HOW TO RAISE CAPITAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS: PART ONE

JOHN R. SEAL – HEAD OF DIRECT LENDING, ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS

I recently ran a ‘Growth Learning Session’ at the grand final of The European Business Awards in Warsaw; a 2 day event attending by over 400 of Europe’s most impressive companies. Every person I met was exciting and inspiring, and running a successful company worthy of an award.

The occasion emphasised two things: firstly, that the core reason why the finance community exists is to provide capital for growth, to build successful companies, increase meaningful employment and ultimately help build prosperous communities - both providers and recipients can forget this as they get bogged down in the details.

Secondly, I was also reminded that one of the biggest barriers to growth identified by companies is securing this finance to realise their potential.

However, it is not that the capital is unavailable. Companies are often not aware of all the capital options available to them, or are reluctant to pursue these options due to misconceptions or lack confidence in their knowledge. At the session, many people had heard of “marketplace” or “P2P” (aka ‘peer-to-peer’) or “direct” lending, but were unsure how to access it.

To address and help solve this dichotomy, valuable advice was given by both speakers and attendees, including business leaders who had gone through different routes themselves, and so to help more companies move forward, captured below are the key recommendations:

PART ONE: Venture/Growth Capital (“PE”):

• Apply for awards, get free press, write articles, use social media. PE likes to add companies to their “watch list” and approach you. Build a presence to get seen.

• Apply for funding competitions, particularly if at an early stage. There are European and sometimes country-based funding competitions for early-stage companies.

• There are numerous marketplace and crowdfunding sites where money can be raised. Search for them by your country or in your native language.

• Successful start-ups and small companies that raise growth capital spend time and resources on managing their finances and have a game plan to raise capital. They do not do it occasionally, but continuously – when not actively raising money, they are networking with the finance community and potential investors, winning awards, getting press, and raising their profile. Companies that fail to do this…fail.

• The best way to find angel investors will often be through associations of angel investors. Search for them by your country or in your native language. Private Banks also tend to have angel investors (and family offices (see below)) as clients.

• Don’t forget LinkedIn or even job placement firms – search for recently retired executives in your industry, or suppliers or customer executives that may wish to be on your board or act as an advisor. Senior people like this can provide valuable advice, and may also be wealthy individuals who made their fortune in your industry who could be investors.

• Family offices - The largest of these types of wealthy individual investors are family offices. They act similar to private equity, but usually have an industry expertise and can be more flexible in their investment approach, and are longer term holders. They are hard to find, but the ones you should look for were once working in your industry (or still are). One way they can be found is through private banks.

• That said, you can reach out to PE. Take a look at who has funded your competitors – you probably shouldn’t approach them (unless you want to sell-out), but you can approach private equity firms similar to them. Most large EU countries will have a PE industry association will – here is the UK = https://www.bvca.co.uk/, Germany = https://www.bvkap.de/en and France = http://www.franceinvest.eu/ where you can find a list of PE firms or get help. Or, look at PE firms that have invested in companies in your industry vertical that are not direct competitors – they will already know your industry and be up to speed.

• Most private equity firms don’t do minority investments, but some do. Their website will tell you, or perhaps the PE industry association has a list. Family offices are often happy to invest on this basis.

NEXT BLOG: PART TWO - CAPITAL FROM NON-BANK LENDING SOURCES AND GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

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