Looking For Tools To Raise Capital? Here Are Some Tips To Remember

Tools to Raise Capital

As a first-time entrepreneur, you must have been rushing from one end to another desperately to raise capital for your startup.

It isn’t so easy indeed. But it’s not impossible too provided you can identify your most suitable tools to raise capital.

You have to understand your business properly before you approach an investor. The current status of your business is the biggest factor to determine which investor you need to approach.

·         If you are entrepreneur with a unique business plan only with no milestones achieved yet, your friends, family and the angels can be your most suitable investors.

·         If you are an entrepreneur with a prototype or a group of beta customers, you can approach the early stage venture capitalists.

·         If you have a proven product/service, a smart and efficient team and a group of trusted customers, you can approach the later stage venture capitalists.

·         If you have achieved the position where you have a sustainable revenue growth and you are expecting profits in the next 1 year, then the public markets can be a suitable tool to raise capital.

In any case, there’s nothing like being able to finance your business with your personal savings. If you can contribute at least 10 to 25% or even better if 50% from your personal savings, you will be in a much better position while sitting in front of the investors.

One of the most important tools to raise capital, that can give the biggest boost to your capital raising effort, is a successful pitch. Try to have your pitch ready at all cost and make sure you summarize everything so that the message you convey is swift, interesting, engaging and time-saving.

Whatever tools you have in your arsenal to raise capital, make sure you use it actively; no need to wait for the investors to ask for it, just come up with it and show it to the investors. These things are essential to make the investor realize how much you are prepared and devoted to raising capital for your startup.

There is another tools to raise capital that can indirectly help you in your fund-raising campaign. It is nothing but an intelligent network that you must become a part of. Becoming a member of such a network will bring you close to your potential investors or buyers, sellers and financial advisors of the startup eco-system. It will not only save your time but will also enable you to increase your contacts and build new business strategies and most importantly, approach only the right investors (i.e. those who are interested in the sector you are dealing with).

Merger Alpha is also an intelligent networking operating in Singapore serving as a common platform for buyers, sellers and investors to acquire, sell or finance private companies.

To know more on tools to raise capital or you feel interested to become a part of this community, feel free to visit http://mergeralpha.com/.

Happy capital raising!

Venture Capital firms In Singapore That You Must Know

Venture Capital Firms in Singapore

Venture Capital In Singapore

It isn’t surprising if you too are eyeing the venture capital industry in Singapore to raise capital for your startup. Over the last few years, venture capital financing in Singapore has flourished rapidly attracting more and more businesses from across Asia to set up their startups in Singapore.

The government of the city-state is also quite active regarding the development of entrepreneurial world for which it has already started various initiatives to attract the global investors. Currently, there are many private and government-aided venture capital firms operating in Singapore that are keeping a close watch on the market to grab the best possible investment opportunities.

If you have a unique business plan and an efficient management team to execute it, here are some of the top investors in Singapore you can approach to set your business off the ground. 

List Of Venture Capital Firms In Singapore

·         Ardent Capital
- Industry Preference - Technology, Transactional Commerce and Advertising.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments.

·         Carlyle Group
- Industry Preference - Real Assets, and Corporate and Private Equity.
- Stage Of Investment - Early stage, late stage and private equity investments.

·         Digital Media Partner
- Industry Preference - Digital Market and Consumer Internet.
- Stage Of Investment - Growth stage investments.

·         Extream Ventures
- Industry Preference - Internet, Security, Biometrics and Semiconductor.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments

·         Flag Capital
- Industry Preference - Energy Resources and Real Estate.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed stage investment

·         Golden Gate Ventures
- Industry Preference - Technology, Mobile, Online Business, Finance, etc.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments

·         GGV Capital
- Industry Preference - Healthcare, Infrastructure, Consumer products and services.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed stage, early stage and later stage investments.

·         Innosight Ventures
- Industry Preference - Internet Marketing, Mobile Application Development, Mobile Gaming, IT Security, etc.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments.

