The Corporate Venture Capital-as-a-Service Influencer

#Insurtech #Fintech: @AXAVentures co-invests in Bee ($4.6 Million total) to Deliver Banking Services - Venture Capital Dispatch - WSJ

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Bee Raises $4.6M to Deliver Banking Services for Anyone 

By Lora Kolodny

November 30, 2015

Banking startup Bee, incorporated as One Financial Holdings Inc., has raised $4.6 million in two rounds of seed funding.

New York-based Bee provides bank accounts, debit cards and financial services that are aimed at people who live in low- and middle-income neighborhoods.

Its two rounds of seed funding include its most recent $2.65 million led by AXA Strategic Ventures , which comes after its first, led by Blumberg Capital in 2014.

Bee offers account holders no minimum balance requirements, no overdraft fees, availability of funds within a half-hour from deposits made via check photo through its mobile app and cash withdrawals at any ATM, twice a month free.

"Typical fees can add up for people who live on a tight budget and have a regular savings or checking account. Fees and minimums can even prevent people from opening a bank account," said Chief Executive and co-founder Vinay Patel.

Features like unlimited ATM withdrawals from bank ATMs or free withdrawals at a bank branch can end up costing people if they have to take a subway ride to reach a bank ATM, the CEO said.

"If you walk around downtown Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy, or Grand Concourse in the Bronx, you don't see bank ATMs or branches. Those are 25 blocks away."

To win new customers, Bee has been setting up pop-up banks, or kiosks with customer service staff, in neighborhoods around New York that lack other bank branches and ATMs.

The startup has 10 full-time employees and between 10 and 20 field staff at its pop-up branches on most days, the CEO said.

The company plans to use its seed money to expand to San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, while continuing to grow its customer base in New York City.

AXA Strategic Ventures' Drew Aldrich, a Bee investor, said longer-term, investors expect the company to expand into different financial services.

The company could easily make small loans, the kind that traditional banks don't offer, to customers who need $300 for a car repair or $500 to outfit children with everything at the start of the school year, the investor said.

"Too many people are reliant on payday loans today," Mr. Aldrich said, "And some banks just don't want to deal with evaluating risk in this market. But Bee will have knowledge of deposits and transaction data firsthand and will know which customers are a good risk."

Bee competes with many banks that have a mobile offering, including Simple, now owned by BBVA , Eastman Credit Union , VyStar Credit Union , CapitalOne and WellsFargo.

Other investors in Bee's seed round included T5 Capital, Fenway Summer Ventures, Funders Guild and Blue Seed Capital.

http://www.beecard.us

 

Key Person Insurance Is VCs’ Assurance | TechCrunch

John DemeterCrunch Network Contributor

John Demeter advises entrepreneurs, startup founders and innovators for WilmerHale.

How to join the network

Founders soliciting venture funds quickly get comfortable revealing details about their operations, vision and finances. They may also need to be willing to step on a scale and get a blood draw.  Investors try to ensure that the startups they’re funding are healthy, and, strange as it might seem, they like to know that critical founders are in good shape, too.

A physical is required to obtain key person insurance, which investors can require as a condition of granting Series A funding. Key person insurance is basically term life insurance on a company’s founder or founders, with the company as the beneficiary.

It’s not uncommon for VCs to insist that a startup take out a key person policy on the person or people whose expertise is critical to the company’s current operations and future success. The rationale for the request is that should a key person suddenly die, the business would either collapse or be so crippled that it would have to take a huge step back to reboot and rebuild.

Covering Debts

VCs are always mindful of downside protection for their investments, and you really can’t blame them. If a founder whose very existence is essential to the company’s future meets an unexpected end, its investors and the company will be left to shoulder the debts because early-stage companies normally have little or no revenue or cash reserves to draw on.

Although a founder might initially view the demand for a policy on his life be a bit off-putting, he could also see it as a compliment.

That’s where the policy steps in. Its proceeds pay wind-down costs, including salaries, creditors and debts to vendors and the landlord. Whatever’s left will be distributed to stockholders, usually at pennies on the dollar. If the company opts to carry on without its key person, the insurance money can fuel the company’s operations.

Investors typically ask a company to purchase key person insurance coverage when a company is raising its first round of financing. VCs will request the insurance at the term sheet stage or as part of negotiating definitive investment documents.

Although a founder might initially view the demand for a policy on his life be a bit off-putting, he could also see it as a compliment: Investors consider his knowledge and skills so vital to the company’s wellbeing that they need a backup plan if anything should happen to him.

Of course, investors won’t request a key person policy on everyone at the company. If you’re not deemed a “key person,” treat that determination dispassionately as a business decision. Typically, the more founders or team members in a company, the less crucial any single player is.

