>> we had a small friends and family round getting the business off the ground. >> rather than going to one or two individuals, we spread it out among probably 20 initial investors. >> it quickly became clear that these entrepreneurs would need a cash infusion to expand the way they wanted. >> it was probably about the 12-month to 16-month mark. it was sort of the nature of the beast. >> before committing to the process, tribble and watson considered these questions to make sure ledbury was ready. >> how much money do we need to raise to prepare ourselves to scale up and grow the business going forward? >> with revenue up about 200% and the addition of a small retail space, they decided to go for it. >> we had the track record of running for about two years. we've proven that the model worked. >> and that's how ledbury series a came to life. the hope was to land $2 million. >> we said let's raise money to