Provide your portfolio companies with reliable engineering support right from the start.
Cortance provides your portfolio companies with ready-to-work senior engineers in days and keeps you informed with regular reports on how execution is actually going.
The Gap Between Funds and Execution
You've managed the challenging aspect - securing funding and finalising the deal. However, after the round closes and funds are received, technical execution can become a black box. Under tight deadlines and investor pressure, founders might overhire, underhire, or waste months on poor engineering decisions that, by the time they appear in a board update, have already harmed the timeline.
What You Gain as a Partner
Partnering with Cortance pays off in two ways - for you and for the companies you've already been backing.
For You
- A new revenue line from every referral, with no extra headcount or operational work on your side.
- Direct technical execution traction across your portfolio, offering insights typically available only through a formal audit.
- On-demand budget and team-structure audits for any portfolio company, benchmarked against stage and burn rate.
- A clear value you can highlight to LPs without growing your team.
For Your Portfolio Companies
- Available Fractional CTOs and middle- to senior-level engineers ready to start within two days of the need.
- Preferential rates on every engineer, for as long as they’re engaged through your fund or program.
- Flexible capacity cooperation model that allows scaling the team up or down based on demand and runway.
- A technical partner who reports progress in a format your board update can actually use.
Typical Roles for Portfolio Companies
From first prototype to scaling engineering leadership, here's what we place most often.
How It Works
- 01
Introduce
You introduce a portfolio company or share your partner link.
- 02
Match
We scope the need and match verified engineers within days.
- 03
Deliver
The team embeds with the founder, delivering against agreed milestones.
- 04
Track & Earn
You get delivery visibility and a share of the engagement value — automatically.
See the full hiring process end to end.
Regular Updates, Not a Black Box
We don't have a live dashboard yet — what you get instead is a structured, recurring report, shared with founder consent: milestone status, team utilization and any blockers, on whatever cadence makes sense for your fund (typically biweekly or monthly).
- Milestone Status
- On Track — 3 of 4 complete
- Team Utilization
- Stable
- Notes
- No blockers reported this cycle
How Partners Earn
| Model | Terms |
|---|---|
| Referral commission | X% of engagement value for the first 12 months, or until the end of cooperation if the project release is earlier* |
| Portfolio company rate | Discounted rate on every engineer, for the life of the relationship* |
| Accelerator cohort deal | Discounted onboarding rate for cohort companies + co-branded perks placement |
| Volume tier | Increased share for funds referring 5+ portfolio companies annually |
| Buy-out transition | Flat transition fee if a portfolio company hires an engineer in-house — scoped per case |
*Illustrative — final terms are set per partnership agreement.
Beyond Placement: Planning, Cost Optimization & Ownership
Placing engineers is the start. Here's what else is included for funds, advisors and the companies you back.
Pre-Project Estimates
A cost and timeline estimate before a portfolio company commits budget — useful for board approval or scoping a follow-on tranche.
Budget & Team Structure Audits
We review existing engineering spend and team composition against stage and burn rate, and flag where it’s over- or under-resourced.
Global Cost Optimization
Our engineers are based across multiple economic regions. Where it fits, we propose lower-cost alternatives without lowering the seniority or vetting bar — a direct way to extend runway.
Forward Cost Forecasting
We project engineering costs against a multi-quarter roadmap, so portfolio companies — and you — can plan capital needs ahead of time.
From Augmentation to Ownership
When a portfolio company is ready to build its own core engineering team, we support a buy-out: transitioning our engineers directly onto their payroll as in-house hires who already know the codebase. Full documentation and IP handover included — no knowledge loss, no re-hiring from scratch.
Running an Accelerator or Incubator Program?
Offer your current cohort dedicated engineering capacity as a program perk — priority onboarding, rate locked for the length of your program.
Frequently asked questions
Does this cost our fund or firm anything?
No — there’s no cost to become a partner. You earn from referrals; you never pay for them.
Will founders resent us pushing a vendor on them?
We’re introduced as an option, never a requirement. Founders choose their own engineers; we just make sure a good option exists.
Can we see progress reports without the founder’s consent?
No — sharing reports for a specific company always requires the founder’s opt-in.
Can a portfolio company eventually hire an engineer directly?
Yes — we support a structured buy-out once both sides are ready, including a full knowledge and documentation handover.
Not the right fit?
The terms differ because the relationships do. If one of these describes you better, start there.
Fundraising Partners
Fundraising agencies · Capital advisors
Refer clients the moment their round closes and earn a recurring commission while we handle scoping, team building and solution delivery.
See the referral programGrant Partners
Grant agencies · Government programs · Donor funds
Secure milestone-based professional engineering capacity for your grantees at preferential rates.
See the grant program
Let's build the partnership.
Tell us about your fund, cohort or advisory practice — we'll set up a short call to scope the fit.