·         Intel Capital
- Industry Preference - Digital Media and Entertainment, Software Services, Computing, Mobile, Consumer Internet, Manufacturing Industry.
- Stage Of Investment - Merger, acquisitions and equity investments.

·         JFDI.Asia
- Industry Preference – Technology.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed stage, early stage and grant investments.

·         JAFCO Asia
- Industry Preference - Technology.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed stage, early stage and later stage investments.

·         Mclean Watson Capital
- Industry Preference -Technology, IT, Software Services, Telecommunications and Energy.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed, early, mid and later stage investments.

·         Singtel Innov8
- Industry Preference - Digital Content Services, Customer Service Enhancers, Next Generation Devices, Network Capabilities, etc.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments.

·         TNF Ventures
- Industry Preference - Telecommunications, Technology, Medical, Eco-friendly Products/Services, Media, etc.
-  Stage Of Investment - Seed and early stage investments.

·         Upstream Ventures
- Industry Preference - IT, Internet, Software Services, Security, Biometrics, IDM and Semiconductors.
- Stage Of Investment - Early stage investments.

·         Welden International
- Industry Preference - IT and Software, Internet/Digital marketing, Clean tech, Semiconductors, and emerging technologies.
- Stage Of Investment - Seed, early and later stage and private equity investments.

Conclusion

Finding the right venture capital partner can be a time-taking task and you need to have a lot of patience to ultimately find someone who shows interest in your business. However, there’s an even better way to save your valuable time and money and get faster access to suitable investors. Why not become a part of a network that brings together buyers, sellers, investors and advisers and enables them to get in touch with each other more easily? Think about it.

For more information on such an intelligent network or other venture capital firms in Singapore, feel free to visit Merger Alpha http://mergeralpha.com/.

Need Tips For Raising Capital? Try To Avoid These Fundraising Mistakes

Tips for Capital Raising

Very often, entrepreneurs scroll through the web in search of tips for raising capital for their startup. No doubt, there are a lot of things you can learn about an early stage capital raising campaign and but what is more important is to learn from mistakes made by others. Often, despite having all other things in proper places, an entrepreneur may fail to raise the Dollars just because of a single mistake.

Here’s a list of some of the most common mistakes done by first-time entrepreneurs (at times, even by those who already have experience in capital raising). Though you can never really count a definite number of mistakes as every investor is different in his/her preferences, you can still avoid the following mistakes to be on a safer side.

Asking More Or Less Than What You Need

Determining how much capital you need is nothing less than a fiery trail. You have to remember that raising a seed stage startup requires huge capital and your demand for the capital should be so balanced that neither you ask for too much money nor you go broke during a crisis situation by raising too less. Make sure you raise an amount that is required to meet your milestones and timelines. If you ask something unrealistically low, you will simply welcome a disaster for you by proving to the VCs that you do not have a proper understanding of what it takes to grow a business. So be realistic in your demand even if the amount is too high.  

Making Unrealistic Promises

Investors would love to invest in a startup with set goals and timelines.  But to demonstrate unrealistic milestones just for the sake of convincing the investors is again not a good idea. They will definitely like to see that you are able to deliver what others think is impossible but better try to ensure that it something that you will really be able to accomplish.  No need to put on a superman’s mask as it will be embarrassing if it is pulled off. 

Showing Unrealistic Demand For Your Deal

Tips for Raising capital from an investor is also the initiation of a long-term association with the investor who is going to be with you throughout the journey, which should be purely based on trust. There is no place for any dishonesty and if you show that, it is only you who is going to suffer later.  Like many other entrepreneurs, if you too have a tendency to show that there are many other investors who are dying to invest in your deal, make sure it is genuine. Otherwise, it can be humiliating on your part to cling to the investors’ door waiting for their call even after a month. 

Hiring An Agent To Present The Pitch

Being an entrepreneur looking to raise capital, each and every move of yours will be brought under the scanner. If you hire an agent to present your first pitch, it indicates that you do not have the skill and efficiency to present it on your own. It can be an instant turn off for any investor so better ignore the idea and do it on your own.

