Tag Archives: digital investment platform

Investment News, News

SAAS investment platforms – build or buy?

By Chantelle Arneaud, Envestors

Always-on, digital investment platforms allow companies to easily promote their investment opportunities to investors who, from the comfort of their home, can discover and evaluate deals. For those networks ready to adopt a digital platform and offer an enhanced experience for both their companies and their investors, the question looms: should you build your own platform or buy one? Here’s why buying is your best bet.

1.     When technology is not your speciality

If you’re an investment firm or an accelerator, how many hours will it take you to be good at technology development? As you need an array of skills and resources to design, build and run an investment platform, the answer is too many.

While you may have an idea of your requirements, turning that into a high-functioning product is a difficult task. There are myriad decisions to be made – all of which require subject matter expertise. For example, how much of your budget should you spend on design versus build versus testing? How can you ensure data security? What language should you build the platform in? How can you future-proof it? These are all questions technology businesses have the answer to but, starting out, you’ll have to learn as you go and that will be both expensive and time consuming.

2.     Building a technology platform is expensive

Building a technology platform is an expensive endeavour. If it weren’t, surely Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) wouldn’t be a multi-billion-pound industry? But perhaps you feel the level of control you’ll get from creating your own system is worth the cost. But how much will it cost? That, of course, depends.

You’ll need an expert team of software designers, developers, and QA analysts to turn your concept into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Depending on the emphasis you wish to put on user interface design, you may also need to bolster that team with Ux (user experience) designers.

On top of this, you need to consider system maintenance. This cost can be considerable. Nothing exists in a vacuum and you’ll need a tech resource on call to assist with bugs, outages, security threats and software updates.

3.     SaaS provides more than just software

Working with an expert software provider, you will get much more value than just the technology itself. Depending on the partner, you’ll get additional support in a number of areas which can benefit your business.

Regulatory cover

Promoting and brokering deals are activities regulated under the Financial Conduct Authority. While there are some exemptions, it is a good idea to follow the baseline rules where possible to protect your organisation.

A good off-the-shelf investment platform will have this built in. Typically, this includes investor self-certification, appropriate risk warnings and audit trails.

You also need to comply with GDPR, KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) requirements. Again, off the shelf products, will include this and ensure the system stays current with changing regulatory requirements.

4.     Deal sharing and distribution

Many of the SaaS investment platform providers include options to share your deals with other networks on the platform. This offers myriad benefits in terms of increasing the number of investors who have access to your deals – and thus your chances of closing a round of investment. You also have the option of accepting deals from other networks to share with your investors. This can reduce the burden of sourcing deals and provide a mechanism to keep investors engaged.

5.     A community of peers

Being part of a connected digital network allows for shared learning and resources. In addition to guidance on how to launch your digital platform and on engaging investors, you can benefit from shared knowledge. Whether that be on deal marketing, setting valuation or investor relations.

On top of this, many providers provide community events. Again, this allows you increase investor engagement and eyes on deals.

6.     New features, regularly

SaaS providers regularly roll out new features. For most this is monthly, while some will do so less frequently. This is a huge benefit to subscribing to such a service. For no additional cost or effort, you will find your platform getting richer and richer with new features. Many will also allow customers to request features and good providers will dedicate a percentage of all development time to implementing customer requests. Of course, your specific requests are not guaranteed, but if your ideas gain traction with other users there is a good chance they will be added to the roadmap.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chantelle Arneaud is from Envestors. Envestors’ digital investment platform brings together entrepreneurs and investors across geographies, communities and sectors – creating the single marketplace for early stage investment in the UK.

Envestors partners with accelerators, incubators and angel networks to provide a white-label platform empowering them to promote deals, engage investors and connect to other networks.

Founded in 2004, Envestors has helped more than 200 high growth businesses raise more than £100m through its own private investment club.

