Investors for starting a business. Where to find investors and how? Where to find an investor for a small business, for a startup, for a project? Help from the state

The article was written by an experienced entrepreneur who has experience in attracting investments in his own innovative projects and third-party startups, collaborating with companies such as IC Finam, SBAR, Private Capital, etc.

First, a small but very important introduction:

Finding an investor willing to invest money in a new business is both simple and difficult. I’ll tell you how to find it below, but first I want to ask you: “Why do you want to attract an investor to your own business?”

No, I do not reject such an important and useful institute for a start-up business as “Investor”. In most cases, without an investor and attracting third-party money, a business simply cannot be created and launched.

I'm asking about something else:

“Are all your resources exhausted?”
“Does your business need an investor at all?”

Are you sure your project needs it? Do you think that an investor is pure “chocolate” and manna from heaven? Are you wrong?

To better understand these difficult issues, I suggest that you first and without fail read these articles:

Article: “Does a startup always need an investor with money?”
Article: “Investing in a startup, what problems might there be?”
Article: “Finding an investor for a startup or why does the investor say “no”?

Where to start looking for an investor for your business?

Do you need an investor to start a business, but you don’t know where to find one? Let's start with this.

First of all, I want to say the most correct and most banal thing: “To create a business, an investor can be found anywhere.” Everywhere. At every step. Even by extending your hand, you can feel the “strong shoulder of a friend” who can become an investor in your new project.

Therefore, for those who are looking for an investor for a start-up business, it is more important to understand not where to look, but how to look and, most importantly, how to convince a person or group of people to invest in your business.

Finding an investor is not a problem, the problem is making him a partner.

Below we will look at most of the possible “places” where you can and should look for an investor, and now I will try to focus your attention on one of the most important points - preparing to search for a future investor.

For many years now, there has been a story circulating on the Internet about how someone walked into an elevator and literally in two minutes, talking about his project, received almost millions of dollars from an investor.

I can fully admit that this is a true story. You never know how many poor and rich people wander around the world.

Perhaps someone fell for this. But in life everything is much more complicated and you won’t be able to find an investor “out of the box” without preparation.

To understand why, I will ask you: “Are you ready to give your hard-earned 25,000 rubles to a stranger. simply because he promises mountains of gold”? I think no.

You will study the offer, promises, etc. Why then do many of those who are looking for money for a project think that this money can be found without careful preparation?

In order to find serious money for a serious project, the minimum that you should have on hand is a business plan for the future project and its presentation with provisions on the benefits received by a possible investor.

A business plan can be replaced with a feasibility study (feasibility study), but it is better to have a full-fledged business plan. All the same, then the right investor will demand such a business plan in order to protect their money as much as possible.

Having read on Wikipedia and understood what a business angel is, an investment applicant can prepare (by creating a business plan and presentation) and contact directly the most serious organization in Russia that helps attract money from private investors to business - “SBAR” (Community of Business Angels of Russia) . There are other similar communities, but I advise you to contact them first.

The fact is that several years ago I promoted one of my inventions through SBAR.

Looking ahead, I want to say that my project never received the investments it needed.

But communication with representatives of SBAR, its managers preparing projects for the investment session and with those investors who were found with their help, “forever” cleared my brain regarding my innovation.

And understanding of innovative business in general.

Yes, I did not receive investment in the project with the help of SBAR, but the knowledge and experience that I gained by promoting the project with their help helped me get investment for another project quickly and comfortably. “There is no such thing as too much knowledge, just like money.”

By the way, I proposed my project to the National Network of Business Angels “Private Capital” in Moscow. There my project was immediately rejected. But I was not upset and continued the search.

This is what I wish for you: do not lose heart when rejected and continue searching for an investor.) In general, if you are rejected again, this does not mean that your project is bad. It may not be groundbreaking and won't change the world, but the harder you push it, the more likely you are to succeed.

Where and how to get money for a startup

This video explains: The legendary Russian Internet entrepreneur Anton Nosik shares his thoughts and best practices on how and where to look for your investors and how not to make a mistake.

Where to find investors for an online business?

Nowadays on the Internet you can often see advertisements like this: “Looking for an investor in a small business.” On message boards, special resources for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators.

You can also take advantage of this opportunity and submit your ad. Perhaps this way you will find your investor, but the chances of success will be minimal. It is best to contact investors directly.

What do I mean when I say: targeted. This means that you need to prepare, collect a list of those Internet resources through which you can contact future and real investors.