Keeping Member In The Team Who Do Not Add Any Value

It is very essential for a startup to have a team where each and every member is playing a significant contribution in their respective fields. It is quite common among entrepreneurs to present a team comprising of their friends and family members which is absolutely fine provided the members are highly qualified and have proper business sense to help you grow the business. Otherwise, it doesn’t make any sense investing in a member who has least contribution to make.

There are many such mistakes that can simply ruin all your efforts and encourage the investors to invest in some other venture. Try to ensure that you do not disappoint your potential financers at any cost and consider it as the most important tip whenever you approach your next investor.

For more tips on capital raising, feel free to visit Merger Alpha http://mergeralpha.com/.

6 Tips For Raising Capital For Your Startup

Tips For Raising Capital

Why do we have the notion that capital raising is a challenging task?

Of course, it is challenging but what makes it so? There must be certain area that the entrepreneurs often fail to understand and that’s where they get stuck up even after months of preparation. No worries, today we will discuss a few simple tips that will go a long way in helping the entrepreneurs to raise capital successfully.

So all you entrepreneurs out there, read carefully the below mentioned tips and try to analyze what all went wrong during your last fund raising campaign. Often, a minor negligence can put you into trouble, so make sure this time you don’t disappoint the investors. And, if it is the first time you are raising capital, you are lucky enough.

Tips For Raising Capital

Understand Your Business Well

Understanding your business is the most crucial task. Until and unless you know your business well, you cannot demonstrate anything in front of the investors. Despite knowing your business, there are chances that you may fail to articulate everything in front of the investors. Now, these professional guys will only invest when you are able to show them your operations, objectives and vision in complete facts in figures. For this, first you have to determine the value of your startup. Business valuation is a great way to determine the worth of your company based on which you can ask for the capital.

Be Realistic About When And How Much Money You Need

Starting a new business does not necessarily mean that you have to jump into fund-raising right from the seed-stage. Knowing when exactly you need to raise capital is very important. It is best if you fund the business from your personal savings, at least 10 to 25%. It will help you gain the investors’ trust and convince them more easily for the investment when you really need it.

Also, asking unrealistic amount from the investors is also not going to help you either. You may think that asking less than what is required will make you appear more confident but the fact is, you should determine your borrowing needs keeping in mind the worst possible time and not the best. Raising less capital may lead your business to collapse during extreme crisis.  It is absolutely ok to ask more if it is realistic.

Get Everything Ready

I wish every entrepreneur knew how critical the preparation is for equity capital raising. You have to make sure right from the beginning that you are equipped with all that is needed to raise capital successfully. From having a unique business plan targeting a sizable market to getting your first pitch ready, everything will together determine whether you will be able to satisfy the investors or not. Your first pitch should be aimed at raising curiosity in the investors about your business. It is very important to get them hooked and once you do it, you know you have achieved 50% of it. 

Show Customer Validation And Traction

Where there are customers, investors will automatically come in, so before you approach the investors try to gather a group of customers who believe that your product or service has a genuine requirement in the market and currently there is no other alternative to it. If you can gather a group of beta customers for demonstrating customer validation, your investors are definitely going to give it a thought.

Hire A Trusted Venture Lawyer

The terms and conditions in the VC industry keep changing and a venture lawyer can only provide you with the best guidance to deal with the situation. As an entrepreneur, you may need to raise capital two or three times in your life, so having a reliable lawyer by your side will help you get a good deal. 

Find The Right Investor

Make sure you do not chase the wrong investor while looking for one. Wrong investors are those who are interested in an industry totally different from yours. If yours is a tech startup and you are chasing an investor who is interested in the energy sector, you are simply wasting your time. Each second is valuable for you so spend it wisely.

Conclusion

From all other types of capital raising methods, venture capital raising is the toughest and the most crucial one. While it is the only source that can offer you the maximum amount of money, it is also true that convincing a VC can be the hardest exam you have ever appeared. I hope you find the above points valuable and helpful. For more tips for raising capital, you can visit http://mergeralpha.com/.

Good Luck!