This is a guest post by Penny Schiffer a Zürich-based energetic woman, passionate by the startup and investment world. She’s currently managing the startup initiatives of Swisscom and in charge of the « Swisscom Startup Challenge » and also part of Swisscom Ventures and a member of the business angel club Go Beyond. Are all investors made equal? There are two types of investors: Lead investors and co-investors. Understanding this difference is fundamental when structuring an investment round to avoid unnecessary circles or risk the completion of the successful round altogether. So, what is a lead investor? In most investment rounds with more than one investor, there will be one institution or business angel who plays a special role during the due diligence and in the structuring of the round. This so-called lead investor will typically be the investor that …
Do’s and Don’ts for Startups Going International
End of October, I had the chance to be invited by Switzerland Global Enterprise (thank you Gioia for recommending me!) to Sao Paulo & Porto Alegre for a « SwissICT Roadshow ». The goal of the roadshow was to promote Switzerland among Brazilian startups as a key location to expand to Europe. Like most European countries, Switzerland is investing in fast-developing countries to attract them and create jobs in Switzerland. The key for such events is to promote the advantages of the location without hiding the potential disadvantages. Most countries do it pretty simply: they show up for a 1-2h presentation and explain why they are « the best place » for these companies when entering Europe. Switzerland Global Enterprise did it differently: let’s provide more value than a simple presentation! The guys of S-GE in Brazil organized an intensive …
The Seed Round Guide: Is Big Always Better Than Small? (I/III)
Some time ago, I discussed with Penny on the different challenges of raising money for an early stage tech startups. She has gathered a lot of practical experience of startup investments, both in her professional activity at Swisscom and in private, by doing angel investments on her own. Startups are hard. Raising money is even harder. And even if there is a lot money in Switzerland, most of it is “sleeping”… So if you’re a startup entrepreneur and you need to raise funds (best way is to close commercial deals, of course, and you may not need financing early on – but that’s a different debate!), you’d better manage the process wisely and without doing too many mistakes. Once you have managed to raise interest of potential investors, you should be aware of how to do. As a first-time entrepreneur, …
8 promising startups to meet on November 9th
For the 6th time, I’m organizing the SICTIC Investor Day is taking place in Lausanne. SICTIC Investor Day is a pitching competition where 8 startups have 90 seconds to pitch their project (with just one slide). The audience then selects the 4 finalists, who will have the opportunity to pitch in an extended way (7minutes). The jury comprised of Alexandre Peyraud (aleCent), Patrick Barbey (Innovaud) and Thomas Dübendorfer (SwissICT Investor Club) has selected the 8 startups among a record number of applications (31!). Here they are! Teleport Ninja: New interaction paradigm in video, used for immersive virtual tours Technis: Creating the future of sports through the digitalisation of its physical infrastructures. ShoeSize.Me: Plug-In solution for online shops to recommend the right shoe size to shoppers. ROVENSO : Agile robots for nuclear decommissioning and emergency response Prevue Medical: Easy 3D Printing Service …
Why Switzerland needs the Swiss Investment Fund
Some weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be an expert for a Bachelor thesis about the European Investment Fund. The student, Daniel Poffet, now graduated (congrats, btw!), did a great research in explaining what the European Investment Fund (EIF) is. Basically, the EIF is a public-private partnership founded in 1994 aiming to allow a better access to (venture) capital. It is mainly owned by the European Investment Bank and by the European Union. The activity of the EIF is to invest indirectly in startups and companies in the European Union. The EIF doesn’t invest directly, but provides more funds to Venture Capital funds (hey, well, VC’s do also need to raise funds – like startup entrepreneurs… And it’s not easier for them, too!). And it can represent up to 30% (if I remember correctly) of the total fund. So …
10 great things I did (not) see at TechCrunch Disrupt SF
This is a guest post by Penny Schiffer a Zürich-based energetic woman, passionate by the startup and investment world. She’s currently managing the startup initiatives of Swisscom and in charge of the « Swisscom Startup Challenge » and also part of Swisscom Ventures and a member of the business angel club Go Beyond. Have you ever been to TechCrunch Disrupt? For me, until a couple of days ago, it was a nearly mythological place where the best startups of this planet present themselves in an exhibition and compete in the so-called Startup Battlefield – the mother of all startup competitions. Among the finalists, there are stellar companies like Fitbit, Yammer, Zenefits and Betterment. As part of the prep work for the Swisscom Startup Challenge, I had the opportunity to go to Silicon Valley during this crazy time of TechCrunch Disrupt. …
Apply to SICTIC Investor Day Lausanne!
The 22nd Investor Day will take place on November 9th 2015 at Chambre Vaudoise du Commerce et de l’Industrie in Lausanne. Apply to be one of the 8 selected startups who will have the opportunity to pitch to an interesting audience comprised of business angels, professional investors and startup enthusiasts. The public will select 4 startups based on their 90-seconds elevator pitch. The finalists will then have 7 minutes (and 5 minutes Q&A) to present their startup. A jury comprised of entrepreneurs and investors (Alexandre Peyraud, Thomas Dübendorfer, Patrick Barbey, Sal Matteis) will elect the winner of the competition, who will go home with a Samsung tablet offered by Innovaud and some free hosting at coworking space „UniverCité“ in Renens. Finally, startups and investors will gather around a cocktail in a relaxed atmosphere. The SICTIC Investor Day will start on …
2 Interesting (Swiss) Startup Awards
In Switzerland, there is a common joke that there are more events and awards than… startups! Of course, it is not true. But there are many, many startup awards and competitions. Most of them (if you win) give you some « free » press coverage (if you consider the time wasted in applying, it is not completely free) and the most interesting ones provide you cash money. As an entrepreneur, I think they are the only ones really worth applying (I’m not speaking about applications to pitch to events, this is different)! Startup awards are compelling because it sounds as free financing for your startup. You normally don’t have to share equities with the award organizer. Yes, it a great idea to apply. But you also have to consider the chance of winning (as you would do with every kind …