Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#31

Post by acolyer » Mon, Jan 19, 2015, 8:24 PM UTC

I work with Accel Partners in London (http://www.accel.com/#people/adrian-colyer), and after many years in CTO roles, I'm certainly not afraid of technical subject matter. A quick read through some of my recent blog posts should demonstrate that: http://blog.acolyer.org. There always has to be a good business opportunity too though, not just good tech. We help our European portfolio companies establish a US presence and grow the connections etc. that they need: Accel has been operating in the valley for over 30 years! Without passing judgement on this particular opportunity, I'm always happy to hear from anyone in Europe doing interesting things with technology, aspiring to build a significant business around it, and potentially looking for VC investment. Our recent investment in Weaveworks (http://weave.works/news/seriesa.html) is a good example.

Good advice from mseebach and kcorbitt still holds true though...

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#32

Post by seekingcharlie » Mon, Jan 19, 2015, 8:51 PM UTC

general_failure wrote: post #23

richmarr wrote: post #6

Get lots of meetings and shake a lot of hands. It's hard work and takes a lot of time. You could try and shortcut this by using Seedrs or similar, but you're going to be a more compelling investment if you've refined your pitch. Inbound contacts from VCs are worth more than when you make first contact yourself, but you need presence and externally visible momentum to get those. Also consider going to the US. Money is…

Why does everyone think its easier to get hold of money in US? My friends in bay area do not know any investors at all. How does one go about this in the US? Which meetups should I go to?

Simply because there are more investors in the US.

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#33

Post by richmarr » Mon, Jan 19, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

general_failure wrote: post #23

richmarr wrote: post #6

Get lots of meetings and shake a lot of hands. It's hard work and takes a lot of time. You could try and shortcut this by using Seedrs or similar, but you're going to be a more compelling investment if you've refined your pitch. Inbound contacts from VCs are worth more than when you make first contact yourself, but you need presence and externally visible momentum to get those. Also consider going to the US. Money is…

Why does everyone think its easier to get hold of money in US? My friends in bay area do not know any investors at all. How does one go about this in the US? Which meetups should I go to?

You might get lucky but meetups seem like a hit-and-miss method to meet investors. Pitch them. Be transparent and professional, and they'll probably appreciate it.

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#34

Post by tdullien » Mon, Jan 19, 2015, 10:54 PM UTC

solve wrote: post #19

objclxt wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming acquirers are based exclusively in the US, which very much isn't the case. B2B software product that makes it easier to develop apps? I can think of a lot of large EU corporations that would be just as interested as US based companies to acquire (SAP, anyone?). Furthermore, you don't need to be US based to be bought by a US company. A product like this probably will need a US presence at some point,…

Numbers talk, bullsh*t walks. Please tell me where your suggested EU city / region ranks among this bar chart: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/tech-acquisition-rankings-ci... Numbers, please? It's not rose tinted, for the time being it's still a massacre.

Do you have similar numbers that are adjusted for "amount of money in the acquisition / IPO" ? (genuinely curious)

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#35

Post by ablutop » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 7:40 AM UTC

tdullien wrote: post #24

This touches on an interesting conundrum: I was one of the founders of zynamics (exit to Google in 2011), and I have been looking for attractive angel investment opportunities in Europe for a while - and also have tried to volunteer some time to do startup mentoring. At the same time, I still have a day job - in Zurich - so I can't go to the various "startup meetups" or whatever and waste time there :-) So - how does…

are you a member of a swiss business angel network ? any preferred way to contact you ?

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#36

Post by cjriddell » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 10:43 AM UTC

Try to pitch your business as solving a problem and don't pitch as "this is very technical".

I have found if you start by saying to a customer/investor "this is very technical" they have often decide they are not going to understand what you are about to say before you have even tell them details. Think about it as a magic potion, your service is a magic potion that ports apps between platforms. On the outside, that's your biggest message and the details can come afterwards if they are needed.

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#37

Post by tdullien » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 11:16 AM UTC

ablutop wrote: post #35

tdullien wrote: post #24

This touches on an interesting conundrum: I was one of the founders of zynamics (exit to Google in 2011), and I have been looking for attractive angel investment opportunities in Europe for a while - and also have tried to volunteer some time to do startup mentoring. At the same time, I still have a day job - in Zurich - so I can't go to the various "startup meetups" or whatever and waste time there :-) So - how does…

are you a member of a swiss business angel network ? any preferred way to contact you ?

thomas followed by a point followed by dullien at gmail.

Re: Ask HN: How do we find an investor in the EU/UK for something very technical?

#38

Post by Gys » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 12:10 PM UTC

Add a capable person to your team who's sole task it is to find investors for the visioned expansion. Its a full time job, especially with such 'raw product'. A person to work out the numbers (investment needed, market size, product placement, target price level), contact VC's, setup/lead meetings etc. Maybe even on no cure no pay.