Last crisis produced several winners, Groupon amongst them. Companies who will survive this crisis will come out stronger for few reasons:
• They will end up having less competition
• They might benefit from the fact that lot of things have decreased in value – mostly real estate, big ticket purchases like furniture, equipment and some services.
• Crisis also forces companies to be more disciplined and to provide better service which will ultimately help them to survive and thrive
It is true that c.90% of investors, particularly angel and venture capital investors have stopped doing new deals as they focus resources on their current portfolios.
We have got in touch with several seed or early stage investors to see if they are still active and below is a list of investors who are currently actively investing and the industries they are operating in.
They are Austrian based food and beverage investor but invest across whole of Europe. Michael Goblirsch, Partner in Square One Foods stated that their strategic focus and their key investment criteria remain unchanged, therefore they are looking for Seed stage Food & Beverage startups from the EU and UK and make investments up to €250k. Their key investment criteria:
• Diverse, passionate team that is passionate about their business
• Understanding and ability of how to build a successful consumer brand
• Product that solves a consumer problem/ disrupts an industry
The syndicate invests in early stage, innovative technology companies that are seeking to improve the way people use resources - energy, water and the wider transition to a greener economy - sustainable transport, smart cities.
Typically they invest £150-500,000, often participating with other investors, and they can act as lead investor or in a supporting role in a larger group, looking for SEIS or EIS tax relief on their investments.
has said that their appetite to do new deals is as strong as ever, but it is likely that they will do a fewer deals than last year. They invest in seed and pre-seed companies mostly focusing on deep tech (AI, machine learning, computer vision), SaaS, marketplaces and B2B companies. Their typical first cheque is £400k although they can invest smaller amounts.
Its purpose is to support the endeavours of the brightest music tech entrepreneurs, researchers and developers and help introduce the next set of universally adopted recording technologies into the music business. They take 2% equity and provide mentoring and connections from top experts in music industry.
5) Technology companies should keep their eye on F6S
It lists several opportunities that are open to tech start-ups all over the world, just filter your search to Europe or UK.
6) Wayra
in partnership with Novartis have applications open for their accelerator programme to Healthcare start-ups that can accelerate and scale digital health solutions that will support the NHS to deal with the medium to long term challenges created by COVID-19.
They also have couple of other accelerators open, just check out their website.
7) Sente, in partnership with the global snacks company Pladis and the Northstar Innovation Company (the innovation arm of global food and retail company Yildiz Holding) is investing in early-stage startups with novel ingredients, snacks, packaging and technology that can meet the needs and desires of an ever-evolving consumer landscape. Starting in London in June 2020, they will select startups from around the world for the opportunity to work with international snacks, food and retail brands as well as the chance for a $50,000 - $75,000 investment (first stage) and $250k+ (follow-on investment possibility)
8) Start-ups who are innovating in Supply Chain and Logistics, Manufacturing, B2B Mobility, IoT and IIoT, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, AI, 5G, Smart City , Aerospace, Space can get up to USD50k per team from Stratospheric Accelerator Cohort
9) https://www.seedrs.com
is an equity crowdfunding website that have extended their campaign lengths and hold online pitching events to give entrepreneurs more chance to succeed. They stated that investment levels did go down in March but in the past few weeks, they have seen a sharp uptick back to pretty normal levels. The distribution of campaigns is probably shifting somewhat, as those businesses that are in sectors that are less affected by (or that even may benefit from) the crisis are the ones most likely to go forward and attract investment, while activity will be quieter in sectors most negative affected by the crisis.
10) https://www.angelinvestmentnetwork.co.uk
is another website bringing early stage investors and start-ups together. Mike Lebus, the Founder of Angelinvestmentnetwork, has told us that the sectors that are thriving at the moment include ecommerce, pharma, biotech, medtech, big data, logistics, food delivery, streaming and gaming. Some investors who are still looking at deals are negotiating with entrepreneurs and carrying out due diligence, but won’t actually make the investment until things start to settle down. The good news is that this means everything is being lined up, and investors will be ready to pull the trigger, so hopefully there will be a flurry of activity when the climate improves.
Government announced
Coronavirus Future Fund
on 20th April but in order to be eligible a company would have had to have raised at least £250,000 in equity investment from third-party investors in the last 5 years. Many start-ups would not qualify due to this criteria so would be forced to look at other options. However, if you do qualify then you would have to partner up with a private investor and government will match the funding.
If you are not eligible for Future Fund, applications are still open for
Innovate UK Smart Grants. Companies can get a share of up to £25 million to deliver ambitious or disruptive R&D innovations that can make a significant impact on the UK economy.
If you need help navigating the investor applications landscape we can help by supporting you in several ways having worked with investors for several years. Just get in touch on
hello@accountsassistants.co.uk