The Closing Call
Every deal has a defining moment – the closing call. Hosted by Shane Seelig and Zach Haarer of Kaizen Equity, this podcast takes you inside the stories of entrepreneurs who built and sold their companies. Hear firsthand what it takes to grow a business, navigate the sale process, and reach the finish line of an acquisition. Blending real-world deal insights with personal founder journeys, The Closing Call offers a rare look at the highs, lows, and lessons behind successful exits.
The Closing Call
How Instrumentl Raised $55M to Define Grant Management
Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl, joins The Closing Call to unpack the journey from bootstrapped experimentation to raising a $55M growth round with Summit Partners. Gauri shares how deep customer obsession shaped product-market fit, why Instrumentl waited years before raising capital, and how AI is transforming the full grant-seeking lifecycle—from discovery to post-award management.
Follow Gauri Manglik
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurimanglik/
Instrumentl – https://www.instrumentl.com/
Key Lessons & Insights
• Identifying product-market fit through persistent customer feedback
• Why Instrumentl pivoted from academia to nonprofits
• Turning an “overlooked” niche into a category-defining SaaS platform
• Bootstrapping discipline vs. raising growth equity
• When it makes sense to take on outside capital
• How to run a thoughtful, founder-led fundraising process
• What growth equity partners look for at scale
• Selecting the right investor beyond valuation
• Applying AI and LLMs across an end-to-end workflow
• Using automation to eliminate operational drag post-award
• Building operational rigor without losing customer focus
• Hiring, culture, and scaling with intention after a major round
Timestamps
[00:00] Episode Introduction
[01:43] Gauri’s background and entrepreneurial roots
[03:31] Discovering the opportunity in grants and nonprofits
[04:19] Early product experiments and false starts
[05:45] Customers revealing real pain and willingness to pay
[06:17] Defining the grant-seeking lifecycle platform
[07:22] Introducing AI and LLMs into Instrumentl
[09:15] Building differentiated AI products beyond text generation
[11:39] AI across discovery, apply, and post-award workflows
[13:40] Staying bootstrapped during hypergrowth
[14:56] What Instrumentl looked for in an investment partner
[16:45] Why raising capital also meant supporting the team
[17:58] Operating differently after partnering with Summit
[19:23] Deciding when it was finally time to raise
[20:51] Why Summit Partners stood out
[21:55] What the $55M round means for employees and hiring
[26:35] Advice for founders preparing for a future fundraise
