Genuine investors

Slimbo

Genuine investors

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Hi All,
Can anyone let me know if there are any genuine and reputable companies/individual investors in the tech industry that will take a genuine look at a product with the view of bringing it to the market.
Its a minefield trying to read all the companies that offer X Y & Z to the individual. I am lost trying to make sense of them all, and who is best to pitch to.
Basically, I have a product that is ready for prototype stage and I need to advance it fully and need some advice.
Many thanks in return,
Liam

Buttercake

Enterprise Ireland or your Local Enterprise Office is a start

Put yourself in an investors shoes, if you have money and wanted to invest in someone or something, what would you look for in that person or product?

A solid person/team, Solid idea and an even more solid business plan with financial projections. Have you all of these ready to go?

If you have all your documents ready including business plan & pitch deck, go to the enterprise board because investors/VCs/Angels wont go near anyone who is not on Enterprise Irelands radar, they use it as a vetting system for startups.

Ashley2014

One of the important things is networking when you are searching for investors. If your network is good the chances of getting an investor increase dramatically. Better head off to a networking event and showcase what you have.
There is an event going to be held in Limerick on 13 November 2014. Its a business networking event. You can search it on google with the name of Munster SME business summit 2014, Limerick

Slimbo

Thanks very much for the info, much appreciated.
I have Business plan ready, where and to whom the product will be sold.
I have done excellent research on whats similar, and theres nothing currently out there.
I have good visuals done already by the development company,
I also have my bio, so hopefully that will get me in the door somewhere.
I know im going to knock on a lot of doors, would just like a heads-up of who actually is good out there.
Im also afraid of someone taking my idea!!! Or just paranoid about it.
Thanks very much again,
Liam

Duckett

Make contact with HBAN, EI's Growth Capital team and also the BIC's. All three are involved in angel investor activity (arranging introductions, coaching etc.), Good luck

Slimbo

Thanks again for the info,
Does anyone know, or can recommend the type of investment you would get from companies like Crowdfunding, Indiegogo....or similar,
Thanks in advance,
Liam

Graham

Slimbo wrote: »

Thanks again for the info,
Does anyone know, or can recommend the type of investment you would get from companies like Crowdfunding, Indiegogo....or similar,
Thanks in advance,
Liam

Typically the crowdfunding sites have not worked well for Ireland based companies. Without knowing more about your product it's quite hard to point you in the direction of anything that may be relevant.

The more popular crowd funding sites are a pre-selling platform rather than a platform for raising investment (Indigogo/Kickstarter). Seedrs.com may be more appropriate for investment finance but you may need to consider a UK base to increase your chances of success.

Slimbo

Thanks Graham,
My product is in the tech area, and would be very useful for most businesses in real time promos and advertising future events etc,
Liam

dublinwp

I think it would be wise for you to tell us more details if you want to get an answer to your question. Now we can make assumptions and they could steer you to the wrong direction.

If you are worried that someone will steal it, then dont work in this business. You have to have an edge to win long term. Lets say your product is live in the market, next day you will have knock offs from China. How will you compete with that? Or coca cola decides to sell similar product? ideas mean nothing without implementation

As I understand it is some kind of software, why dont you make a simple demo version and sell few versions. You will have track record, much easier to convince someone to invest then

Look from investors prospective: what do offer him/her ?

Idea that you think is great, but you dont even have finances to make a demo. Now lets say investor invests money in it and you die tomorrow. he lost everything.

Or lets say investor says: I will invest 100K EUR what % of shares will you offer him? if you offer more than 50% then he can kick you out anytime and put professional team instead of you. if less than he wont agree, because you can kick him out.

it will be tough for you to raise money from investors, look into government funds. or go to accelerators, but you will need a team for this. they dont accept individuals.

Also dont listen to anyone who says it is great. if they say that it is great at the same time ask them to buy it or invest money. then you will find real answer.

Buttercake

Slimbo wrote: »

Im also afraid of someone taking my idea!!! Or just paranoid about it.

Everyone has this fear.. we live in a capitalist world so its dog eat dog so you just need to get it to market first.

The guys who invented Snapchat dont lose sleep over the hundred other snapclone apps that have been spawned since they launched.

if you release something, people wait until its successful/popular/mainstream then they clone it! nothing you can do about that and someone can always make something "similar" but if you were the first doing it you would (hopefully) have market share.

