Driving global expansion and fundraising through cold outreach
Client Snapshot
Goal
The company was operating mainly in Russia. The next goal — expand into MENA, Asia, LatAm, USA and test investor acquisition at the same time
Pain Points
No predictable outbound system.
International meeting volume was limited to fewer than 2 calls per month, primarily driven by occasional inbound interest and personal outreach. The main difficulties:
No idea how to find ICP contacts
Only decision-makers mattered
Long sales cycle
Different target audiences across countries
Expensive and complex hardware product
Each vertical required different messaging
Results
30+ B2B calls per month
10+ investor calls per month
5% email reply rate (vs 1-2% industry avg)
23% LinkedIn reply rate (vs 6-8% industry avg)
Signals of real buying intent:
5 offline meetings
Multiple leads traveled to Dubai to see the machine
A prospect flew all the way from North Africa specifically to evaluate the terminal
What Made Our Approach Work
Multi-vertical testing
Within each hypothesis, we tested 2-3 sub-segments in parallel (e.g., banks vs jewelry chains vs gold traders).
Instead of betting on one audience,
we tested several in parallel.
This quickly showed which verticals had real economic interest
3-channel coverage with WhatsApp
LinkedIn opened doors, email carried the details, and WhatsApp was the final touch to get a clear reply and move deals forward
Viability‑based country selection
We scored countries on practical launch signals: gold demand, regulatory friendliness, existing buyback networks, retail density, and investor activity.
This helped us avoid “interesting but impossible” geographies where launching would be unrealistic
Double down on winners
After the first round, we ran a second rotation focused only on the hypotheses that hit, to reach more of the same audience and convert “almost yes” leads
Dual-funnel outreach
We didn’t separate client outreach and investor outreach. We ran both simultaneously and tested 3 narratives:
client-first
investor-first (market entry and FOMO)
partner-first (distribution and rollout)
In practice, mentioning real operational proof points (“live machines”, “real margin”) consistently improved trust and reply quality, especially in new regions
Messaging evolution. What worked (and what didn’t)
Product uniqueness under-converted
We started with “world’s only gold ATM” positioning.
It generated curiosity but stopped at “interesting technology”.
What worked better: explaining why this solution made sense specifically for that type of company
Segment-specific hooks outperformed generic messaging
One universal message underperformed.
Messaging tailored to each vertical’s KPIs (economics, risk reduction, expansion potential)
performed significantly better
Direct tone beat corporate language
Corporate, pitch-deck style messaging reduced replies.
Short, confident, practical outreach with one clear value point performed best
Scale winners, don’t reinvent constantly
We A/B tested aggressively, locked in top-performing hooks, built a structured 3-step sequence, and launched a second rotation on the best audiences to convert warm but undecided leads
A/B tests covered:
Gold mention in opening🏆 vs Dry introduction
Use of dynamic variables🏆 vs Static text
Slight wording tweaks vs Conceptually different variants🏆
No emojis🏆 vs Emojis
Real example №1:
After the first reply from an investor, the conversation didn’t move instantly to a call.
We stayed in touch for two weeks, exchanging messages several times per week.
We followed up 4 times, shared a demo video of the machine in action.
The investor wasn’t ready to commit immediately, but each follow-up was tightly aligned with his priorities, so the deal stayed warm. Eventually, he scheduled a meeting at the Dubai office to see the terminal in person.
Cold outreach → structured follow-up → demo proof → offline meeting
Real example №2:
Refiners (precious-metals refining plants)
were not our primary ICP. Most conversations with the segment stalled - misalignment with B2C sourcing, long internal approvals.
But one global tier-1 refining group decided to properly explore the model.
After an initial “not a fit” reply, we reframed the positioning. That reopened the dialogue.
The result: a call with the group’s leadership to evaluate potential cooperation. So the right reframing can turn skepticism into strategic interest
Key Takeaways
Running partner and investor outreach in parallel strengthened credibility
FOMO works better in email
Hardware sells when the hook matches the vertical
Geography-first segmentation improves reply rates
Mentioning real operational traction increases trust
Growth framing works for investor conversations