How to raise $400,000 in 3 months: PanDev Metrics case study

Madiyar Bakbergenov, CEO and Co-founder of PanDev Metrics

About the Startup and the Founder

I am the CEO and co-founder of PanDev Metrics, a B2B SaaS product that helps fully digitize IT departments. We identify bottlenecks: where the team is struggling, where they are performing well, down to each individual employee. This problem is particularly acute in enterprise companies, where there is a lack of clarity on what each team is doing, which features have been released, and which bug fixes have not been completed.

I met my co-founder, Artur, in May 2025. He approached me as a sales consultant, showed me the product, and proposed that we move forward together. Artur has extensive experience as a CTO: he built the Wlife product, was the first engineer at Kaspi Store, and led a team of 150 people at Yumic in Azerbaijan—where he first felt this pain. We complemented each other significantly: he handled product and technical aspects, while I focused on business, sales, and networking in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

My background includes five years at Chocofamily, followed by a role at Kwaaka with fundraising experience, and then serving as Commercial Director to launch a Muslim startup into the Indonesian market.

Investment Rounds and Key Achievements

We raised $400,000 at a $5 million valuation over three months—from late June to late September.

Our funnel: we gathered about 150 contacts from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia. Of these, 20–30 responded, and 10–15 agreed to full meetings.

In the first week, we onboarded 16 companies for pilots. We now have partners in Singapore, Dubai, and Georgia. In late April, we are opening a new round—there are already commitments from partners. We aim to close the seed round in June–July.

Strategy and Approach to Fundraising

Fundraising is not magic; it is a complete iteration. You must fully immerse yourself in the process. We did not sell; we focused entirely on fundraising—presenting, understanding, and improving our pitch. This was a full-time job.

I was full-time on fundraising, while Artur focused on the product. Sometimes I scheduled meetings with partners—he would join, and we would sell together. We realized that you cannot simply prepare for a round; you must simultaneously sell and improve traction.

The first 60 seconds of the pitch are the most critical. You need to explain: who is suffering and why, how you are more unique than others, and prove it with numbers, traction, and growth potential in other markets. When these points are clear, the investor is already on your side.

Investors constantly asked about: leads, weekly meetings, conversion rates at each stage, pilots, average check size, LTV, and customer retention. We showed all the data.

Dara Room was always clear—organized documentation, structured properly, compliant with MFSA and its subsidiaries. We hired a good full-time lawyer for 500,000 tenge per month. This is what helped us quickly secure the first funds.

Our checklist for founders:
— Narrative: problem and solution
— Metrics table: key indicators, how you are better
— Funnels and case studies: before and after
— List of 350 investors tailored to your business
— Data room in order
— Six-month plan: where the money is going and what will change.

Mistakes and Lessons

Our pitch was not selling. We held many meetings, everyone said “interesting,” but there was little movement on our side. We realized we were talking about the product rather than the pain points and the effect we ultimately deliver to partners. We added one clear before-and-after scenario with specific examples: here is what happened when they came in, and here are the metrics that appeared when they left. We moved the time and cost savings to the beginning, removed unnecessary features, and focused on the core product. We thought we were not being bought—actually, they simply did not understand the value we provided.

Regarding metrics: we always told the truth. If things were bad, we said so immediately. However, we had large pilots with serious companies, and we knew we would close them. Each investor understood: traction is not yet large in monetary terms, but in the future, we will show bigger numbers.

Psychologically, we were losing energy during this period. None of us received a salary for these three months. We slept two to three hours a day and started this process over again every day. We held on because the team believed in us—that was our main strength.

There is one hack—borderline, but it works. My acquaintances in the US took their story from six months ago and told it as if it were happening right now: “Today we met with a partner, in three days we are already signing a pilot.” Although in reality, this had already happened in the past. Investors saw the momentum and quickly provided funds. The company is now growing successfully; the last round was $150 million. We did not do this, but the artistic device of manipulating time really works.

Advice for Founders

1. Never lie to investors. Tell only the truth, even if traction is poor. Trust is paramount.
2. Do not give up. Believe in the product to the end. Have the right people and the right team around you.
3. Approach investors with specific goals: entering the market, strengthening the product, hiring key personnel. “I need money for everything” is a weak signal.
4. Speed is important. If you see potential, move quickly.
5. Communicate with founders who have already completed rounds. Reach out on LinkedIn and Instagram—it is easy to connect and get advice. With one handshake, you will find everything you need.