Envestors is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Web: https://www.envestors.co.uk/

Business Investment, News

Launch of game-changer platform to connect start-ups and investors across the entire UK market

Envestors has launched its new integrated platform that connects the world of early-stage investments – making it easier for investors to find opportunities and for entrepreneurs to get the funding they need to grow and exit. With its ‘deal sharing’ capability it aims to be a game-changer in the industry.

Traditionally the investment industry has been slow to adopt digital. This has left it fractured and disconnected, which has constrained the industry by making it harder for everyone: for investors to build diverse portfolios; for start-ups to find investors; and for the networks who facilitate the process to get the best opportunities for their members.

The digital platform, Envestry™, will connect existing players. Its aim is not to replace the existing players, but rather to connect everyone – from accelerators to angel networks to matchmaking events – making investment easier and quicker.

The most exciting feature, the ‘game changer’, is deal sharing. Closed networks can have their own platform that they control. They can then opt to share certain deals, and not others, with other networks. For example, a clean tech network in Manchester may decide to showcase a green deal from a female founder network in Bristol. This way early stage companies reach a wider pool of investors, and investors have a greater choice of deals.

The platform is now available to any organisation involved in matching high growth companies with investors, mentors and advisors. These include accelerators, incubators, angel networks, start-up events companies, workplace providers, membership bodies and associations.

The need for the platform was identified by Envestors own experience of managing its private investment club. The company wanted a way to make it easier for investors to learn more about the deals, so Envestors launched their own platform. Quickly other networks expressed interest in accessing it.

“We saw that while the platform was solving a problem we had internally, there was a much bigger problem to solve – the fragmented state of the early stage investment market. This leads to issues with start-ups getting in front of investors, and means it’s challenging for investors to build a diverse portfolio. So, we set ourselves a new mission to connect up the investment space using the platform.” explains Oliver Woolley, CEO of Envestors.

“What sets Envestors apart from other platforms, is our history. We know how to run an investment club. As the saying goes; we eat our own dogfood! We’re still running the club, so when we work with other networks, whether they are long-running or emerging, they are not just getting tech, they are getting years of experience and support.”

The new integrated Envestry platform allows investors: access to increased deal flow by allowing them to see all the deals in the country across multiple networks; to follow deals and receive automatic updates; interaction with founders online through Q&A, as well as seeing other investor questions; online access to documents, videos, pitch decks, business plans, sales forecasts; ability to pledge, transact, manage and track progress online; to upload existing investments; receive shareholder updates through the platform; rest assured that deals are clear, fair and not misleading, knowing that all opportunities on the platform are signed off for FCA compliance.

For companies looking for investment, Envestry allows them to: create a company and deal profile with ability to edit; track investor interest using analytics; engage with investors through updates and Q&A tools; track pledges and progress; transact online; manage investor relations online (this is important because companies often do multiple raises and, in most cases, return to previous investors). In addition, Envestors offers expert services to help companies get ‘investment ready’.

For investment networks Envestry enables them: to have their own branded platform with complete control; offer share deals on a platform or deal-by-deal basis; maintain a database of investor interests to facilitate matching; empower their investors to build their portfolio by making it easy to find opportunities and conduct due diligence online; increase the chances that your companies will raise capital by making it easy for investors to learn more about them; comply with regulation; and reduce manual processes (for example, paper-based investor application forms, deal summary handouts etc.)

The platform, prior to launch, has been Beta-testing with early customers including:

  • SetSquared – the number one global incubator, a collaboration between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey
  • CQRS – works with unlisted business to prepare and pitch for investment
  • Conviction investment partners – a syndicate of global investors that offers milestone-based investing
  • Plerith – a Bristol-based investment network
  • Prospedia – UK’s first private equity seed-funding platform focused exclusively on co-investing into early-stage future mobility technology
  • The Business Group – Sussex-based network
  • OBN Ventures – life sciences membership organisation
  • Kickstart Capital – focuses on S/EIS opportunities
  • Stakeholderz – matches high growth businesses with investing directors

After a successful pilot stage and testing, the Envestry platform is launching this week and is now available for start-ups, investors, and networks. This the start of a drive to connect the entire investment industry across the UK by creating a single place to go to in order to find investment or to find investment opportunities.

