How you can get feedback on whether you are investor ready

There is nothing more exciting, or sleep depriving, than when you come up with the world’s best idea – or at least in your mind.

For some people the idea fizzles out as quickly as it appeared, but for others it becomes all-consuming and motivates their every move. 

I understand you, we have been there. If you are the latter, help is coming.

As the founder of a business, you know you have a great idea, and you know it offers something new and different. You are excited and driven to share it with the world, and you may even know what you want to do with your idea and where you want it to go.

What you may not know, however, is how continued investment, mentorship and support from experienced angel investors can underpin your success, help you realise your goals, and transform your idea into a successful, long-running business.

Take The Volte for example. Last year, the Australian peer-to-peer fashion lending marketplace closed an over subscribed $700,000 seed round from a consortium of angel investors. Co-founder Kym Atkins said the investment and support from angel investors set them up for continued growth and helped solidify their position in the market.

“Partnering with the right investors is very important to us, as each investor brings a diverse range of skills, connections and strong mentorship to help us steer the company in the right direction”, Ms Atkins said.

At last count, The Volte saw a 400% growth in revenue, with the platform now boasting a retail value of over $10M, with more than 100,000 active users per month and over 15,000 listings.

Formalytics is another example of a Perth-based start-up who, backed by angel investors, has seen remarkable success. The company developed technology from the ground up that utilises computer vision and augmented reality which turns any ball into a smart ball through a mobile device. Today, they field a world-class team of former venture capitalists, research scientists (Harvard, MIT) and software engineers (ex-Google, IBM) spread across Australia, the US and UK.

There are many, many more examples of start-ups who, with the support of Perth Angels and angel investors, have realised their goals and turned their ideas into successful businesses.

So, what difference could smart investment – beyond financial – make to shaping your idea? What support do you need to ensure your start-up can develop, grow, and succeed? Is it an increased understanding of where your idea fits in the market, how to market it and determine its scalability? Is it support to help define your clear deal proposition and determine the investment required, or how much equity would be needed and what the money would be used for?

You need more than just a good idea in order to bring it to life. You need financial backing and advice and guidance from the right people who believe in you and understand your idea, and who can steer you toward success.

That’s where Perth Angels – a network of private investors actively engaged in local, emerging ventures – can provide help.

Perth Angels’ Deal Screening will run face-face (and Zoom) sessions on 28 October 2020, and invites founders who are investment ready (or close to it) to present their ideas.

We will provide you with feedback to:

• Understand the problem being solved, and seek market validation
• Refine a Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
• Understand your development stage, and the size of the market/ opportunity
• Explore investment/ equity/ valuation/ allocation
• Develop realistic execution plans
• Understand your exit options

With this information, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge you need to effectively pitch your ideas.

Following the Deal Screening, three candidates will be invited to present their deals at the Perth Angels’ Pitch Night in front of potential angel investors. From there, the sky’s the limit.

The role of the Deal Screening and Selection committee is to identify opportunities. If you have successfully raised your idea off the ground and need the support and investment to take it to the next level this might just be what you need.

Interested? Take the next step by applying for funding today at https://www.perthangels.com/entrepreneurs/. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re here for you.

As WA enters recovery, it’s time to support our backbone – startups

Carbon put their money where their mouth is. Several of the founders and partners regularly invest in smart start-ups, to support future small businesses and our economy.

Carbon’s co-founder Jamie Davison has been involved in Perth Angels as a committee member since 2016 and over the years has built a strong network of local entrepreneurs, supporting each other through the ups and downs of being a business owner.

“We have come from small beginnings ourselves at and have grown to be a collection of small businesses across Australia, so we know the importance of having support from the ground up. Not only that, we’ve really extended our network by connecting with early stage investors, and we’re proud to help turn brilliant ideas into brilliant businesses. Take Bunsters and Rhinohide for example. Our founders met both of these upcoming entrepreneurs through Perth Angels, where Renae Bunster and Marc Berryman pitched their ideas to a crowd of potential investors. Impressing ourselves amongst others, we made an investment and are now proud to see how both companies have grown and succeeded.”

“Whilst it’s a way we can give back to the economy and to support other entrepreneurs, it’s also a fantastic way to surround ourselves with smart people with a passion for business. It’s great to share ideas and solutions.”

“It’s fantastic to be involved with entrepreneurs at the beginning of their business journey. Being able to support them from turning their initial concept into a growing business is a great journey to be part of.”

Carbon Group at Perth Angels Event, pictured (L-R): Marc Berryman (Rhinohide), Jamie Davison (Carbon Group), Rafael Kimberly-Bowen (Perth Angels)

Opportunities for Growth with Early-Stage Investment

With WA leading Australia (and the world, in fact) through a recovery from COVID-19, the spotlight returns on supporting the backbone of our economy, start-up businesses. Whilst many businesses will have taken a hit due to the pandemic the world has recently been through, there are many positive sides that we should focus on. With Carbon Group recently becoming gold sponsors of the WA-based investment group Perth Angels, we thought it was time to highlight just one of the many opportunities around us in the current economy; early-stage investment.

Recessions may not seem like the ideal environment to be coming up with a new business concept or supporting other entrepreneurs to achieve their dream by investing in their ideas, but you’d be surprised. Many of the big brands that have come apart of our every-day lives were in fact born during a past recession.