Getting Coverage

Key person insurance costs around $500 to $1,000 a year per million dollars of coverage for a

via techcrunch.com

Fonds de pension à la française: Axa vise 15 à 20% du marché | Le Revenu

L'assureur français Axa a indiqué lundi qu'il visait 15 à 20% du marché des futurs "fonds de pension à la française" annoncés vendredi par le ministre de l'Economie Emmanuel Macron.

Paris, 30 nov 2015 (AFP) - L'assureur français Axa a indiqué lundi qu'il visait 15 à 20% du marché des futurs "fonds de pension à la française" annoncés vendredi par le ministre de l'Economie Emmanuel Macron.

"Nous avons une part de marché qui est très importante en termes de retraite collective, entre 15 et 20 milliards. Donc on peut avoir entre 15 et 20% des 130 milliards", a déclaré à l'AFP Nicolas Moreau, président-directeur général d'Axa France, après une conférence de presse sur les nouvelles orientations de l'épargne de l'assureur français.

Le ministre de l'Economie, Emmanuel Macron, a annoncé vendredi qu'il souhaitait la mise en place de nouvelles règles pour permettre aux gestionnaires de retraites supplémentaires d'entreprise de financer plus facilement l'économie réelle.

Ce sont ces fonds relevant de régimes supplémentaires collectifs, évalués à environ 130 milliards d'euros, dont il est question dans cette proposition de M. Macron.

"Je trouve cela formidable. On avait éventuellement le projet de se mettre au Luxembourg pour faire ça. On va pouvoir rester en France puisqu'il y a ce trou réglementaire qui va être comblé en France", a commenté M. Moreau.

"Il faut que l'on fasse le tri dans l'ensemble de nos contrats de retraite collective et qu'on lance éventuellement de nouveaux produits", a-t-il précisé.

Pour le reste, Axa a détaillé ses ambitions: passer de 8 à 10 milliards de collecte annuelle d'épargne d'assurance-vie d'ici 2020 et doubler la collecte en épargne retraite à 1,3 milliard d'euros.

"On pense que pour les années à venir on va rester sur des taux bas, ce qui va amener des changements dans les habitudes des clients", a estimé M. Moreau.

via www.lerevenu.com

Peer-to-peer insurers tipped as attractive M&A targets- 30 Nov 2015 - Post Online News

Acquiring peer-to-peer insurance companies has been tipped as a way for traditional insurers to protect market share as the demand for insurance products changes, a Deloitte report claims. The report, titled "2016 Financial Services M&A Predictions - rising to the challenge", said if peer-to-peer insurance gained significant scale it could represent a threat to existing insurers. "Demand for insurance through established providers would fall, as their role becomes limited to covering claims not able to be paid by the [peer-to-peer]...

via www.postonline.co.uk

Startup-Trends: Ein Blick auf den heißen Scheiß im Jahr 2016 | t3n

Insurtech: Revolution in der Versicherungsbranche

In 2016 knöpfen sich Startups die Versicherungshäuser vor. (Foto: Clark)

Experten aus Wirtschaft und Politik sehen schon seit Jahren die digitale Revolution in der Gesundheitsbranche voraus. Lässt der Durchbruch in Deutschland bislang zumindest auf Arzt- und Patientenebene noch auf sich warten, steht die tradierte Versicherungsbranche hingegen vor radikalen Veränderungen. Unter dem Stichwort „Insurtech“, einem Kofferwort aus Insurance und Technologie, rütteln immer mehr Startups mit guten Ideen an den Marmorgebäuden der Konzerne.

Das Zauberwort lautet Demokratisierung: Denn wo, wann und vor allem wie und zu welchen Bedingungen wir uns in Zukunft versichern, entscheiden wir mithilfe von smarten Apps, Online-Plattformen und Wearables. Es geht um transparente Preisvergleiche, maschinengesteuerte Beratung und den einfacheren, schnelleren und individuelleren Abschluss von Versicherungspolicen. Wie das funktionieren kann, zeigt allen voran das mit über 300 Millionen US-Dollar finanzierte US-Startup Oscar , das eine Krankenversicherung für das digitale Zeitalter bietet. Im deutschsprachigen Raum schicken sich zudem Neugründungen wie Treefin , GetSafe , Knip oder Clark an, die Versicherungsbranche zu revolutionieren.

