Crew Raised Their Seed Round with Confidence Using Parallel

Most founders spend weeks buried in spreadsheets before a fundraise. Crew took a different path. By partnering with Parallel, they used AI-powered financial clarity to raise their seed round faster and with more confidence.

Results at a Glance

• Successfully raised their seed round with strong investor conviction

• Investor-ready forecasting and live, up-to-date models

• Fast scenario planning around capital, runway, and hiring

• A founder who walked into every meeting knowing the numbers cold

Meet Crew

Founded in 2022 by Gentry Davies and a team of experienced fintech operators, Crew is a financial technology company building modern banking tools designed specifically for families.

With features like high-yield checking, joint and child accounts, automated budgeting, “pockets” for organizing funds, allowances for kids, and paycheck splitting, Crew makes family money management simple and transparent. Partnering with Bangor Savings Bank for FDIC-insured services, Crew’s mission is clear: make family finances seamless, empowering, and built with families in mind.

The Challenge

When Gentry prepared to raise Crew’s seed round, he faced the same pressure every early-stage founder does: how to prove to investors that the financial story was not only believable, but repeatable.

The Crew team needed clarity on:

• Runway — how long the capital would last under different scenarios

• Growth levers — where new investment would create traction

• Repeatability — proof that early wins could scale into a durable business

• Team alignment — making sure everyone told the same story to investors
  
  
  

Manual spreadsheets weren’t going to cut it. Crew needed CFO-level rigor, without building a finance team.

Enter Parallel

Parallel stepped in as Crew’s AI-powered fractional CFO, turning numbers into a compelling fundraising narrative.

With Parallel, Crew was able to:

• Build investor-ready models in days, not weeks

• Run live scenarios instantly, from burn rates to hiring plans to revenue pacing

• Walk into meetings prepared, answering investor questions with confidence

• Pair growth with clarity, showing not just where they stood, but where investor dollars would take them
  
  
  

“Parallel helped us show investors not just the vision, but the numbers behind it. We could map out our future and speak with confidence in every meeting.”
— Gentry Davies, Founder of Crew

Taking Action

The Crew team worked with Parallel to:

• Model multiple fundraising scenarios: how much to raise, how long it would last, and what hiring acceleration looked like

• Keep models fresh and investor-ready at all times, avoiding the pitfalls of outdated spreadsheets

• Align the founding team internally, so every co-founder spoke from the same financial story

• Confidently show investors the repeatability of Crew’s model, not just early traction
  
  
  

The Results

With Parallel as their AI fractional CFO, Crew raised their seed round successfully. Investors were impressed by:

• The clarity of the financial model, updated live in every meeting

• The confidence of the founder, who knew the business cold

• The repeatability of the model, reinforced through usage and retention metrics
  
  
  

Parallel didn’t just give Crew a model, it gave them a story backed by numbers that unlocked investor conviction.

Key Takeaways for Founders

• Real-time clarity builds confidence: Investors trust founders who present live, up-to-date models

• Scenario planning matters: Stress-testing burn, hiring, and revenue gives founders optionality

• Team alignment is critical: A unified financial story strengthens external credibility

• AI + CFO insight delivers speed: Fast, accurate models let founders move faster, raise quicker, and own the narrative

Want to run your next round with confidence? Parallel helps founders prepare financials, nail investor conversations, and close faster.