Do you know why it is necessary to contact investors directly? I'll try to explain based on my own experience. Several years ago I decided to create my own extensive resource base where I could advertise for investment in a very interesting project.

I approached data collection with all responsibility and within a month I collected everything that could be found on the RuNet at that time. Including foreign investment funds. Rowing, as they say, everything that caught the eye and barely “moved.”

What was the result after I sent out my proposal to all these funds, communities, centers, technology parks, etc.?

Zero! Pure and virgin!

Russia and Ukraine is the first step to starting a successful business with an easy and simple start.

When making a decision to purchase a franchise, you need to consult the professional recommendations in this section:

You can read about the latest news and trends in franchise business

Do you know who I received “encouraging” replies and offers of investment from? From those who provided paid services for finding investments. Like: “You have a wonderful project, with our help you will change the world with your idea... but first we need to pay the Nth amount of money.” All clear?

Don't waste your time on such empty hassles. No, I do not deny that on such message boards, forums, etc. you can find your investor. This is possible, but the chances are slim.

Most of the “investors” on such resources are those who have no money, but want to foolishly scam you out of money. And they're getting scammed. And how they cheat!

Why am I talking all about sad things!

Look for money for a project on collective investment services. In my opinion, today the best crowdfunding platforms in Russia are the following resources:

boomstarter.ru
planeta.ru

If your business is created on an innovative idea, then I advise you to contact the Skolkovo Foundation https://community.sk.ru/news/ or Technopark "Strogino". These are state or near state structures, it is not easy to get into them, but it is possible.

An example of such a “hit” can be: Project Corteos and project "On Veliki".

Works productively in Russia Russian Startup Tour. This is the longest tour of the regions by leading experts from Russian development institutions with the participation of venture funds and major corporations. Perhaps your business or your innovation will be of interest to a large corporation, and it will provide it with investment?

I recently came across an offer from the creators of the City of Money service. City of Money is an online platform for loans for business and investment. I don’t want to give a link, I haven’t used it myself, find it and google it, but as stated on their website, this is a platform where investors and borrowers can contact each other directly, without intermediaries.

Well, the most likely thing is to take money from the bank. Either under a start-up business assistance program, for example from Sberbank, or in the form of a consumer loan. Many aspiring entrepreneurs started this way. They took money from the bank in the form of a consumer loan and started their own business. Many people succeeded.

The main thing is to find an investor

This video explains: An interview with the creator of the legendary Ozon online store, Alexander Egorov, in which he talks about the difficulties of finding investments and difficult relationships with investors that led to the sale of the business.

Investors for business in Moscow

Advertisements like: “Looking for investors for business development in Moscow” or: “Looking for an investor for business in Ukraine”, in my opinion, are incorrect.

In the first case, it is not particularly important for the investor where the business created on a breakthrough technology or idea is located, and in the second, it makes no sense to look for an investor in Ukraine in our time (known political events). Which serious investor would invest money in a business operating in a country with a declining economy?

Let's focus on finding an investor in Moscow. I personally would not make any distinction in the geographic location of the investor, but if I did, I would turn to such resources as "Managers Club - E-executive." Do you know why? Yes, because 90% of the people shuffling there are managers from Moscow who have money.

Moreover, there are many managers with money who are already “ripe” for their own business. Do you understand? There is money, there is a desire to create a business, there is experience, but there is no time to fully devote oneself to a new business.

Not everyone is ready to leave the post of general manager of some oil company, even for the sake of their own business. Exit: find a head-first idea generator, invest money in him, his team and his idea, and everyone will be in chocolate.

This is educational: Strategy for startups

This video explains: A very interesting and original speech by Yuri Lifshits, which can be titled with humor: “A startup is not the whole life.” Yuri tells how to properly organize and build a startup strategy that will be key to your success.

An investor is looking for business projects and... does not find a suitable one

90% of new business creation projects do not receive investment because the business initiator is to blame. His main fault is that he either incorrectly emphasizes the business plan for the investor, or incorrectly creates the presentation of the project.

Here you need to understand the most important thing - how the investor considers applications.

In 95 cases out of 100, the investor sees only the main indicators provided by the project initiator:

whether he is satisfied with the financial performance of the project;
project payback period;
project risks;
and options for exiting the project.

The investor will read and consider the remaining indicators only when he is interested in the points that I listed above. Many people are still interested in having a project team, but this is not such an important point in my opinion. Or rather important, but later.

