Questions about Investors

NeVeR

Are there any places in Ireland that would invest in a start up company, A company thats needs there money to get them start,

I know you could need a great business plan, But I have one,

Just wondering if there are places, or will banks only do this?

Victor

ICC (taken over) strongly invested in things like this, however if you are talking peanuts, try an accountant, investment broker,stockbroker or indeed your 'friendly' bank manager (or Dermot Desmond ).

spongebob

...and stay away from Venture capital funds, they will have you audited till you drop by kpmg and the like.

I know someone who wasted a lot of time with a vc fund called Delta

you are at the first stage fundraising

vc's come in at the second or third stage if you still need money and have it off the ground, a growth phase essentially, they can have expertise in certain sectors that is invaluable....at the right time.

banks, friends, and certain rich individuals who are prepared to punt and advise without ripping you off......they are the best bet

M

dod

Because the VCs got burnt during the recent downturn, they are really only looking at investing in later-stage, post-first-customer businesses with serious growth potential. They will typically only start to get interested if you're looking at raising €500k+ and are looking for a credible exit strategy which will yield them a return of the order of 40% to 50% per annum in less than 5 years.

If you're looking at a smaller size investment, or you are at an earlier stage, you're looking for a seed capital fund or possibly an angel investor. A good starting point to find out about these is here: http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/services-details.asp?section=industry&subsection=industry-support&id=101 . However remember these guys are just as hard-nosed about getting a return, they just reckon they're getting their equity cheaper (i.e. more expensive to you in equity terms) and equally they will be looking for a credible exit strategy in as short a timeframe as is possible.

What many small startups are looking at now is bootstrapping income from, say, related consultancy services, or financing on a shoestring by borrowing from Friends, Fools and Family to get them through the first year or so to get to a proof of concept phase. Really if you are looking at raising significant financing from any source in the current environment, I believe you will have to be post- commercial validation with your product/ service/ whatever.

You may also find some useful information on funding on theeses sites:
http://www.startingabusinessinireland.com/welcome.htm
http://www.intertradeireland.com
http://www.dbic.ie/services/finance/finan_2.htm

Also worth a try for some (small) cheap finance is your local city/ county enterprise board, but you will not get a penny from anyone- seed capital, angel investors, local enterprise board, friendly bank manager- without at the very least an outline business plan and some indicative financial projections going out to at least 3 years.

HTH

dod

Also check out these (slightly) cynical links on the nature of the relationship between the funding recipient and the VC:


http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/sep01/speak.html
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/VC.html

Whilst they may be slightly askew in their perspective, I think they are substantially making a very serious point

Victor

There is also a tax-back scheme where, if you set up your own business you can claim back seomthing like €100,000 in tax paid. You need to have paid the tax though.

NeVeR

Thanks to you all ,

all those links will help alot.

I'm looking for about €100,000 - €150,000 at a start up.
thats for everything, land/equipment/staff/wages/insurance/ etc,

And i'm writing my own Business plan, i did 3 years Business in school. just wiseing i listen a little more.

Again thanks.