Envestors
MARCH 30TH, 2010 By ADAM
Last week I attended a very interesting event aimed at investors placing their hard earned cash in early stage companies. The first thing that suddenly comes to mind when talking about this kind of investment is “Dragons Den.” The organisation arranging the night was Envestors and one of the entrepreneurs introducing the companies looking for capital was Imran Hakim, the founder and managing director of iteddy and a real Dragons Den success story.
Envestors introduced six companies on the night, each with 7-8 minutes to present to a room of about 70 and put their case forward to why they think that you should invest in their company. On the night there was a vast array of different proposals including a company who specialised in posture improving car seats, a telecommunications company that allows user to route their mobile phone calls through a landline and even a feature movie. After the presentation, there would be a few minutes for questions from the audience. More questions could be asked in person at the end and investors were invited to setup personal meetings to delve into the companies in more detail.
From mine and Xentum’s perspective, it was interesting to see a different type of investment to those that we usually recommend and some of the companies also qualify for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), which offers significant tax breaks. There is no way in getting around the fact that these companies are off the scale when it comes to risk but with the high risk comes a potential for considerable returns if the company becomes a success.
The most interesting part of the proposals is that the companies were not only looking for capital, but some of the companies were also looking for input and knowledge of running a successful company, a fact that I am sure would appeal to any successful entrepreneurs.
As a concluding note it was also nice to see some entrepreneurial spirit in what has been a tough few years. It is companies like the ones I saw last week that will help to lead the recovery. If you think that this is a type of investment that you would be interested in or would like to attend a similar event then you can find more information at http://www.envestors.co.uk.
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