I will tell you how one of our projects was considered in IC "Finam". Looking ahead, I’ll say that my partner and I cheated a little when creating the presentation. Knowing in advance that we would be sending our presentation to Finam, we carefully prepared.

Having found out what projects this fund, respected in Russia, invests in, we found common “features” inherent in our project and those projects in which the fund has already invested. And these “traits” and features were especially emphasized in their presentation.

You can study the numerous experiences of other entrepreneurs who have created their own successful franchise business in the section of our website:

The most successful and informative case, according to the editors of the Russtarup portal:

An interesting experience of creating a business under a franchising program is presented

“Focus” passed, and we were invited to a conversation. Did we deceive the fund or not? No, of course not, we just did our presentation correctly. Did this help us in the end? No. Finam did not finance our project.

But we found investments elsewhere and from other investors, saying that our project received very good reviews in Finam.

Now let’s talk about how to draw up a business plan, an example of which will satisfy everyone. Or rather, about the small features of such a composition. So to speak: “A business plan for an investor, an example from my own life.”

What you write like: “The project will earn up to $100 million a year in two years” is of no particular interest to anyone. In my practice, any applications of this type are checked very quickly.

The main thing that needs to be emphasized in a business plan is to carefully and responsibly approach the creation of points:

what problems do the project solve for people?
project risks;
options for investor exit from the project.

When describing the risks of the project, you must clearly understand what risks your proposal may encounter during its implementation and in the future. Including competitive risks and risks called force majeure.

When describing options for an investor to exit a project, you must clearly write what you agree to in building a relationship with the investor. Here you need to understand the main thing - an investor investing in a project wants to make money. Make a profit. Explosive profits are desired.

All other motives that are important to you personally, for example, to create a unique business, to be the first in the industry, to prove something to your wife... the investor does not care at all.

Therefore, he must clearly understand how and when he will be able to sell his share in the business being created.

The AngelList online platform is one of the world's largest platforms for attracting investment in startups. Its database includes more than 200,000 companies and 21,000 investors, two thirds of them are business angels. Over the three years of the project’s existence, about 1,300 companies, including services and, have attracted more than $200 million in investments. We spoke with the head of the AngelList fundraising program, Ash Fontana, who visited Moscow at the invitation of the IIDF, about the development of the project and what an entrepreneur needs to know when trying to attract the attention of investors.

- How big is the difference between venture investors in the US and in Russia?

There are a large number of investors in Russia and certainly a lot of capital. Investors already specialize in financing at various stages. This is important when there are accelerators, business angels, and venture funds - investors who can help the company at every stage of its existence. Of course, the market is not yet as developed as in the US, but the picture seems to be starting to take shape.

- Are there many projects from Russia on AngelList?

Thousands. Outside the US, the largest region in terms of the amount of money invested on AngelList is the UK, twice as big as Russia. However, Russia is twice the size of any other European country on AngelList.

-How does the process for listing startups on AngelList work?

Anyone can list a company on AngelList. There is no selection test or any requirements, you just need to fill out a profile. But to get money, you need to be the company that investors choose. We don't have any background checks, but we do this cool thing called "company pitching" - we research projects, conduct interviews, and if we think the company is good, we send investors a letter with a note about it. We do this for about 5-10 startups a week.

- How does moderation work for investors?

Investors must be accredited - in the US this means having $1 million in capital (real estate value does not count) or $200,000 in income over three years. If you are considered an accredited investor, you can view companies on AngelList. And when you commit to investing through our platform, we re-verify that accreditation and a few other details. If you're investing for the first time, we provide training to cover the steps you take as a first-time investor.

- What are the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs presenting their project on AngelList?

The first mistake they make is not even the profile, but the timing of its creation. Many people first talk to friends and acquaintances offline, trying to attract money, and then go to AngelList - and this is a mistake. They need to do everything at once if they want to attract the attention of investors in the shortest possible time.

The second mistake is an overly cautious approach to information disclosure. Entrepreneurs think that competitors will take advantage of it. It's very rare that someone actually steals ideas. If your idea is good, it will be difficult to copy.

The third mistake is that entrepreneurs are not specific enough. It's worth remembering that investors are looking at hundreds of projects. So you need to immediately clearly define how you differ from others. People start with general phrases like “we will change all markets” or “we are creating a revolution”, use proud words, but instead they should write “we created this object, a product that is new or unique because of this and that.”

- What advice would you give to entrepreneurs from Russia?