Elektromobilität: Sauberer Verkehr als Geschäftsmodell

Was die Bundesregierung nicht schafft, erledigen Startups: Elektromobilität. (Foto: Ubitricity)

Es ist schon bezeichnend, wenn die Bundesregierung einen Mann wie Elon Musk nach Berlin einlädt, bloß um sich dann anhören zu dürfen, Deutschland müsse einfach mehr Elektroautos bauen. Keine Frage: Politik und die hiesige Automobilindustrie haben beim selbstauferlegten Prestige-Projekt „Elektromobilität“ bislang kolossal versagt. Eine Million Elektroautos bis 2020? No way! Gut, dass sich wenigstens die Gründerszene ein Vorbild am Tesla-Gründer nimmt und an der Vision einer smarten und sauberen Mobilitätszukunft arbeitet.

So zum Beispiel das Berliner Startup

via t3n.de

"Un banquier sur deux perdra son job dans les 10 ans" - Finance - Trends-Tendances.be

© Jonas Hamers/ Image Globe pour Le Vif/L'Express

Les banques font face à une nouvelle menace quasiment mortelle. Son nom de code ? FinTech, autrement dit les start-up financières, toutes prêtes à révolutionner le secteur bancaire au moyen de la technologie, à l'instar d'Uber avec les taxis. La question n'est quasiment plus de savoir comment y faire face, mais comment y survivre, prévient Antony Jenkins, ex-CEO de Barclays, dans un discours donné cette semaine à Londres, cité par Business Insider.

À ses yeux, une nouvelle vague de start-up, plus rapides, plus efficaces et moins chères que les grandes banques, vont semer le trouble dans les activités traditionnelles de celles-ci, telles que le crédit, les paiements et la gestion de fortune. Le phénomène est même déjà en cours. Avec des conséquences extrêmement négatives pour le futur des banques établies.

Grandes banques : jusqu'à 50% de filiales et d'employés en moins

"Une pression énorme montera sur les banques établies, qui devront se battre pour adopter les nouvelles technologies au même rythme que leurs nouvelles rivales", prédit Antony Jenkins. "Elles auront de plus en plus de mal à assurer les retours sur investissement et la profitabilité exigés par leurs actionnaires."

En fin de compte, "ces forces obligeront les grandes banques à automatiser significativement leurs activités. Je prévois une chute du nombre de filiales et de personnes employées dans le secteur des services financier pouvant atteindre 50% sur la prochaine décennie. Même dans un scénario moins radical, je m'attends à un déclin d'au moins 20%."

Banques : les 2 raisons au bain de sang annoncé

Deux raisons expliquent cette situation délétère, selon l'ex-patron de Barclays. Primo, la crise financière de 2008, qui a engendré une crise de confiance du public envers les grandes banques, provoqué une hausse drastique de la régulation et mis sur le marché un grand nombre de personnes intelligentes, connaisseuses du secteur bancaire et désireuses de se trouver de nouveaux défis.

Secundo, le prix de la création d'une start-up a chuté ces dernières années. À une certaine époque, on estimait qu'il fallait 50 millions de dollars en poche pour se lancer. Aujourd'hui, ce serait plutôt 2 millions... voire 5.000 dollars à peine, selon certaines estimations.

Les banques ont, bien entendu, déjà réagi. Nombre d'entre elles ont fait de la technologie une priorité dans leur stratégie de développement. Environ un tiers des salariés de Goldman Sachs sont désormais des ingénieurs. Et 58% des banquiers senior interrogés par la firme Temenos comptent investir davantage dans l'IT cette année, la plus forte proportion depuis la naissance de cette enquête en 2008.

L'apocalypse n'est donc pas tout à fait pour aujourd'hui, nuance Antony Jenkins : "Bien qu'on observe une scène FinTech bourgeonnante au Royaume-Uni, on attend toujours des projets réelle

via trends.levif.be

"Notre label est un gage de qualité qui crédibilise les fintech", assure la DG du pôle Finance innovation

Les entrepreneurs de la fintech sont boostés depuis le berceau par le pôle de compétitivité mondial Finance innovation. Il aide depuis sa création en 2007 ces start-up à émerger en France, bien avant que les médias ne donnent ce surnom aux jeunes pousses du secteur de la finance. La structure a accompagné plus de 600 de ces entreprises et a accordé au tiers d'entre elles le "label fintech" (qui n'était au départ pas baptisé ainsi),a expliqué à L'Usine Digitale Joëlle Durieux, directrice générale de l'organisation. 

"Notre label est un gage de qualité qui crédibilise les fintech", assure la DG du pôle Finance innovation © Capture d'écran YouTube

A lire aussi

La France et l'Europe sommées de soutenir (vite) les fintech menacées par leurs[…]

Global fintech challenge ou du bon usage du concours pour fédérer une filière naissante

Mais au fait, "fintech", ça veut dire quoi ?

