is never useful to someone else.
A wreath is given at the finish, never at the start.
Daphne, the Greek word for laurel, is the firm's name and the partner's name.
Is now the wrong time to look at this?
Thirty minutes, no materials needed.
Who we are
You will be working with the two of us.
Dafne is two partners. There is no team behind us that you will be handed to after the first meeting, and no analyst who will actually write your materials.
In this business people buy people. That is why this page exists and why it carries real names.
Portrait to follow.
Joey Hansel
Partner
Open item
Bio to be written by Joey. Three sentences stating what he has actually done, in the first person plural voice used elsewhere on the site. Nothing here should be inventable by an advisor; every claim has to survive a reference call.
Portrait to follow.
Marirena Dafnomili
Partner
Open item
Bio to be written by Marirena. Same three-sentence format, same standard of evidence. Confirm the spelling of the name and the preferred public form before launch.
References
Ask on the call.
Confidentiality means we will not publish names. It does not stop us from introducing you to someone who has worked with us, once we have their permission.
Open item
Confirm one person who would take that call before this page goes live. The promise costs nothing to make and everything to fail.
Is now the wrong time to look at this?
Thirty minutes with both of us.
Contact
Thirty minutes.
Tell us where the company is and what you are weighing up. We will tell you plainly if a process does not make sense yet.
Mandates run across Europe, the Gulf and the offshore financial centres. English and German.
Book directly
Pick a slot in the calendar and skip the back and forth.
Booking link to be connected.
Where we work
Mandates run across Europe, the Gulf and the offshore financial centres. We work in English and German, and we bring in local counsel wherever the transaction sits.
Open item
Booking tool not connected. Cal.com is the recommendation on record: EU hosting, free tier, connects to the dafneadvisory calendar. The button above is inert until the link exists.
Legal
Legal notice
Provider identification under the Estonian Information Society Services Act and Article 5 of the EU e-Commerce Directive.
Open item
The bracketed fields must be replaced with real registry data before publication. Required: the full registered company name, the eight-digit Estonian registry code, the registered address, and the KMKR number if the company is VAT-registered. All of it sits in the Estonian Business Register and should be copied from there rather than from memory.
- Provider
- [Full registered name] OÜ
- Registry code
- [8-digit Estonian registrikood]
- Register
- Estonian Business Register (e-Äriregister), Tartu County Court registration department
- Registered address
- [Street and number]
[Postal code] [City]
Estonia - Board member
- Maria Eirini Dafnomili
- Contact
- Email: joey@dafneadvisory.com
Telephone: [Number] - VAT number
- [KMKR number, if registered]
- Responsible for content
- [Name], address as above
Governing law and jurisdiction
The provider is a company registered in Estonia and this notice is given under Estonian law. Where services are offered into other jurisdictions, mandatory local information duties apply in addition. Under the country-of-origin principle in Article 3 of the EU e-Commerce Directive, a provider established in one member state is in principle subject to the law of that state.
Regulatory status
We provide corporate advisory, preparation and process management. We do not hold ourselves out as authorised to carry on any regulated financial services activity, and nothing on this site is an offer of securities, investment advice, or an invitation to invest.
Online dispute resolution
The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are not obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body and we do not do so.
Liability for content
We are responsible for our own content on these pages under the applicable general laws. We are under no obligation to monitor third-party information transmitted or stored, or to investigate circumstances indicating unlawful activity.
Liability for links
This site contains links to external websites over whose content we have no control. Responsibility for that content rests with the respective provider. Linked pages were checked for unlawful content at the time of linking.
Copyright
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Photography
Photographs by jacob wall, Katie Moum, Dave Meckler and Steffen Lemmerzahl, via Unsplash, used under the Unsplash License.
Legal
Privacy notice
How we handle personal data, under Articles 13 and 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Open item
This is a skeleton, not a finished privacy notice. It must name the services actually in use: host, booking tool, email provider. Each one needs a data processing agreement under Article 28. Have it generated or reviewed by a lawyer before publication.
1. Controller
[Full registered name] OÜ, registry code [code], [address], Estonia. Email: joey@dafneadvisory.com. Full details in the legal notice.
The controller is established in the European Union, so the GDPR applies to this processing under Article 3(1) wherever in the world you are reading this. No data protection officer has been appointed, because the conditions in Article 37 are not met.
2. Hosting and server logs
This site is hosted by [host]. Access data is written to server logs automatically: IP address, date and time, page requested, referrer, browser type and operating system. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f), our legitimate interest in secure and stable operation. A data processing agreement under Article 28 is in place with the host.
3. Enquiries
If you contact us through the form or by email, we process your details to answer the enquiry. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) where the contact is a pre-contractual step, and otherwise Article 6(1)(f). Data is deleted once the enquiry is closed and no retention period requires us to keep it.
4. Booking a call
We use [booking tool] to schedule calls. Name, email address and the chosen slot are processed. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b). A data processing agreement is in place with the provider.
5. The monthly note
Sent through [email provider] on a double opt-in basis: after you subscribe you receive an email asking you to confirm, and we send nothing until you do. We log the subscription and the confirmation in order to evidence consent under Article 7(1). The legal basis is Article 6(1)(a).
You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future, through the unsubscribe link in every email or by writing to us. Unsubscribing is as easy as subscribing.
6. Confidential mandate information
Information you share with us about a company, a transaction or a shareholder is treated as confidential and is not used for any purpose other than the engagement it was shared for. Where a mandate involves personal data of your employees, shareholders or counterparties, we act as a processor on your instructions and a separate agreement governs it.
7. International transfers
We advise clients and counterparties in jurisdictions inside and outside the European Economic Area. Where personal data is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, the transfer is made on Standard Contractual Clauses under Article 46, or, where a specific transaction requires it, under Article 49(1)(b) because the transfer is necessary to perform a contract you have asked us to perform.
We will tell you before transferring your personal data to a counterparty in a third country in connection with a mandate.
8. Cookies and analytics
This site sets no analytics or marketing cookies and embeds no third-party trackers.
9. Your rights
- Access to the data we hold about you (Article 15)
- Rectification of inaccurate data (Article 16)
- Erasure (Article 17)
- Restriction of processing (Article 18)
- Data portability (Article 20)
- Objection to processing based on legitimate interests (Article 21)
- Withdrawal of consent with effect for the future (Article 7(3))
10. Complaints
You have the right to complain to a supervisory authority under Article 77. For a controller established in Estonia this is the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon). You may also complain to the authority where you live or work.
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12. Last updated
[Date].