Show that the problem you are solving is global and not specific to Russia. You need to find ways to describe your team's accomplishments that make sense to global investors. Try to explain the team's merits on an international and translatable level. It is difficult for an American investor to understand what “I studied at Moscow State University” means in comparison with Stanford. He knows what Stanford is, but he doesn't understand what MSU is. Instead of “I studied at such and such a university, worked in such and such a company, they are all Russian,” say better: “I won the mathematics Olympiad three times, I was one of so many best students on the course.”

Finally, try to get feedback from your fellow Americans. Investors from other countries are suspicious of entrepreneurs who have failed to attract attention even in their hometown.

- Recently, on AngelList you can invest not only individually, but also by joining a pool.

Now we manually manage such transactions and do not allow just anyone to take over and syndicate. In a syndicated transaction, the leading investor is important, who must be a professional and have a good history. When those wishing to create a syndicate come to us, they say how much they are willing to invest in the company, what the cost of financing should be, and what kind of return they want to receive per share. Then they write about a page of note about why they want to invest in this company, why they believe in it, why they are syndicating the deal and send out an email to investor followers on AngelList. Having received applications, they choose who to include in the syndicate, what the volume of funds to be placed will be, then they distribute shares, collect funds, prepare legal documents and transfer them to us. AngelList creates a fund, all members of the syndicate invest there, and the fund itself is invested in the company. So we manage the fund, we maintain all its legal and tax documentation.

- How popular is it?

It has become incredibly popular! Such deals are closed very quickly - usually within a day. One, for a couple of hundred thousand dollars, closed within an hour. Interestingly, people are willing to provide funding to existing syndicates for future deals; we have already raised about $10 million in this way and that’s in just five weeks!

Previously, there was a restriction on AngelList - an entrepreneur could contact an investor only if the investor himself noticed him and wrote to him. Is this true now?

Five weeks ago there were changes to the site, we gave companies the opportunity to make their profile public, post it on Twitter, blog or somewhere else to say: “I am attracting investment, look at my profile on AngelList and see how much I have already collected". All this is now legal. Over the past five weeks, about 3,000 companies have taken advantage of this option. This is a great opportunity for startups to attract new investors. For example, companies that have a lot of users with money, say, manufacturers of software for doctors, they can write to these people and say “hey, I know you haven’t invested before. But we raise money, and you use our product, so invest in us!” The only negative is that the company must show us that the investor is accredited, and we will help arrange everything properly.

Recently, AngelList allows startups to also search for employees. How is this recruiting part of the project developing?

It is growing because finding people for business has always been a big problem. As far as we know, more than a hundred people find work - sign a contract - every week. So this product is developing surprisingly well, especially considering that it has only been running for six months, we started creating it a year ago, and the entire project is led entirely by one person.

Is there a correlation between how well a company raises funding and how popular it is in the eyes of employees?

Yes, very big! If you are invested in and have a good profile on AngelList, you will be more attractive to candidates. Because they see that you raised money and can definitely pay them.

- What industries are popular on AngelList?

We have biotech, the creation of consumer hardware in the field of healthcare is very popular, the production of gadgets - for example, devices that allow you to lose weight, fitness gadgets. Education is also popular. These are the industries that people don't expect to become popular, but they do.

- Do you track the fate of your “graduates” - projects that have already attracted investment?

Yes, and we track how much money they managed to raise later – now it’s more than $2.5 billion.

The AngelList platform itself attracted a round of investment of $24 million in September, what will this money be used for, what are the plans for development?

We will continue to do what we already do - hire the best engineers and designers, employees who work on our products. In addition, we will use them to finance the company’s expenses. After all, commissions for attracting investment will not return to us soon - we receive money only when investors make a profit, and this is usually many years later, and in the meantime we need funds to pay expenses and pay salaries.

We receive a fee for attracting funding, that is, a share of 5-10% of the profits that investors will receive from investments on AngelList. This only applies to syndicated and online deals. If you created a company profile on AngelList, but then made a transaction offline, everything is okay, we do not claim any commission.

-You have many clones. Is there anyone you can call your competitor?

We don't think much about competitors because it distracts us from our work. In addition, this is a business with a network effect: the platform is useful for companies only if there are many investors on it, while at the same time, investors only need it if there are many companies on it. A critical mass of both is needed before such a platform becomes useful. We have this critical mass, and it will be difficult for any other company to achieve it.

- How will the angel investment market develop in the world and in Russia?

