KAPEXKapital Exchange Portal

Stage 6 · Handle the financing conversation · Lesson 2 of 2

The questions you will be asked

The questions an investor or a banker will ask, grouped by theme, with what a good answer contains. For each one, the lesson in the track that prepares you for it.

KWritten by the KAPEX team from first meetings, committees and due diligence sessions in the region. The follow-up times given are common practice, not rules. Updated 13 October 2026.

Three kinds of questionYour turn

A question checks a fact, tests your reasoning or watches your reaction

“Where does the amount come from?” You will hear it in one form or another, from a banker as from a fund. The expected answer fits in one sentence and one document.

Before the list, learn to recognise what you are being asked. Take the question you dread most and walk it through the tree.

A question has just been asked.

Question 1

Is the answer in your file, or in a document you hold?

See the whole tree

Is the answer in your file, or in a document you hold?

  • YesIt checks a fact.
  • No

    Does answering need a calculation or a judgement?

    • YesIt tests your reasoning.
    • No

      Does it touch a sensitive point: a nominee, a dispute, another funder, tax in arrears?

      • YesIt watches your reaction.
      • NoAsk for clarification.

One question can be of two kinds: “Who owns the company?” checks a fact and watches your reaction.

The next cards give the questions by theme: ownership, numbers, cash, the money you ask for, risks, impact, exit. For each one, what a good answer contains, and the lesson in the track that prepares it. Read them with your file open.

Ownership

Who owns it: the answer goes down to people, with percentages

These questions come early, and the funder has no choice. Anti-money-laundering rules (the FATF standards, written into each country’s law) require it to identify the real person who owns or controls the company (the beneficial owner, or UBO).

01
“Who owns the company, exactly?”Each natural person, their percentage, and any intermediate company. “Me and two partners” is not enough. Prepared in “Who owns the company: the question that stops everything”.
02
“And the remaining 12%?”The total must come to 100%, and you must know who holds the last percentage. A transfer never registered often surfaces at this question. Same lesson.
03
“Do the filed articles match today’s shareholding?”The date of the latest articles, the date of the last change of shareholders, and proof of filing. Articles that lag behind reality are a common defect. Prepared in “Your articles and your shareholders' agreement: what an analyst looks for”.
04
“Does anyone hold shares on someone else’s behalf?”Yes or no, straight away. If there is a nominee, say so, with the plan to put it right. Found out later, it often stops the file.
05
“How many people work full time on the project?”The exact number, and who does what. A part-time founder can be accepted. A founder who claims to be full time and is not loses the committee’s trust.
  1. The numbers
  2. Cash
  3. The money you ask for
  4. What can go wrong
  5. Impact
  6. Exit
  7. Before, during, after
  8. What you produce

The rest of the lesson

Keep reading with your free account

8 more parts, with the calculations on your own numbers and what to write in your file. The account is free, no commitment.

Keep reading, free account →

The words of this lesson

Each word links to its full definition in the glossary.

Due diligence
The investigation the investor runs on you before signing.
Beneficial owner
The natural person who, at the end of the chain, really owns or controls the company.
Runway
The number of months your company can keep going on the money in the bank, if nothing new comes in.
DSCR
What you earn, divided by what you must repay this year.
Drag-along
When a buyer wants 100% of the company, the partners holding the threshold set in the clause can oblige the others to sell, on the same terms.
Tag-along
When a partner sells its stake, the minority partners can sell theirs alongside it, on the same terms.
Customer concentration
When a large share of your sales depends on one or two customers: if one leaves, the company suffers.
Financial year
Your accounting year: twelve months ending on a fixed date, usually 31 December.
Working capital
The money stuck in your stock and in invoices your customers have not yet paid.
Repayment schedule
The fixed dates and amounts on which you repay the loan, for example monthly, even in difficult months.

All lessons →

From the lesson to your file

Check in two minutes whether your project fits the funders of the region, then create your account to follow the lessons with your own numbers. Free, no commitment.

Check my project's eligibilityCreate my account

You never pay to be seen, ranked or introduced.