Uber and Airbnb are both great examples. I think the majority of us have jumped into an Uber or booked accommodation for a trip somewhere across the globe using the online platform Airbnb. They have both become well used brands when it comes to local or international travel. Both of these companies launched during The Great Recession in 2007 to 2009; a recession that saw the GDP fall by 4.3% and unemployment reach 10%, with the recession lasting 18 months. Uber launched in March 2009, and in 2018, the company reported their app had been used for 10 billion trips. Likewise, Airbnb launched in 2007 when the founders decided to rent out their loft, and the company has turned into a multi-billion firm, with a reported worth of $US31 billion in 2019.

So, although investing in a start-up company might not be top of your wealth-building list during current times, there’s always smart ideas coming to market, so why shouldn’t it be? Recessions can be a great time to invest, with asset prices low and entrepreneurs with even more hungry to make their idea work, it could be possible to see better returns at a faster rate. If you’re a small business owner yourself, it probably seems daunting to use your cash to invest in someone else’s business. But, as long as you protect your cash and not invest out of your means, investing in a company or idea that has demand is likely to give great results.

If, like Carbon, you’d like the opportunity to connect and potentially invest in early stage businesses, Perth Angels hold regular pitch nights where several entrepreneurs share their business idea with the aim of attracting investors. With events looking a little different these days, pitch nights are currently taking place over Zoom. Keep an eye on the Perth Angels website for future pitch nights and do your bit to support Australia’s start-ups. Alternatively, reach out to Jamie Davison to find out why he decided to invest, and his experience since becoming a Perth Angels Gold Sponsor.

Join us on the 27th of May to discuss the opportunities with Digital Health.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is in both a humanitarian and economic crisis. While we are still working out what the Post COVID-19 will look like, what is apparent now that digital health will play a big part.

So to discuss what digital health is, what the opportunities are and how you might be part of delivering impact, maybe in and maybe post, the COVID-19 world, join the Perth Angels in its online masterclass on Investing in Digital Health.

Digital health is the convergence of digital technologies with health, healthcare, living, and society to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and make medicine more personalised and precise.

Digital Health technologies are disrupting the world and Perth Angels’ Angel Investing Series seeks to provide private investors and business owners with insights, tools and connections to better understand exactly how and where to participate and share in the commercial growth of these new technology ventures.

But how do you get to share in this value?
How do you assess which are the best digital health investment opportunities?

Western Australia now has an emerging digital health sector that is driving real innovation with the capability to gain a substantial share in this global growth.

The aim of this Investing in Digital Health Masterclass is to bring together leading practitioners and industry stakeholders to discuss key issues, considerations and best practice for investing in Digital Health technologies.

THE SESSIONS        
           The Tech | What the terms mean
The Transformative Opportunity | How the Tech can create money            
   The Investment Opportunity | How does the investor make money 

PRE-RECORDED VIDEOS
Registrants to this masterclass will have secure access to a series of pre-recorded keynote presentations prior to the live stream event. Better understand, what:

• the terms are in Digital Health technologies.
• are the drivers creating opportunity for digital health ventures.
• are the commercialisation pathways relevant to digital health.
• are best practices in approach investment in digital health ventures.

Review prior to get your questions ready to put to the panelists during the live stream!

LIVE STREAM
Registrants to this masterclass will receive secure access codes to the live stream on the 27th of May with two panel sessions on:

The Transformative Opportunity A panel of industry practitioners actually building and operating Digital Health ventures. 

Listen to their experiences and ask direct to them, questions you have! 

The Investment Opportunity A different panel of industry and investment practitioners actually investing Digital Health ventures from across government funding, private early stage and through public listings.

Join the conversation by registering HERE.

Perth Angels Zoom Pitch Nights and Masterclasses April 2020 – September 2020

The Perth Angels are switching gears and moving into the virtual world. We are moving all Pitch Nights and Masterclasses to Zoom from April 2020 to September 2020. Perth Angels is committed to supporting a diverse and rich innovation ecosystem in Western Australia.

We believe entrepreneurs and founders of start-up and early stage companies need support more than ever. The current market conditions are challenging for all of us and they are especially challenging for entrepreneurs and founders of start-up and early stage companies. Our duty of care to founders is to connect them to investors and co-ordinate interest, due diligence and investment as a result of our events and functions..

The current market conditions, and the anticipated market conditions over the next six months, create a challenging environment for start-up and early stage companies pitching for investments. However, we believe there is still interest and capacity for new investments in start-up and early stage companies.

Entrepreneurs can expect investors to be biased towards holding cash during these times to enable them to best support existing investments. However, Perth Angels are committed to continuing to support entrepreneurs and founders during this time, and where investment may not be possible, are keen to lend support and insight wherever possible. We encourage entrepreneurs and founders to begin their relationship with Perth Angels and pitch their company, the opportunity, and how they are adapting their business model, or execution plan and budget, to manage the impact of the current market conditions and set themselves up for future success.

We will also be taking this opportunity to continue delivering world-class learning opportunities for WA investors through our online masterclass series. It is our goal that these educational experiences will provide investors with the necessary insights to foster a strong investment environment in the later half of 2020

Perth Angels Growth and Diversity program October 2020 – June 2021

A few weeks ago, we launched our Growth and Diversity program 2020. We are now suspending all planned in-person events and functions until October 2020. Over the course of the next six month we will work in the background on growing and diversifying our membership and sponsorship to support entrepreneurs and founders and their start-ups and early stage companies.

We plan to restart our in-person events and functions in October 2020 with a re-launch of our formal Growth and Diversity program with a breakfast event on the 14^th of October 2020.

Between October 2020 and June 2021, when we can return to our plans, we will be running our planned Growth and Diversity program and our series of investor boardroom lunches, masterclasses and pitch nights.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us at manager@perthangels.com with any questions, and you can follow us on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.