L'Usine Digitale - Le pôle de compétitivité mondial Finance innovation a labellisé 100 fintech en 2015.  Pourraient-elles devenir des "licornes" de la finance ?

Joëlle Durieux - Je l'espère ! En fait, nous accompagnons la plupart des entrepreneurs labellisés depuis le début de leur démarche de création d'entreprise. Ils peuvent venir frapper à notre porte alors qu'ils n'ont qu'une idée embryonnaire. Nous les mettons en contact avec le pôle d'activité corres

via www.usine-digitale.fr

Africa Top Success Awards : Votez pour l’innovation africaine de l’année 2015 | Africa Top Success

La deuxième édition d’Africa Top Success Awards se poursuit avec la publication cette semaine de la publication de la liste des nominés dans la catégorie « l’innovation africaine de l’année ». La nouvelle catégorie permet de valoriser le génie des africains au service de leurs communauté.
Cette année les innovations retenues par la rédaction du portail panafricain africa Top Success se retrouvent majoritairement dans le secteur des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC). Les votes se poursuivent jusqu’au 31 décembre à minuit.

via www.africatopsuccess.com

Meet China's Second Generation Rich Kid Entreprenurs - TechNode

“A rich family’s child has to choose one of three options,”says Fuye Wang managing partner at Geek House Capital. “Work in a large company, invest, or inherit the family business.”

Mr. Wang is an example of China’s ‘second generation rich’. His father, Zhongjun Wang, is the founder of Huayi Brothers, one of the largest private-sector film companies in China. Huayi Brothers is backed by Alibaba, Tencent, and CITIC, a state-owned investment company. 

Instead inheriting his father’s business, Mr. Wang decided to take the second option. “I’m too lazy and I know that I can not work hard, so I got into the investment field,” he jokes.

China’s second generation rich have a reputation for extravagance. But how do they see themselves as entrepreneurs?

“There are bad examples of [Chinese “second-generation rich”], but there are good examples, too,” says Lili Luo, founder of TriBeluga.

Ms. Luo is also a wealthy second generation entrepreneur. Her parents run a business that involves various residential and tourism property development projects.

“During my first presentation at my parent’s company, I said that we needed change and improvement,  just like President Obama in his speeches. Company executives were quite shocked by my idea,” she says.

The more senior executives of her parent’s company wouldn’t trust her, they thought she was just another second generation rich kid. However, Ms. Luo now recalls it as a valuable experience. “These challenges ultimately helped me grow. Being aware of misunderstandings and cultural differences help me better understand others.”

Ms. Luo started her own business last year. She is the founder of Tribeluga, a Chinese incubator that helps foreign startups expand to China by leveraging global networks. Based in Seoul, Tribeluga mainly focuses on three areas: environment, health care, and education. So far, the incubator has invested in two startups: VTouch, a remote touch interface solution provider, and N.thing, which makes internet connected smart pots. 

“Other countries still think of China as ‘made in China’. The future will be ‘make for China’,” Ms. Luo says. “China is a full 20% of the world’s population. Any decision, values, or views that we [China] hold will have significant implications for the world.” 

Xianming Zhang’s father Yue Zhang is the founder and CEO of Broad Group, which is currently building a 220-story building, the tallest in the world.

The tower or the ‘Sky City‘ will hold schools, a hospital, 17 helipads, and some 30,000 people, according to Mr. Zhang.

“My dad’s inspiration comes from his imaginati

via technode.com

Google Venture's Investment Strategy and Outlook for Virtual Reality - Road to VR

Joe Kraus is a general partner at Google Ventures, and he was on a panel at the Virtual Reality Intelligence conference in San Francisco talking about VC investment trends in virtual reality. Joe predicts that 2016 will be a “perceptual year of despair” for virtual reality where the market won’t really start to take off in a big way until 2017. He says that for VR start-ups, the key will be to conserve cash and survive 2016 until 2017 when the VR market will start to really take off. Joe talks about some of the VR investments that Google Ventures has made, and some of his predictions for the future of VR and AR.

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Each year, Google Ventures has a total of about $300 million to invest into early-stage companies, and Jo

via www.roadtovr.com

The 5 Most Notable Venture Capital Investments of 2015 | Inc.com

IMAGE: Getty Images

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Like gasoline or carbohydrates, venture capital is the fuel that keeps the startup world humming.

2015 saw one of the most massive cash inflows to startups since the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. For better or worse, the money has pushed the tech world into bubble territory, and fostered legions of unicorn companies now valued at $1 billion or more.