The industry is becoming more efficient - the more information, the more informed decisions investors make, and we help this happen. It becomes easier for business angels to decide because they can compare companies faster and have more access to their founders - through AngelList, or LinkedIn, or Facebook. At the same time, venture funds still need to prove that they are what companies need. Russia has a good chance to become a developed market because there is a lot of capital here, a lot of people with business experience. In addition, there are many people here with technical education, which is a big advantage. So I expect that there will be more and more deals in Russia.

This section is for those who are either ready to invest and are looking for an object for profitable investment, or, on the contrary, are interested in attracting Russian or foreign capital. Here you can find advertisements from private investors who are ready to invest money in business, as well as investment programs of investor companies offering, among other things, project financing. Direct and venture investment funds, major regional and industrial investors are invited to contribute to this section. Both small and large businesses will find a wide range of investment opportunities here.

It doesn’t matter who you are: a private equity fund, a venture fund, a private investor, a business angel, an investment bank or a management company, if you make direct investments and are ready to provide project financing, then this portal will be useful to you.

If you are interested in diversifying your investment portfolio, looking for new and profitable objects for investment, post information about yourself: investment priorities, volumes and directions of investment, principles for selecting investment projects and companies, ways to exit an investment project.

You can not only post information about yourself, but also subscribe to receive applications to attract investments. Just customize the search form in accordance with the criteria you are interested in and regularly receive investment applications in your mailbox. Do you want to be more active in your search for investment targets? Then refer to the section "Investment projects".

Having started a business, an entrepreneur often feels an urgent need for an influx of additional funds. He can fill the financial gap by taking out a loan from a bank, or he can try to attract investors.

Doing the latter is usually much more difficult. How to find an investor? What nuances of communication with them should be taken into account? How to determine the chances of an enterprise to receive the desired amount of investment?

Investments: what are they?

Before we talk about ways to attract investment in business, let's take a short theoretical excursion. Let's define our conceptual apparatus. What is investment? What varieties are they represented today?

In modern economic theory, investment classification is carried out on the basis of a variety of criteria. There are three generally accepted among experts: the object of financing, the method of investment, and the strategy for their implementation.

According to the first criterion, investments are divided into the following types:

so-called “real” investments;
financial investments.

According to the criterion reflecting the financing method, investments are divided into:

direct (directive);
"portfolio"

According to the criterion of the applied strategy, investments are:

risk-free;
moderate;
aggressive (“venture”).

The most important thing that an entrepreneur should understand is that in the modern capitalist world there are practically no “ideological” investors who are ready to simply invest in a business based on personal sympathy for the project. Many businessmen, as experts note, show some naivety. They think: “I’ll find an investor and immediately get rich.” But such thoughts are fundamentally wrong. First of all, the one who will invest in business will get rich - these are the laws of capitalism.

Who is he - an investor?

Subjects of investment in business can be a variety of groups of individuals and organizations. There are quite a lot of classification criteria here. The generally accepted types of investment subjects among economic theorists are as follows:

Russian government organizations (foundations, government and municipal structures, state-owned enterprises);
private companies registered in the Russian Federation (LLC, JSC);
individuals - citizens of the Russian Federation;
foreign government organizations;
private foreign firms;
individuals who are citizens of other states.

Where can I find an investor from these categories? There are many options. The easiest way is to go through the relevant portals and numerous forums. You can periodically review magazines on economic and business topics. In the texts of materials and interviews that are published there, contacts of a variety of funds that provide investment support to entrepreneurs are regularly found. A completely working way is to attend business exhibitions and conferences. Representatives of various organizations often make presentations at them. A regular guest at such meetings is a private investor. You can find an opportunity to chat with him during coffee breaks or after the event. As a rule, such people are very open in communication and easily engage in dialogue.

How to find an investor who would prioritize investing in companies operating in a specific field (in IT technologies, for example)? In this case, experts advise purchasing industry magazines and attending conferences and seminars where representatives of companies operating in a certain segment speak.

People who are ready to invest in a business can act either as a single person or in various formats of consolidation with others. How to find an investor who is guaranteed to be ready to finance a project? The strategy for finding a source of investment will depend on what type of cash flow we need. In turn, this is determined by the nature of the business, the area where business activity is carried out and a number of other factors. Let's consider these nuances.

Real investment

Real investments mean investments in various types of assets. This may be the allocation of funds for the purchase of certain resources or the supply of them to the entrepreneur in ready-made forms. That is, for example, if a business needs processing machines, then an investor can make a “real” investment by allocating funds for the purchase of equipment or providing a partner with ready-made samples of units.

