WHAT DO INVESTORS LOOK FOR
BEFORE INVESTING
Key Discussion Points
PANEL DISCUSSION
17th February 2022

TOPIC 1
WHAT DO INVESTORS LOOK FOR
BEFORE INVESTING

THE RIGHT FIT:
Having a right fit in terms of personality and an ambition for the business plays a key role in
the success of any startup. Hence, it can be said that an entrepreneur looks for individuals
that are right fit for the business, and investors are looking for essentially the same thing in
reverse.
“The mindsets, market size and credibility would be an ideal package that investors would be
interested before investing.”
Stephanie Tumba
Founder of ‘Ste Tumba Capital Ltd’
and ‘Seeds & Series A’ Investor.

TEAM:
Having a strong, well balanced, experienced team with fresh new ideas is a major key for the
success of a startup. Both investors and the general public gets excited upon the words “new
and innovative.” However, it is mandatory to have a team with execution capability. The
investors prefer a capable, ambitious and trustworthy management team with the right mix
of technical, sales and marketing team members.
“A team with ideally new ideas and execution capabilities is what everyone is looking for!”
Francois Mazoudie
Serial Tech Entrepreneur,
Investor, Advisor

A WELL-DEFINED BUSINESS PLAN AND A BUSINESS MODEL:
It is essential for any startup to have a complete, clear and concrete business model. An
investor would want to see a business plan with details that demonstrate the entrepreneur’s
path to becoming the market leader. Many individuals have prospective ideas. Yet, it is
significant that the company has understood its objectives, technology availability and the
path they require. Having such a well-defined business model shows that the entrepreneur
knows about the market and ready to jumpstart.
“It is essential that they understand where they want to go, understand what they have and
understand what the journey takes.”
Edward Kliphuis
Partner at Sofinnova Partners

TECHNOLOGY:
It takes more than a brilliant technology for a business to thrive. Thus, investors seek
profitable market opportunities with a technology business that is based on a product or
service that solves real customer problems.
“Companies like Google and Facebook are buying companies everyday day. They are basically
buying technology!”
Jonathan Pacifici
General Partner at Sixth Millenium Venture Partners

TOPIC 2
WHAT MAKES A STARTUP A UNICORN FROM
DAY ONE?

GROUNDBREAKING
INNOVATIONS:
• Unicorn companies
are meant to bring a
change in the field
they belong to. Thus,
it is necessary that
startups produce
something that has
never been seen
before. Furthermore,
it must be a simple
solution to a
complicated problem!
HIGH TECHNOLOGY
• It is now required that
startups consists of a
business model that
run on a higher level
of technology.
CONSUMER-FOCUSED
STARTUPS
• Startups are required
to have a goal of
simplifying and
making things easy for
consumers.
Furthermore, they
must be a part of
their day-to-day life.

TOPIC 3
THERE ARE STARTUPS WHO STRUGGLE TO
GET 100K FUNDING, YET OTHERS WHO
RAISE 100M WITH JUST AN IDEA OR AN MVP;
WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE?

• The prior startup experience, product knowledge, and industry
skills help in predicting the valuation of a startup.
SKILLS OF THE TEAM
• This will aid in adopting partnerships, outsourcing, accessing
new resources, markets and customers which will ultimately
aid in valuation.
SCALABILITY
• The scarcity complex principle will promote and sell a product
or a service and can be an effective strategy.
SCARCITY OF THE
SERVICE THAT IS
OFFERED
• It is significant to understand that if the reward is fast and
there is also a high risk, there is always a valuation that reflects
it.
RISK VS REWARD

HERE ARE FEW COMMON RISKS AND REWARDS OF STARTUPS
REWARDS
• New feature updates may not be
popular with customers
• Lack of staffing in key roles could
delay product launch
• Product will have more features
which may require additional
learning for customers
RISKS
• First on the market
• Good publicity for the product so
far, and we can build momentum
from that scenario
• Product testing with high-value
clients have shown no issues

TOPIC 4
HOW IMPORTANT IS FOR THE STARTUP TO
OWN THE IP TO ATTRACT VENTURE
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.

An IP gives a startup the competitive advantage in the market by enabling the startup to
exclude competitors in the same business area as the startup. Thus, this can be stated as one
of the most valuable asset of the company. IP exists for people to take risks to develop
something and ensure that if they are successful in highly risky endeavors with a reward at
the end.
Moreover, IP is best allocated in companies whose technology can be de-rest quickly.

TOPIC 5
WHAT WILL BE THE BEST SECTORS TO
INVEST IN 2022?

HEALTHCARE AND LIFE SCIENCES:
AI combined with advanced lifetime generated data allows to re-change the way individuals practice sciences.
Science has always been practiced in a very reductionist way where the complex things are broken and studied
upon. However, for the first time in history, there is a possibility to regard human biology as a beautiful
complexity which will be a game changer while improving the healthcare system.
AGRICULTURE:
Investing in the agriculture can provide numerous benefits, including a great service to the individuals around
the world. There is a need to focus in this sector as agriculture is facing many difficulties due to environmental
pollution and water pollution. Thus, this can be considered as a great sector to invest upon and provide billions
of individuals with a great service.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
AI sector seek to provide exposure to a fast-growing segment of the technology industry. AI aims to stimulate
human intelligence, leveraging powerful algorithms to make machines think and act like human beings

CLICK to watch the panel discussion
To get to know more about EM visit – www.equitymatch.co

THANK YOU !