Sources of Financing for Innovative SMEs: Public Sector Funds, Banks, Business Angels and Seed Funds, Venture Capitalists,

Transcription

1 Sources of Financing for Innovative SMEs: Public Sector Funds, Banks, Business Angels and Seed Funds, Venture Capitalists, Luigi Amati CEO META Group THIRD WIPO-INSME INTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM: FINANCING YOUR BUSINESS WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY December 1 and 2, 2010, WIPO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland INTERNATIONAL NETWORK For SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

2 SMEs main value resides in their intellectual capital value; but

3 there are lots of difficulties for the valuation of such rights by banks and investors.

4 Intellectual property assets can take different forms: trade secrets copyrights industrial designs trade marks and brands patents.

5 intangible assets provide SMEs with some competitive advantages by creating economic value through: increased revenues generated by new products and/or licensing the technology raised barriers to competitors stronger market position.

6 enterprises with strong intangible assets are able to generate higher added value than others but intangible assets are generally riskier than monetary or tangible assets and therefore have to provide investors with more returns

7 Intellectual capital and enterprises life cycle < People >

8 All money is not the same! INITIAL & UNORTHODOX SOURCES OF FUNDINGS EQUITY DEBT FINANCE COMBINATION OF EQUITY AND DEBT : MEZZANINE PUBLIC FINANCE

9 INITIAL & UNORTHODOX SOURCES OF FUNDINGS: O entrepreneurs savings; O profit reinvestments; O friends and family savings; O second mortgage; O personal credit cards; O customer advance; O delay of payments; O premises sharing; O employing relatives at below market salaries.

10 EQUITY: O pre-seed and seed capital; O business angels; O venture capital; O corporate ventures; O IPO and post IPO.

11 DEBT FINANCE: O bank credits: short or long term loan, unsecured or micro loans; O commercial debt; O public/semi-public loans; O bonds; O factoring leasing franchising;

12 COMBINATION OF EQUITY AND DEBT : MEZZANINE PUBLIC FINANCE: O grants; O reimbursable advances; O guarantees.

13 BANKS o Availability of guarantees or collateral o Perceived ability to repay the loan o Company track record o Rating o Good management o Repayable short-term loans o Innovative nature of business projects o Business plan quality o Management team

14 Family, Friends and Fools o Personal relationship based on trust Proof of concept o Innovation o Management team o Entrepreneurship o Commercialisation of intellectual property

15 Business angels (bas) or informal investors and Spin-off corporate venturing o Meeting or matching of individual entrepreneurs with bas o Atmosphere of trust between individuals o Credible business plan in the eyes of the Business Angel o Good management team o Fiscal incentives o Market knowledge of the entrepreneur o Availability of exit route o Return on investment (capital gain)

16 Seed capital funds o Business plan quality o Perception of the innovative nature of the project o Intellectual property o High growth potential o Government tax policies

17 Venture capital and Financial corporate venturing o Business plan credibility o Business plan with patent technology o Track record (over previous years) o Ability to grow fast and deliver quick ROI o Management team quality

18 Public funding o New jobs o Investment in productive tools Guarantees o Stamina as well as technical and financial skills/abilities o Unsecured free of interest loans o Business plan credibility o Readiness to cooperate with a tutor

19 Corporate venturing o Innovative nature of the project in relation to the company s core business o Industry-specific usefulness of the project, in particular from a technological standpoint o Business plan quality o Good management o Tax incentives

20 Institutional investors o Business plan o Intellectual Property (IP) o High growth o Good management o Tax incentives from government

21 New capital markets o Viability and consolidation o At least three years in existence o Positive results at least once within twelve months prior to application o More than 1.5 million in shareholder s equity o Ability to publish quarterly results o Public recommendation by analyst o Positive media attention o Government tax policies o Capable and experienced management team o Prominent Board o Experienced team of financial, legal and underwriter advisers o New business concept o Large market share o Record of high growth or high growth potential

22 Intellectual Capital and Risk finance o Grants for assessing exploitation of research results o Proof of concept (pre seed - FFF) o Seed (PPP Funds or Angel Groups) o Start up (PPP and Private Funds) o Expansion (Private funds)

23 Intellectual Capital and Risk finance An impossible marriage?

24 No but they need to know each other much better

25 EARLY STAGE + VENTURE CAPITAL Turnover Cumulative Cash Flow Pre-seed up to 0,2 Mln Seed up to 1/2 Mln Start up 2/5 Mln Second Round 10/12 Mln Expansion Capital 10/50 Mln Business Angels Proof of concept funds Venture Capital Seed funds Venture Capital Product definition No turnover Product Completion Initial commercial feedback Product Consolidation Structuring of commercial channels Strategic Partnerships Continuous ideas/concepts/ products innovation Consolidation of the organisation Partnerships and acquisitions

26 the Financing Food Chain Venture Capital Funds tend to lower the risk associated and begin investing in the start up phase Exploitation related Grants are resource driven and not market driven Grants Cultural Gap Pre-Seed Entrepreneur FFFF PoC funds to to Seed Start up Expansion Funding Gap Venture Capital Funds to to

27 Grants for assessing application of research results o Potentially plenty of: VII FP, National, Regional Schemes o Not used for Exploring application o Tick boxing rather than true market reserach

28 Business Angels and Seed Funds o Growing in number and investmente capacity o Still limited knowledge of Intellectual Capital o Valuation still more based on other parameters (market, cost, multiples) than IC

29 Aventiv NV (Ltd.) Michelson Diagnostics InkSpin 1

30 SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY STATISTICS EBAN 2010 EU US Networks For profit 1/3 1/2 Estimate n of angels 75k 250k 200k 186k k 500k Total estimate invested annually 4 billion 20 billion Early stage funds Investments 4 billion 20 billion Investment per round Estimate n of early stage funds Investment per round

31 Angel Investing

32 Angel investing IRR US 27% UK 22% Source: 1 - ACA 2008 and 2 - BBAA 2009

33 Early stage in Europe Red - total amount ( Mln) seed and start up operations in Europe in 2008 Green total number of operations Data Elaborated by META Group Innovation Policy Research Unit - source: AIFI; BVCA; AFIC; ASCRI; BVK; 2008

34 Seed Financing Fund PPP: public private partnership Early stage investments: 0,1 1,5 ml KICs: intangible based, fast growing Italy, Slovenia, Poland

35 Seed vs Other Investment Returns Fund Type % Return 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr 20 Yr EARLY/SEED VC Balanced VC Later Stage VC All Venture All Buyouts Mezzanine All Private Equity Source: Innovation Philadelphia (2005)

36 Thank you for listening Luigi Amati