Through the third quarter of 2015, venture capital firms plied Silicon Valley startups with $47 billion worth of investments, whic

via www.inc.com

#FinTech : New Alpha AM crée un fonds français de venture capital dédié aux FinTech - Maddyness

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via www.maddyness.com

The End Of The Startup Gold Rush, Absurd Burn Rates And Tourist VCs | TechCrunch

In 15 years as a venture capitalist, I’ve seen just about every market condition you can imagine. I started at Insight Venture Partners in 2000 at a time when the stock market was experiencing historic highs and tech companies were receiving massive private and public valuations. Capital markets were flush, startup burn rates were rampant, and the gold rush was on. Investors came out of every corner trying to get a piece of the pie.

We all know how that ended.

Fast forward to 2006, when I founded OpenView Venture Partners. Markets had rebounded from the 2001 disaster, and investment capital was beginning to flow back into VCs and tech startups. With a reasonably good idea and a solid team, most tech startups could secure growth capital. The environment wasn’t quite as crazy as 2000, but it was close.

Then, 2008 happened — and we all know how that ended.

Which brings us to today. While tech investment and VC activity climbed to its highest levels since 2000 last year, there’s a growing sentiment that we’ve reached a precipice. Private valuation euphoria seems to be dissipating. Tech IPOs are down (and the tech startups that have gone public are generally under-performing). Volatility in broader markets is creating uncertainty.

The combination of those factors is leading to some prognostication about the possibility of another tech bubble, but I don’t think we’re heading toward 2001 or 2008 again. Instead, what we’re experiencing now is more indicative of the market’s tolerance for higher-risk investments given those investments’ performance and other economic factors. For many, that trend is a harbinger for disaster. But in my book, it could be a good thing for the tech and VC industries as a whole.

Greed And Fear (And The Impact On Cash Burn)

Before I explain my point of view, I think it’s important to explore two forces that most often influence the ebbs and flows of tech investment participation, private valuations and startup cash burn: Greed and fear.

During the good times — when macroeconomic volatility and uncertainty is low — euphoria begets greed and you see much larger pockets of risk-on activities. In this environment, more investors have more money to deploy, and they’re more comfortable rolling the dice with higher risk investments. As a result, it’s far easier (and cheaper) for entrepreneurs to acquire and spend capital.

And why wouldn’t they? If capital is cheap and investing it in the business has the potential to yield exponential growth, why wouldn’t they “burn” it? This is no different from how most savvy individuals manage cash during periods of low-interest rates and strong economic growth. When capital is cheap and market opportunities appear high, you borrow for large purchases and invest cash in areas that have potential for a high return. (It’s important to clarify that I’m talking about deploying good capital on good financial opportunities, not raising and spending money just because you can.)

In the not so good times — think 2001 and 2008 — instability and volatility begets fear, which creates a very different ecosystem. Capital markets become more conservative (or freeze up entirely), which naturally raises the cost of acquiring that capital. VCs are choosier about the investments they make and terms become much less founder-friendly.

For startups with a sound economic model in a less competitive market, this might lead to a brief retraction in growth, but improved organizational efficiency. For startups with poor unit economics or a growth model that’s dependent on rapid cash burn to acquire users and tip gross margins in their favor, fear in the capital markets can be deadly.

So, Where Are We Now?

In the financial world, this ebb and flow phenomenon is often referred to as risk-on, risk-off investing, and it tends to create herd-like behavior.

via techcrunch.com

Index Venture's Jan Hammer on tech valuations: 'Maybe that was the top' - Business Insider

Jan Hammer, a partner at Europe's biggest venture capital fund Index Ventures, says we may have just passed the peak for tech valuations, which have been spiralling ever higher this year.

Rocketing valuations of tech companies — particularly in the US — have led some to worry that we could be in the middle of an inflating tech bubble. Uber is often held up as a prime example — the company is now worth over $50 billion (£33.2 billion) but is thought to be unprofitable.

Revered Silicon Valley venture capitalist Michael Moritz recently slammed a boom in "subprime" unicorns — private tech businesses worth over $1 billion (£660 million) — and Fortune's private equity and venture capital investor Dan Primack reported an atmosphere of fear in the Valley.

Hammer told Business Insider: "You can look back and say maybe that was the top. We're not seeing valuations continue to escalate upward from maybe where they were one-quarter ago.

"We have really had somewhat of a correction, certainly in the public markets, and in a number of instances we've actually seen already a slight correct in private markets."

High profile tech companies such as Snapchat and Zenefits have both seen their paper valuation reduced in recent weeks by mutual fund Fidelity. In one particularly brutal case, Fidelity reduced the value of its investment in e-cigarette company Njoy from $9.5 million (£6.3 million) to just $12 (£7.97).