Duckett

genuine investors will only consider projects that are well presented, in short are investable i.e. offers scope to scale and ideally has achieved market traction or is near to achieving sales. Investors are seeking to see their capital grow in lock step the market valuation of the business - they also need to see exit potential and ideally at a multiple of their investment to be comfortable. However that again is not visible very often so judgement plays a big part. Some investors may actually know the tech space concerned will be savvy enough to see clearly the strength of the technology and where it fits on the future landscape. These guys can add real value but they are scarce. Naturally investors will and should undertake due diligence and look particularly closely at the management / promoter and make a bet on whether they feel that promoter can grow / scale a business. So nothing new there and in fact no matter how experienced the promoter and the team there is no substitute for good taking good practical advice from a technology, marketing, financial planning and organisational perspective. In short the proposal needs to be de-risked for the investor - ideally proven by testing it with respected practitioners. Don't get hung up on the IP being taken because it is rare enough that a tech project will stand only on the strength of the IP - that is too simplistic as the people involved are much more important to investors.

deegs

If I was to send you to one they only need to know a few things.

1) Are you full time at it?
2) How much have you invested? Time and cash.
3) Why are you better than competitors? If you say there are no competitors you are not looking hard enough.
4) What validation or user research/testing have you done?
5) Background and experience. E.g. can you execute?

It is not a minefield, it is actually pretty easy to raise some cash...

PS not a single person will take or attempt your idea until it has millions of users or a massive valuation. If you keep it secret you will find it hard to succeed. Sure you may even get great feedback here that can redirect your product or put you towards the correct investor with a similar portfolio.

Have you done any round table talks? Am I right in thinking you have a business plan and a third party company has done the graphics? Do you basically want to outsource the tech? If that is the case no reputable investor will go near you.

Slimbo wrote: »

Genuine investors

---

Hi All,
Can anyone let me know if there are any genuine and reputable companies/individual investors in the tech industry that will take a genuine look at a product with the view of bringing it to the market.
Its a minefield trying to read all the companies that offer X Y & Z to the individual. I am lost trying to make sense of them all, and who is best to pitch to.
Basically, I have a product that is ready for prototype stage and I need to advance it fully and need some advice.
Many thanks in return,
Liam

Slimbo

Hi All,
Thank you so much for your detailed replies, great info.
To answer some questions posted:
I have owned & managed a couple of restaurants in the last number of years. I have a strong background in Warehouse & Logistics management at a senior level in Blue-chip companies like DIAGEO & Baileys with domestic & global distribution. That's where my real strengths lie - Logistics, systems, shipping, stock control etc.
Finance - I have had several offers from family & friends to invest in the product.
However, it is more than finance I require, a strong sales & marketing investor is crucial for this product. Being able to roll it out to the masses is something that only the right investors/contacts can do.
I have spent close to 10k so far on visuals, R & D and with the developer in gaining component contractors.
It will cost a further 25/30k for a prototype and a total of 250k that includes tooling etc to get the finished product to market(which includes stock for initial orders).
Competition - There are none for what I offer, however what is currently on the market is basically old & dated. This product will revamp what's currently on offer.
Over the coming week I will be receiving a commercial patent, that will give me a 1-year head-start on any competitor and will hopefully make my route to market a little more smoother.
I know there will be copies made, and that is why the correct funding and investment partners with superior contacts is vital for me.
I wouldn't want a competitor to have the contact and marketing network edge over me and my investors and they being perceived to be the first into the market.
This is why I am seeking the correct investors first time around.
Hope this makes it a lot clearer,
Liam

antoinolachtnai

It sounds like what you really need next is a strong distribution partner. This is a company that has access to the market you need to get at. They will be in the best position to assess whether they can sell this product and make money. They are the sort of people who will pre-order on the basis of the prototype.

If they do this, financing gets a lot easier. They may finance it, or someone else may, on the strength of the order.

Who these people are depends on your industry. If you want to let me know what the industry is is privately, I might be able to give you some pointers on distributors, but I'm sure others can do this.

Duckett

what type of tools? sounds like you need a moulder - not clear what production capaicity you require, injection, blow or vac etc - volume is central to achieving a competitive final price point!! and hi vol runs may not be able to carry a distributor markup ......friends and family sounds the best option to finance you to prototype - conversations with tool makers and moulders will be required to understand what might be possible. I am making assumptions here but happy to take off line if you like ..........

pedronomix

Google "pch accelerator program" and "highway1" I have mentored an Irish tech start-up company that is now going global through these programmes. As already advised, to have any hope of raising investment or access such programmes you need to be Enterprise Ireland vetted and supported.