Six steps from term sheet to settled capital

Step 1.01Structure the round

Create the company profile, set the instrument, target, minimum commitment and dates. Then divide the raise into funding milestones — each with a release amount, a target date, evidence requirements and an approval threshold. The builder validates that milestone releases equal the round target to the dollar; a schedule that over- or under-promises cannot open.

Step 2.02Invite investors

Rounds on Raise Rail are private. Invite the organisations you want by email, assign each an allocation, and optionally pre-register their settlement wallet. Invitees see the round, its documents and its milestone schedule — nothing else on the platform.

Step 3.03Secure USDC commitments

When the round opens, invited investors commit USDC. In on-chain mode funds move into a token account controlled by the round's escrow authority — a program-derived address that no person can sign for. Commitments respect the minimum, the allocation and the target, and each one updates the ownership ledger in the same transaction.

Step 4.04Prove milestones, request release

When the work is done, the founder submits a milestone request: a written update plus supporting evidence — documents, dashboards, signed agreements. The request notifies every investor and starts the decision window.

Step 5.05Approve with weighted decisions

Each investor organisation casts one decision per milestone — approve or reject — weighted by its confirmed committed capital. The threshold is configured per milestone (for example 60% of committed capital). Approval settles the vote the moment the threshold is met; rejection settles it the moment approval becomes mathematically impossible.