But, despite valuations losing momentum, Hammer doesn't actually think we're in a bubble. He says the "opportunity has never been bigger" for both investors and entrepreneurs, thanks to the rise of mobile — which makes reaching a big audience easier — and cloud computing — which brings the cost of setting up a startup down.

Index VenturesIndex Ventures' Jan Hammer.

Hammer told Business Insider: "The bubble may be if you're seeing "me too!" investments, with investors piling indiscriminately into the third, and fourth, and fifth, and sixth copy of the same thing.

"What we spend our time doing is trying to find really original thinking entrepreneurs who come up with really disruptive ideas."

Index Ventures is the biggest venture capital investor in Europe and has backed success stories including Asos, BetFair, Etsy, Funding Circle, and Just Eat, as well as Facebook in the US. 

Hammer says fluctuations in paper value don't actually matter all that much to private investors like Index.

"Our business is really to separate amazing companies from the good one or OK ones," he says. "That job doesn't really change. Here at Index we spend most of our time trying to work out who are the winners and valuation is kind of a consequence of that."

Hammer specialises in fintech (financial technology) and has backed companies including multi-billion dollar Dutch payment startup Adyen,

via uk.businessinsider.com

5 Reasons Why Not to Raise Capital For Your Startup - ValueWalk

I recently had dinner with co-founders of a startup who’d just raised quite a bit of money for their company, a deal which incidentally I’d passed on. The meal was fantastic: fresh salmon from the bay, washed down with a particularly good New Zealand pinot noir, while watching the sun go down over the water. Really you’d expect my mood to have been chipper… but it wasn’t.

The evening was spent with the founders congratulating themselves for raising money. I’m not being a killjoy but it felt like the end of the line, not the beginning. It felt like all the preparation had been done, all the work completed, all the sweat, tears and marriage breakups had already been had, and now finally they’d succeeded. Except of course that wasn’t the case. This was the beginning not the end.

All they’d done was raise some money. Money which, though it may be needed to fulfill their goals, stands as a liability. Now, I’m all for celebrating success but this attitude really worries me and here’s why.

VC culture has come to equate raising capital with success, where each successive round of financing successfully completed is denoted as success, but you know what, VC culture is wrong.

Success is success and raising money is raising money. Let’s not confuse the two.

Raising money amounts to taking someone’s hard-earned capital. Capital which has been acquired by sweat, savings, maybe even theft but it’s someone else’s nevertheless. That, folks, is a liability no matter which way you spin it!

Realise that even if the capital never came with strings such as board seats, preferred equity, liquidation preferences or any host of other typical “strings”, realise that capital ALWAYS comes with strings which I’ll get to shortly.

So in the event that you’re an entrepreneur, emboldened by the fact that most anyone in Silicon Valley today sporting a hoodie, some pimples, and professing to work out of his grandmother’s garage, can get funded and at eye-watering valuations, let me give you 5 reasons why raising money may be a bad idea for your business:

1. Lack of Focus

Multi tasking is rarely a great strategy for any business. If you doubt me, try rubbing your belly and patting your head.

37signals built one of the most successful businesses in their niche by remaining extremely focused on just one product. My point is that it’s next to impossible to be running around raising capital, while remaining focused on building your fledgling business.

Unless you’re sitting in Silicon Valley which stands as a distinct anomaly to the rest of the world, let me assure that raising money will likely take you far longer than you ever thought, will come with more distractions than you’ve even thought, and the progress in your business will suffer.

2. ROI Can Be Poor

Time has a cost. The time spent raising money can often be time poorly spent.

I little while ago I was pitched by a company which had developed a minimum viable product, cheap to produce, easily shipped and which when sold, netted a $10,000 profit. The founders were, however, trying to raise $250,000 and had been on a road show for 3 months already!

Consider that by focusing on building, marketing and selling that very product they needed only 25 products sold to reach their $250,000 they had s

via www.valuewalk.com

7 Ways to Finance Your New Startup

7 Ways to Finance Your New Startup

When it comes to starting a new business, one thing that you are always going to need is money, and there are several ways that you can get it. Even the smallest startup will require at least a little bit of financing, and as we all know, it really does take money to make money. So, how do you get the money you need for your startup? Here are the most popular methods.

Ways to Finance Your New Startup

Family and Friends

One of the most common options is to reach out to family members and friends to help you with financing your startup. This may be your best option if you can’t get a bank loan due to poor credit. People who care about you want to see you succeed, and will be more apt to loan you money. In most cases, if there is interest at all, it is at a much lower rate than what the banks and other financial institutions charge.

