Investment Archives - Page 2 of 5 - 4 Oceans Capital Ltd

Raising capital from angel investors isn’t as easy as you think

By David Yates on March 1, 2017 / Blog Post, EIS, Investment, SEIS / Leave a comment

Raising capital from business angels and private investors isn’t as easy as some people think There’s no question about it: Raising funding for a start-up from angel investors or venture capitalists is hard. Some entrepreneurs seem to think that investors should be falling over each other to fund their project, but the unfortunate truth is that only a small percentage of entrepreneurs are successful in raising capital for their start-up. Unlike venture capitalists who invest other people’s money, angels invest their OWN money. It’s important to put yourself in the

The rise of the family offices as early stage investors

By David Yates on January 11, 2017 / Blog Post, business, EIS, Investment, PE/VC, SEIS / Leave a comment

Companies currently raising rounds of venture investment are inevitably learning some hard truths. Primarily, VC money isn’t as readily available as in previous years, and for the companies that are receiving funding, they’re finding that the terms are becoming increasingly more onerous. The good news for startups looking for funding is that a new source of direct investment is coming to the rescue: the family offices of wealthy individuals and families. Single-family offices (SFOs) were first pioneered by the Rockefellers in the late 1800s as a way to centralise the management

Keen Venture Partners launches €90m fund to invest in UK tech

By David Yates on November 17, 2016 / Blog Post, business, Investment, PE/VC, telecom / Leave a comment

Keen Venture Partners, a new VC firm operating out of London and Amsterdam, has announced the launch of its €90m inaugural tech investment fund. Called Keen Venture Partners Fund LP, the fund will look to invest in between €5m to €10m per early stage tech company. In Europe, the fund will focus on innovation hubs across the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. Additionally, it will also consider US-based tech companies looking to expand into Europe. Founded by Ben Verwaayen, former CEO of both BT and Alcatel-Lucent; Alexander Ribbink, former COO of TomTom;

Barclays extends high growth tech fund for UK scale-ups to £200m

By David Yates on November 17, 2016 / Blog Post, business, EIS, Investment, Loan / Leave a comment

A year since the launch of its first venture debt fund for UK technology firms, Barclays has announced it is extending the fund to £200 million. Barclays has seen huge take up from businesses and since launching in May last year has provided £100million in earlier stage financing support to nearly 40 companies. It is the first of the big four banks to offer high growth businesses and their founders debt funding solutions at this early stage. The fund is designed to provide access to debt finance; commonly available in

Speed is Key To Startup Success, but how?

By David Yates on September 14, 2016 / Blog Post, business, Investment, PE/VC, SEIS / Leave a comment

As an advisor to young and growing companies, there’s one major mistake I see inexperienced entrepreneurs make time and time again – moving too slowly. But the need for speed in launching a startup has little to do with being the first to market, and everything to do with having the necessary resources to actually GET your product to market. Often new entrepreneurs spend so much time trying to get everything perfect that they run out of money. To launch a startup, you need to be agile and you need to be

VC investment in German FinTech ‘outpaced UK by 80%’ in Q2 2016

By David Yates on September 13, 2016 / Blog Post, business, fintech, Investment, PE/VC / Leave a comment

UK-based FinTech firms received 80% less VC funding than their German counterparts throughout Q2 2016. According to CB Insights and KMPG’s “The Pulse of FinTech” Q2 2016 report, venture capital-backed FinTech firms in Germany saw more than an 80% increase in funding than those in the UK – with notable deals going to startups including N26 and Finanzcheck. Given global market uncertainties associated with political events such as the UK’s Brexit vote and the upcoming US presidential election, the report notes that it was not surprising that venture capital investors

BREXIT, we’re out, so are high-growth businesses at risk?

By David Yates on July 19, 2016 / Blog Post, business, Investment / Leave a comment

How will Brexit impact startups and scaleups? Almost 75% of high-growth businesses in the UK were hoping for a remain vote with tech startups overwhelmingly opposed to Brexit – but the vote didn’t quite turn out the way many expected it to, especially the politicians! As we go through this period of uncertainty the real impact of Brexit on SME and Growth businesses is guesswork at this point. Here at 4 Oceans the real question we are asking is about startups and scaleups and whether they may lose access to finance and

Maven leads MBO of Indigo Telecom

By David Yates on July 14, 2016 / Blog Post, business, Investment, M&A, PE/VC, telecom / Leave a comment

Maven has completed the MBO of Indigo Telecom Group, investing alongside fellow private equity manager YFM Equity Partners, to acquire the business from parent TTG-Global Limited. The business will benefit from a £12m funding package to accelerate growth, including additional funds to support a buy and build strategy. This transaction continues a strong period of recent investment for Maven, having already completed private equity investments in 2016 across the technology, support services, healthcare and specialist manufacturing sectors for client funds. Recent investments include: backing the MBI of document management specialist Prime Document; supporting new

Why investors keep saying no, even when everything seems so right!

By David Yates on January 10, 2016 / Blog Post, Investment, PE/VC / Leave a comment

Even great entrepreneurs with great businesses frequently find themselves facing rejection from investors who don’t offer a clear or credible explanation, why? This is a serious condition which can be fatal to your startup. If you’re sure you have checked all the boxes; team, product, market, financials, traction, problem, competitive advantage etc. etc. then it’s likely that your pitch failed for one or more of the following reasons: You just presented badly. Anxiety often results in the real entrepreneur being left outside the meeting room while an unconfident, uncharismatic and unpersuasive robot

How to keep your investors happy – Six top tips to communicate effectively.

By David Yates on January 7, 2016 / Blog Post, Investment, PE/VC / Leave a comment

Keeping investors happy is key for the running of any business and meeting with current and prospective investors will end up being a big part of an Entrepreneurs life, but what are the key tips to communicate effectively? Clearly everyone’s different and managing numerous investors with differing personalities, expectations and requirements is a big job and needs to be taken seriously. An Entrepreneur has to keep investors involved so they feel a part of the business and more likely to support it with future plans. Here are some tips based on my personal experience both

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