Climate Tech Innovator Achieves 50% Planning Efficiency Increase with Kranz’s Strategic FP&A Solutions 

Overview 

The client is a pre-commercial Series A clean tech startup that builds solutions in the clean energy space addressing climate change at scale. As they approached critical development milestones, they needed to establish robust financial planning capabilities to support their ambitious growth plans.

The opportunity came to Kranz through a recommendation from a board member who knew of our expertise in finance and accounting for pre-commercial and deep tech companies. Kranz was chosen over six similarly sized competitors by establishing genuine trust with the client regarding our ability to deliver results. 

Business Challenge 

As an emerging climate tech innovator with groundbreaking technology, the client faced significant financial planning challenges that impeded their ability to effectively execute strategic growth goals.

Although the company’s small finance team and C-level executive could manage day-to-day accounting needs, they lacked the bandwidth and the specialized finance, operational, and accounting expertise needed to transform data into actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making. As such, they needed a partner who could not only build the financial infrastructure but also provide guidance on early-stage operational modeling and capital expenditure planning for their unique business model.

Additional challenges included:

Lack of FP&A infrastructure. The startup needed to establish FP&A functionality from the ground up but had limited internal finance resources to implement best practices.

Runway visibility concerns. Without proper financial forecasting, the company lacked clear visibility into their cash runway needs, creating uncertainty around future funding requirements.

A complex stakeholder environment. The company had to manage expectations across cross-functional teams, executive leadership, and investors, each requiring different levels of detail.

An uncertain commercialization timeline. With limited historical benchmarks for their innovative technology, the company struggled to budget accurately for their initial deployments.

Capital planning complexity. Changes in capital needs based on potential future partnerships created forecasting challenges that required specialized expertise.

Investor communication needs. The company needed robust financial scenarios and sensitivity analyses to support fundraising efforts and board presentations.

Approach 

Throughout the engagement, Kranz worked directly with a C-level executive to gather and validate assumptions, facilitate monthly financial planning reviews, and deliver tools and documentation to support ongoing financial management.

Our team then implemented a comprehensive approach to address the client’s financial planning challenges, including:

1. Discovery & Strategic Alignment

• Conducted in-depth sessions with the leadership team to map strategic goals and financial workstreams.
• Identified key cost drivers, technical milestones, team growth projections, and hardware scale-up requirements.
• Established a clear understanding of the company’s unique business model and capital-intensive development path.

2. Forecast Model Development

• Built a dynamic financial model connecting headcount, vendor commitments, and pilot timing to operational forecasts.
• Developed integrated cash flow projections to provide visibility into runway and future funding needs.
• Created flexible assumptions that could be easily updated as the company’s technology development progressed.

3. Process Implementation

• Introduced a lightweight but structured budgeting process appropriate for an early-stage company.
• Established a monthly review cadence to ensure ongoing alignment between financial plans and business reality.
• Implemented tools and templates for consistent financial tracking and reporting.

4. Scenario Planning

• Modeled different fundraising paths to support board-level decision making.
• Created sensitivity analyses around key variables impacting cash burn.
• Developed contingency scenarios to address potential delays in commercialization timelines.

5. Reporting Package Design

• Designed a comprehensive monthly board reporting package.
• Created executive dashboards highlighting key performance indicators.
• Developed investor-ready financial materials to support fundraising efforts.

Results 

Kranz’s partnership with the client delivered significant improvements to their financial planning capabilities, including:

• Enhanced strategic decision-making. The comprehensive forecast model enabled leadership to make informed decisions about resource allocation, pilot deployments, and fundraising timing.
• Improved operational efficiency. The centralized planning process reduced manual efforts by 50%, freeing up valuable time for the leadership team to focus on technology development.
• Increased investor confidence. The structured budget and cash flow tools enabled the client to respond to investor requests more quickly and with greater confidence, strengthening relationships with financial partners.
• Better cross-functional alignment. The new financial planning process led to improved communication between technical, operational, and financial stakeholders, creating a shared understanding of financial constraints and opportunities.
• Clear runway visibility. Leadership gained critical visibility into cash runway needs, allowing for more strategic planning around future fundraising requirements.
• Scalable financial foundation. The company now has a financial model and processes that can scale as they grow, providing a strong foundation for future development phases.

Kranz continues to support the client on a fractional basis for FP&A and strategic finance needs, including monthly updates and board material preparation. This ongoing partnership ensures that the financial infrastructure continues to evolve alongside the company’s growth journey.

Services Provided 

• FP&A Implementation
• Process Design
• Forecast Model Buildout
• Strategic Planning
• Board Meeting Support