To learn more, visit https://www.envestors.co.uk/

Business Investment, News

Envestors raises £2m to create digital marketplace for UK start-ups and investors

Envestors has announced it has secured £2m in funding to grow its digital marketplace for start-up investment. The marketplace, powered by Envestors’ white-label investment platform Envestry, facilitates the investment process for all parties, making it easier for start-ups to raise investment and for investors to build diverse portfolios.

Partnering with networks, accelerators and incubators, Envestors provides a branded site where they can engage investors, promote deals and uniquely connect to other networks.

The Envestry platform already has a number of customers including: SetSquared, the number one global incubator, a collaboration between the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey; Bristol-based network Plerith; soon-to-launch OBN Ventures, the life sciences membership organisation; and Prospedia Capital which focuses on advanced automotive technologies.

This new investment will be used to:

• Grow the network of partners using Envestry, including accelerators, incubators, universities, angel networks and larger enterprise clients.
• Enhance the platform, building on ‘smart matching’ functionality
• Develop Envestors’ investment readiness services, to help start-ups increase their chances of raising capital

Currently the investment space is fragmented, with lots of different organisations involved in matching start-ups with investment. They are all doing a great job, but they are disconnected, each having to reinvent its own wheel, and each serving a niche based on region, sector, stage or affiliation (e.g. universities, membership bodies, events companies).

This means start-ups have to do a lot of leg work to get in front of investors and investors themselves typically have to join half a dozen networks to get access to enough investment opportunities to build their portfolio.

There is no one place to go to find investment or to find investment opportunities – and there needs to be. With a single, central place, we can help start-ups thrive and investors get access to the best deals.

The industry has also been slow to adopt digital, with many feeling that face-to-face meetings and pitching events are the best way forward. But behaviours have shifted in the last ten years to the point where that argument doesn’t hold water. All purchasing decisions, whether you’re buying a pair of jeans, a new car or building your investment portfolio, start online with browsing and initial research.

Envestors aims to solve these challenges by creating the single marketplace for start-up investment in the UK.

By using its proven software platform, Envestry, to connect the industry, Envestors will empower all the organisations involved in arranging investment, as well as the entrepreneurs and investors themselves.

Our approach is unique in that we aim to connect up existing players, who play a fundamental role in matching start-ups and investors, rather than trying to replace them.

The Envestry digital platform facilitates investment through: investor self-certification; deal browsing/searching/tracking (think following); due diligence online; portfolio management from a single place; deal promotion; analytics to see how many investors are engaging with your deal; and providing FCA cover.

In-built FCA compliance is a core feature to the platform. Many players in this space are unaware that arranging deals is a regulated activity and that they are breaking the law every time they hold a pitch event.

However, the most exciting feature – the game changer – is deal sharing. Closed networks can have their own platform that they control. They can then opt to share certain deals, and not others, with other networks. For example, a clean tech network in Scotland may decide to showcase a green deal from a female founder network in Bristol. This way early stage companies reach a wider pool of investors, and investors have a greater choice of deals.

“SidebySide’s ethos, as our name implies, is to invest in companies and provide strategic input to help them grow. This is a new fund and Envestors is one of our first investments. We’ve known Envestors for a number of years and are equally as passionate about creating a single marketplace for early stage companies and investors. It’s precisely what the industry needs. Envestors has already proven itself on a small scale. I look forward to seeing them do much more on a much bigger scale,” says John Bailye, Managing Director, the SidebySide Partnership

“Without platforms such as Envestors we would not have been able to the raise the £15m required to expand our business. The 51 private investors who invested under the EIS through Envestors shared a profit of £48m when we sold the company to BP – proof the model works,” says David Martell, Founder of Chargemaster.

Roderick Beer, Managing Director of the UK Business Angel Association (UKBAA) said, “connecting the angel ecosystem is one of our primary goals as an organisation and we’re fully supportive of Envestors, who are a long-standing member, in bringing together regional and sector specific angel communities.”