 

Small Business Administration Loans

The SBA was created by Congress in 1953, and offers a number of guaranty programs. You get the money from your own bank, and it is guaranteed by one of these programs. One of the best things about these loans is that they are often given at lower interest rates than traditional bank loans, and even though times have been rough lately, there has been a significant rise in the amount of loans granted to small businesses.

Self-Financing

The first thing to look at is yourself. You may not realize it, but you have many ways that you can finance your startup. A bonus of doing this is that you don’t have any loans to repay later. You can use your personal savings, sell personal assets (real estate, stocks, bonds, heirlooms, etc.), use your credit cards, etc. Another idea is to start a side business to fund the main business.

Venture Capital

You can get money from venture capital firms that will invest in you in exchange for equity in your business. The biggest drawback is that these companies tend to only invest in businesses that are established and can show that they earn profits. But, there is no harm in trying. You may have that great idea that one of these companies has been looking for.

 

Crowdfunding

The Internet is a great place to look for funding for a startup. There are all kinds of crowdfunding sites out there, including Kickstarter, where entrepreneurs can post their appeals for funding. More than $1.6 billion has been raised for over 200,000 different projects, and more than 81,000 of these

via everydaypowerblog.com

Faut il investir dans les FinTech ? | France info

Faut-il investir dans les FinTech ? © Fotolia

Mardi dernier à Bercy s’est tenue la rencontre des FinTech, autrement dit celle des start-up innovantes de la nouvelle économie numérique. Pour développer leurs services, ces jeunes PME innovantes cherchent des capitaux, bien sûr auprès des grandes entreprises mais aussi auprès des particuliers. Est-ce intéressant d’investir dans ces PME ?

Il faut d’abord rappeler que ces investissements sont assortis d’un risque puisqu’il s’agit de parier sur le développement d’une ou de plusieurs jeunes entreprises qui ont besoin de capitaux. Et il y a effectivement plusieurs manières de le faire.

Souscrire à une partie du capital

 Vous deviendrez ainsi actionnaire. Il faut avoir confiance  dans l’entrepreneur ou les entrepreneurs car vous deviendrez associé. Mais c’est aussi une manière de s’investir dans l’entreprise, celles d’amis, de ces enfants et plus généralement de ses proches. Vous aurez droit au partage des bénéfices et aussi vous prendrez le risque de perdre de l’argent.
On peut effectivement investir sans s’investir.  En souscrivant des FCPI. A ne pas confondre avec les SCPI – les sociétés civiles de placements immobiliers. Cela n’a rien à voir. Les FCPI sont des fonds communs de placement dans l’innovation qui collectent de l’argent pour l’investir dans  ces entreprises. Très exactement 60% de la collecte doit être investie dans ces PME innovantes. Ces sociétés ne sont généralement pas cotées en Bourse et sont labélisées par Oséo.
Les avantages à le faire : une réduction d’impôt sur le revenu égale à 18% des sommes investies dans la limite de 12.000 euros pour un célibataire et du double soit  24.000 euros pour un couple. Ce qui donne un maximum de 2.160 euros de réduction d’impôt sur le revenu pour un célibataire et 4.320 euros pour un couple. Attention toutefois au fameux plafonnement des niches fiscales. Un plafond global de 10 .000 euros.

Des contraintes :

Un délai de conservation de cinqans plus l’année de la souscription. Cela c’est le délai fiscal mais en pratique  il faut attendre dans les huit ans pour que le fond soit liquidé. Les éventuels gains après cinq ans sont exonérés d’impôts mais supportent les prélèvements sociaux. Certains FCPI sont assortis d’une réduction d’ISF de 50% d’un plafond de réduction de 18.000 euros.
C’est un placement qui s’adresse surtout à ceux qui ont le goût du risque: L’économie d’impôt est intéressante mais la liquidité et le prix de sortie restent aléatoires. Cela s’adresse à ceux qui ont déjà un patrimoine important et qui souhaitent faire des opérations de diversification.

via www.franceinfo.fr

Open innovation : vers plus de collaboration entre banques et fintech ? | L'Atelier : Accelerating Business

via www.atelier.net

Le Prix FinTech de l'année 2015 récompense la startup Aston iTrade Finance | Widoobiz

Aston iTrade Finance vient de recevoir le prix très convoité de « Fintech de l’année ». La plateforme collaborative B2B de valorisation du Poste Clients rafle la mise devant plus de 120 startups participantes.

