Optimizing the financial processes of a primary health clinic chain

Stride’s story begins as a purely digital healthcare platform. Demand grew quickly, so the founders opened a single flagship clinic— and it flourished. That success attracted a multi‑million‑dollar seed round structured in two parts: an initial infusion to fund expansion from one clinic to eleven and a second tranche available only if five operating milestones were reached within twelve months.

Early signs of strain

While construction on the new clinics progressed, Stride’s finance engine lagged. Month‑end figures arrived weeks late, data from entities in two countries never reconciled, and investor updates raised more questions than they answered. The in‑house finance team could handle day‑to‑day transactions but lacked the expertise to produce reliable management accounts or guide strategic decisions for future fundraising.

Alehar’s initial mandate

The founders initially retained Alehar to:

• Oversee the finance staff and accelerate month‑end reporting;
• Improve the accuracy and timeliness of investor reporting; and
• Analyse performance against the five investor milestones and recommend course corrections.

1. Deep diagnostic

Our first step was immersion. We collected the cap table, financial models, internal reviews, and KPI dashboards; mapped every sales, clinical‑operations, and accounting system; and reconciled financials across entities. Two additional issues surfaced:

• Prices had not increased for eighteen months despite higher input costs.
• Separate country financial reporting masked the total group’s true cash position.

With the founders’ agreement, we added a re-pricing exercise and a full consolidation of the group’s accounts to the priorities.

2. Rebuilding financial foundations

We redesigned the chart of accounts, restructured data feeds from the point‑of‑sale and clinic systems into the accounting platform, and introduced disciplined month‑end procedures. Within one cycle the close moved from five weeks after period‑end to ten business days, delivering a unified view of group, clinic, and product performance.

3. Improving investor confidence

Next, we rewrote the monthly investor package. Each report now opens with headline metrics, then presents the detailed schedules that specific shareholders request, and finishes with a live Q‑and‑A log. Consistent, transparent reporting re‑engaged existing backers and set the stage for new discussions.

4. Reality check on milestones and runway

Combining the financials across entities revealed a cash runway of roughly six months—half the length previously assumed once the cost of opening ten additional clinics was included. The operating forecast also showed Stride was likely to miss two of the five investor milestones.

5. Extending the runway

To buy time, we designed a burn‑reduction plan that protected growth:

• Targeted price increases and smarter discounting;
• Increased clinic‑level marketing to reach full utilisation;
• Direct procurement to remove middlemen and cut cost of goods sold;
• Conversion of session‑paid doctors to full‑time contracts at lower hourly cost; and
• Rapid expansion of a profitable B2B sales channel.

Together, these measures added four months of runway—enough to continue expansion for now.

6. Tranche‑two negotiations and a fresh fundraising process

With solid, up‑to‑date numbers in hand, Stride’s founders returned to their seed investor to see if the second tranche could be unlocked even though a few milestones were still in progress. The investor agreed in principle but priced the money at a lower valuation than the founders felt was achievable for the company. Rather than accept the discount, Stride decided to engage a new set of investors.

Alehar rebuilt the data room to showcase clean, consolidated results and a realistic growth plan, then teamed up with the founders to approach a carefully selected group of investors. We joined every meeting, answered follow‑up questions promptly, and kept information flowing so the management team could stay focused on running clinics.

Talks with several additional funds have progressed to late‑stage diligence at valuations well above the revised proposal, giving Stride a genuine bidding contest. Today, the company closes its books within ten business days and tracks every clinic’s performance on accurate dashboards. Investor reports land on schedule and speak directly to each backer’s priorities, while an extended runway and a clear pricing strategy give management the freedom to execute. Multiple funding options now position Stride to complete its eleven‑clinic rollout and pilot new clinic formats and Alehar remains engaged, running regular review meetings, refining forecasts, and advising on key capital decisions to keep that momentum on course.

Stride’s journey shows how disciplined financial management, thoughtful cost control, investor‑savvy fundraising, and an ongoing advisory partnership can turn a shrinking runway into a springboard for confident growth.