Gauri Manglik, CEO and co-founder of Instrumentl, joins The Closing Call to unpack the journey from bootstrapped experimentation to raising a $55M growth round with Summit Partners. Gauri shares how deep customer obsession shaped product-market fit, why Instrumentl waited years before raising capital, and how AI is transforming the full grant-seeking lifecycle—from discovery to post-award management.

Follow Gauri Manglik

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurimanglik/

Instrumentl – https://www.instrumentl.com/

Key Lessons & Insights

• Identifying product-market fit through persistent customer feedback

• Why Instrumentl pivoted from academia to nonprofits

• Turning an “overlooked” niche into a category-defining SaaS platform

• Bootstrapping discipline vs. raising growth equity

• When it makes sense to take on outside capital

• How to run a thoughtful, founder-led fundraising process

• What growth equity partners look for at scale

• Selecting the right investor beyond valuation

• Applying AI and LLMs across an end-to-end workflow

• Using automation to eliminate operational drag post-award

• Building operational rigor without losing customer focus

• Hiring, culture, and scaling with intention after a major round

Timestamps

[00:00] Episode Introduction

[01:43] Gauri’s background and entrepreneurial roots

[03:31] Discovering the opportunity in grants and nonprofits

[04:19] Early product experiments and false starts

[05:45] Customers revealing real pain and willingness to pay

[06:17] Defining the grant-seeking lifecycle platform

[07:22] Introducing AI and LLMs into Instrumentl

[09:15] Building differentiated AI products beyond text generation

[11:39] AI across discovery, apply, and post-award workflows

[13:40] Staying bootstrapped during hypergrowth

[14:56] What Instrumentl looked for in an investment partner

[16:45] Why raising capital also meant supporting the team

[17:58] Operating differently after partnering with Summit

[19:23] Deciding when it was finally time to raise

[20:51] Why Summit Partners stood out

[21:55] What the $55M round means for employees and hiring

[26:35] Advice for founders preparing for a future fundraise