Finance that judges can follow in one pass
This page is the post-pitch deep dive: why pricing is credible, what assumptions are conservative, and how funding maps to milestone outputs. Founder: Xiaoxiao Zhouyi, Founder & Sole Builder, PhD Candidate.
Pilot: £5k / 8 weeks
Subscription: £9k / site / year
Pilot -> Subscription: 35%
Year-1 cash cost baseline: £28k
Year-end target: 8 paid sites
Market sizing logic (bottom-up, not slogan-based)
We target high-output farms first because they have higher budget and stronger governance needs. In England, high/very-high output farms are a minority by count but represent most output, making this segment a realistic first commercial wedge.
Sources: GOV.UK farming evidence · BPCA (700+ member companies).
Why this price is credible
Buyer-behavior fit
- Pilot-first reduces adoption risk and accelerates first decision.
- Annual subscription reflects ongoing optimization and audit needs.
- Price is tied to decision quality and evidence reliability, not feature count.
Service scope that supports renewal
- Versioned site configuration updates as layouts change.
- Scheduled re-optimization + benchmark reruns.
- Audit-ready evidence packs (coordinates + rationale + metadata).
3-year scenario view (conservative, baseline, optimistic)
| Scenario | Y3 pilots | Conversion | Y3 active subscriptions | Y3 subscription revenue | Y3 total revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 15 | 25% | ~4 | ~£36k | ~£111k |
| Baseline | 35 | 35% | ~9 | ~£81k | ~£256k |
| Optimistic | 50 | 45% | ~15 | ~£135k | ~£385k |
How to explain in Q&A: customers × price × conversion × retention. Every parameter is explicit and stress-testable.
Finance baseline + funding path
Year-1 baseline and spend boundary
- Year-1 cash cost base: £28k (cloud + pilot execution + essential ops).
- Boundary: founder build time is in-kind at current stage.
- 18–24 month outcomes: repeatable uplift evidence + recurring contracts.
- Use of funds: pilot evidence, product reliability, conversion assets.
Current funding route
Currently applying CREGS + LINCAM PoC. Official Ceres pages list a PoC range of £5,000–£20,000 with a 7-minute pitch format.
Official pages: LINCAM PoC details · Ceres collaboration page (accessed 24 Feb 2026)