Faire des impayés une force. Ce n’est autre que la Secrétaire d’État chargée du Numérique, Axelle Lemaire qui vient de remettre le prix de FinTech de l’année à l’entreprise Aston iTrade Finance. Récompensée pour sa capacité d’innovation, la startup se démarque parmi plus de 120 startups représentatives de l’écosystème de la FinTech, appelée aussi technologie financière.

La startup se positionne comme leader de la valorisation du Poste Clients B2B au niveau mondial. « On répond à un paradoxe qui est au cœur des préoccupations des entreprises : le cash, la trésorerie court terme. Face à cette problématique, on propose la valorisation des factures pour bénéficier de plus de cash », indique Amaury De la Lance, CEO d’Aston iTrade Finance.

25% des dépôts de bilan sont dus à des impayés

Les factures qui « se promènent » en France pèsent 650 milliards d’euros par an et 25% des dépôts de bilan sont dus à des impayés. « Les entreprises sont tuées par leurs clients », ajoute le CEO. Pour apporter une solution aux entreprises, Aston iTrade Finance valorise le Poste Clients en 3 points : réduction des délais de paiements, diminution des impayés et financement de ces impayés. Autrement dit, une facture ne s’apparente plus à la bête noire de l’entreprise.

Grâce à sa solution, Aston iTrade Finance accumule les récompenses. Avant d’être reconnue FinTech de l’année, la startup a rejoint cet été la Bpi Excellence, qui valorise les startups de l’innovation. Ces différents gages de  reconnaissance participent à l’accroissement de la notoriété de l’entreprise. « Tout cela nous permet surtout de faire savoir aux entreprises qu’il existe une solution à leurs problèmes de trésorerie. La plupart ne le savent pas », explique Amaury De la Lance.

La startup gère les factures d’entreprises des 4 coins du globe

Mais ce n’est pas tout. Le prix de FinTech de l’année permet à Aston iTrade Finance d’accélérer ses partenariats avec les banques. Il représente aussi un gage de crédibilité, apprécié par les partenaires étrangers de l’entreprise. Déjà installée à Hong-Kong et en Amérique latine, l’entreprise réalise 50% de son chiffre d’affaires à l’étranger. « Dès 2016 nous allons poursuivre notre expansion à l’international. Nous allons ouvrir des bureaux principalement en Angleterre, en Allemagne et sur le continent asiatique », confie le dirigeant. Les FinTech ont un avenir prometteur.

via www.widoobiz.com

#Insurtech #Blockchain = Lloyd's Sees Blockchain's Potential For Insurance Markets

A plan to modernise the London Market – the major international insurance market based in the United Kingdom's capital – may include recommendations to use blockchain technology to improve data access and reduce costs associated with administrative paperwork.

Lloyd's, one of the London Market's key participants, held a seminar in London last week to highlight blockchains, among other technologies, to insurance market participants as part of their modernisation plan, called the Target Operating Model, or TOM.

Blockchains could bring increased risk-recording abilities, transparency, accuracy and speed to the insurance markets, Lloyd's director of operations, Shirine Khoury-Haq told CoinDesk in a statement.

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Khoury-Haq elaborated on the insurance market's interest in blockchains:

"Blockchain has the potential to improve the way insurers record risk, increasing the speed, accuracy and transparency of our processes. As part of the TOM consultation we will be interested to see how blockchain could help us resolve some of the challenges facing our industry.”

The two blockchain use-cases floated at the seminar were for blockchain-powered digital 'deal rooms', where documents can be securely shared and logged, and a new token on a permissioned ledger for insurance markets. The ideas were presented by Michael Mainelli, an emeritus professor at Gresham College and executive chairman of Z/Yen, a think-tank and venture capital firm.

Blockchain-powered deal-rooms

Mainelli said online digital deal-rooms could significantly change the way business is currently done in the London Market. While such technology already exists, few market participants make use of it.

Instead, they rely on physical proximity to one another, personal relationships and paper documents to get deals done, he said.

"Everyone [in the market] works within three minutes of Lloyds, but they also know they're dirt if they renege on a contract. Within hours everyone will freeze them out," Mainelli added.

But an online deal-room using a blockchain could make the London Market more attractive to international business, which could drive significant growth for Lloyd's and the London Market, he pointed out.

"If we were sitting in Hong Kong right now and decided to create a global insurance market, we could build a quick deal-room and we would automate it from the start," added Mainelli.

A blockchain-based deal-room would strip out the need to trust an intermediary while providing an accurate record of the documents shared by the deal's participants.

"It gives you a database that's unalterable and nobody owns. It's a ledger of who sent what to whom, when, forever. That's an important part [of the insurance process]," Mainelli said.

via www.coindesk.com