91探花

Gwilym C Pugh, Business Owner, Influencer & Investor

鈥淩each out! Either via an introduction or cold, just do it! Either way, we will answer within a few days if it is of interest.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 not going to pretend differently, it鈥檚 easier to land a first meeting when you鈥檙e introduced by a founder听in our portfolio, or someone we know, but we take meetings from cold outreach too if they are on thesis. If you don鈥檛 have a warm intro, then the next best thing is to send a quick email and explain why you believe you are 鈥渙n thesis鈥� for听Beacon. Fortunately for you,听Beacon鈥檚 thesis is laser-sharp focused.鈥�

鈥淲e invest in enterprise tech at a very specific stage in the life of your company 鈥� post-Seed and pre-Series A. We look for initial market validation and a level of product/tech maturity which is beyond what you typically see at Seed stage. We exist because enterprise tech products require a high level of sophistication to be adopted and founders need more capital to reach Series A level of traction.鈥�

鈥淪ending a good initial email with relevant information is key to help us decide. When looking at dealflow, even at that initial email stage, we always have our internal scorecard in mind. That focuses on our 7Ts: team, target, technology, traction, timing, tenability, terms.鈥�

听

鈥淎s seed investors it is our job to look for what is going to be the next big trend in 7-10 years time, not what is currently happening. This means founders need to demonstrate that their idea is a long-term solution to a problem that can鈥檛 easily be solved by other means. In the current climate that also includes assessing the impact of Covid on their market, and how it might have changed since they had that original idea.鈥�

鈥淚t will also be easier to ensure funding if you look at your business from an investor point of view: what risks they take, what returns they expect and how soon, how much funding the business will need moving forward and what this will mean for you (the business) and for investors. Having this perspective will听make the conversation easier. Remember that investors are practical people and all they care about is success of the company which cannot happen without you 鈥� the founder.鈥�

鈥淚t is also important for investors to see that the founder understands the journey they are about to go on. It will involve long working hours, high levels of stress, and more before they begin to see any real returns on their business. Being able to show to investors that you understand that process, and are willing to take risk on yourself, will go a long way in reassuring them that you are in it for the long haul.鈥�

鈥淔inally, it always pays to share as much as you can. Whether that is early financial information, or conducting several meetings so that the investment team can really get to know you. Treat investors as partners and ensure that there is a level of trust and flexibility to work out the best terms and conditions of the investment. Especially until we get back to being able to have in-person meetings as standard, investors will want that extra reassurance in founders before they part with any money.鈥�

听

Amber Jardine, Hive Manager at TwinklHive

听

听

鈥淥ne of the best ways to get funding to your business is to apply to accelerator hubs. A key way to get your product or service in front of these investors is through a clear pitch deck.鈥�

鈥淭he best pitch decks we receive are clear and relevant to what we offer. They should showcase scalability, a defensible business model and a real-world problem that your product or service solves.鈥�

鈥淪tartups trip up when they don鈥檛 do their research. It鈥檚 clear when applicants haven鈥檛 read our criteria and, as a result, don鈥檛 understand what types of businesses we invest in. You鈥檒l save more time and have a higher success rate in securing a meeting if you take the time to make fewer applications to places where you鈥檙e a good fit.鈥�

鈥淓qually, don鈥檛 write something off before you鈥檝e done your research. Most people presume TwinklHive only invests in EdTech startups, but we also invest in other tech sectors including Fintech and Healthtech.鈥�

Myles Milston, CEO of Globacap

听

听

鈥淯ntil recently, companies on a high growth rate had two options to continue to access investment: go public or sell out to private equity or a larger company. And, while there is glitz to a successful IPO, there are also great risks, higher administrative overheads, and shorter-term investor demands, often to the long-term detriment of the business. However, this is no longer the case. Thanks to the rapid development of financial technology, it is now possible to attract capital from large institutional investors by providing them with a route to liquidity without going public.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檇 advise businesses to stay private for as long as possible in order to protect their business and allow them to focus on the long term. While there are plenty of headlines about successful IPOs, such as Deliveroo, there are plenty more unsuccessful IPOs that don鈥檛 get covered.鈥�

鈥淎lso, when a company goes public it is beholden to the whims of the market, shifting focus to the short term, such as the next quarter or six months as opposed to the long-term goals of the company. It also makes companies vulnerable to 鈥減ump and dump鈥� tactics similar to what we saw GameStop fall a victim to earlier this year. It鈥檚 very difficult to sustain stable growth in the long term if you鈥檙e a public company.鈥�

鈥淕round-breaking platforms such as Globacap鈥檚, facilitate streamlined secondary transactions in private securities with automated settlement, enabling investors to transact in a similar way to public markets but without the company needing to go public. The digital era has moved from making communication and knowledge sharing more efficient, to automating outdated, complex capital markets processes. Any business leaders looking to raise capital should thoroughly explore the new options available to them to stay private.鈥�

听

Sebastian Peck, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures

听

听

鈥淚nMotion Ventures is the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Jaguar Land Rover. Because no two corporate VCs are alike, it is critical that founders understand how we work. CVCs generally fall into one of two groups. The first group makes any investment contingent on a collaboration between the startup and the CVC鈥檚 parent organisation, which tends to work better for later-stage companies 鈥� if you鈥檙e pitching as CVC that operates in this way, emphasize the strategic value your innovation could have for the corporate, the projects you could work on together, and how you would capitalise on the opportunities the corporate could open up for you.

鈥淭he second group operates more independently, and acts more like a traditional VC with a specialist focus. This tends to work particularly well for early-stage companies who look for support beyond capital during the search for product market fit. The CVC can support this process by granting access to the parent company and wider industry network, and by drawing on its domain expertise to provide an outside perspective to the founder. In both cases it is important to ensure that there is good alignment between what the founder and the corporate-backed investor want to get out of their relationship.鈥�

听

Lucanus Polagnoli,听Founder & Managing Partner at Calm/Storm VC

听

听

听

听

听

听

听

听

Anthony Rose, CEO and founder of SeedLegals

听

听

鈥淥ver the last year, start-ups and businesses across the UK have felt varying degrees of impact due to the pandemic. Many are under increased pressure, while others are thriving and growing as we adapt the way we live. Both scenarios, however, mean more businesses than ever are seeking investment 鈥� to either replace declining revenue or support growth as they navigate an increasingly uncertain economic future.鈥�

鈥淔rom an investor perspective, this means demand for their time, funds and experience has never been higher.鈥�

鈥淭o stand out from the crowd, it鈥檚 vital that as an early stage startup looking to fundraise, you tell a version of your company鈥檚 story that demonstrates the opportunity for long-term growth, despite the uncertain outlook. This is a chance to showcase your amazing team and leadership, frame your unique product within the market and most importantly, the underlying problem you are solving. It鈥檚 also just as important to showcase your non-monetised growth (such as social networks), as well as the more traditional monetised growth.鈥�

鈥淭hese factors should all help emphasise the potential for long-term success and demonstrate how your business will fare when things do eventually return to 鈥榥ormal鈥�. While many businesses have been catapulted into hyper-growth over the past year, investors are still looking for agile businesses who can fare the foreseeably volatile economic landscape.鈥�

鈥淚f you鈥檙e an early-stage venture, bootstrapping might be the way to get the ball rolling and better position your company ahead of more formal funding rounds down the line. As startups continue their mission for growth during this challenging economic landscape, entrepreneurs have increasingly sought out quick injections of cash to support their businesses through initially volatile times and SeedLegals has seen bootstrapping steadily rise in popularity, with an increase of 26% year on year.鈥