The “ideal” investors for projects of this type are government funds. Why? As experts say, such organizations tend to keep the progress of investment projects under control. This is much easier to do if the subject of monitoring is a real asset.

The ideal business that has the greatest chance of receiving such financing is a small or medium-sized manufacturing enterprise (producing goods) that has been on the market for 3-5 years or more.

How to find a “real” investor? What might make a person or organization interested in investing in a company's assets? Experts recommend trying the following tactics:

Show how profits have grown over the years and the company’s management strategy has been improved;

Make it clear that the owner of the company is an experienced and competent person;

Show that the business is stable: there are suppliers, sales are established.

Usually, if the company is profitable and the sales market is large enough, there are no problems with finding an investor willing to invest in the “real” assets of the entrepreneur.

Financial investments

Financial investments mean the injection of funds into shares, shares and other types of securities issued by a company (or structures owned by it in the form of joint-stock companies, foreign legal entities, offshore companies, etc.).

Ideal investors for investments of this type are private (Russian and foreign) funds. Why? In contrast to state-owned companies, which are very conservative in their attitude to the speculative component of business, private business quite allows for serious injections into the securities of enterprises.

The ideal type of company for this type of investment is a large, federal or international organization operating for 5 years or more. Finding an investor for a small business within the framework of such a strategy will be problematic. Most likely, the overall level of capitalization of the company will not be enough to service the turnover of shares.

How to interest a financial investor? Experts offer the following options:

Show that the company's shares are resistant to industry crisis trends (against the background of securities of competing companies);

Tell about other investors who have successfully invested in the company;

Convince a person considering the possibility of pouring financial flow into a business that the business model is workable.

People and organizations with a good understanding of financial markets tend to operate in large cities. Therefore, the greatest likelihood of meeting such entities and finding an investor in one of them is in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan and other major financial centers.

Direct investments

Direct investments are understood as cash injections, the object of which is the authorized capital of business companies. As a rule, we are talking about the purchase by a person investing financial resources of a controlling stake, a leading share, etc. If, say, citizen Ivanov says: “I bought Petrov’s business,” then this means that he made a direct investment in the business.

These types of acquisitions, in the theory of some economists, are often of a political nature (that is, they are often aimed not at making a profit, but also at increasing influence in certain areas at the municipal, district or even national level). Often, experts note, direct investments are unprofitable in financial terms.

Ideal investor: an influential person or organization, an oligarch, a major political figure (can be either a citizen of the Russian Federation or a foreigner). Why? These subjects of the business arena are ready for the fact that a potential investment object will not bring profit; they see it as a source of increasing their importance in certain areas.

Ideal business: city-forming enterprise, IT project of federal or international scale (for example, a social network, an anti-virus company with a powerful product, etc.).

How to find investors for a business who are ready, like citizen Ivanov, to buy it? The great thing is that you most likely won’t have to do this in this case. If the project is worth the investment, the investor will come himself. Many experts think so, and we can probably agree with this.

Portfolio investment

When citizen Ivanov says: “I invested in Petrov’s business” (which looks quite contrasting with his previous “statement”), this means that he made a portfolio investment. This type of operation means the transfer of funds in favor of business assets with the subsequent goal of receiving income upon growth of capitalization (company revenue).

Example. Petrov's company has a capitalization of 1 million rubles. Citizen Ivanov came and offered the entrepreneur a deal. Petrov's company receives 200 thousand rubles of investment in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the company. The entrepreneur agrees. The business turns out to be successful, and a year later Petrov’s company grows to 2 million rubles. Ivanov, as we remember, having invested 200 thousand, received a share in it of 20%. Which is now equal to 400 thousand rubles.

The most interesting question regarding portfolio investments is the following: how to determine the very share that the entrepreneur will cede to the investor? There is no clear answer to this, but experienced experts recommend following these principles:

In any case, retain the controlling stake;

Give a percentage of ownership of the business, assessing the likely volume of subsequent rounds of investment (if there are any other investors in the future, a “reserve” of equity participation should also be set aside for them).

Risk-free investments

This kind of investment is aimed at extracting a practically guaranteed profit (usually small). This type of investment is comparable (and for the most part very similar) to a bank deposit, when the investor, having invested money for a certain period, returns it with interest. Legally, relations between an investor and entrepreneurs within the framework of transactions of this type are formalized, as a rule, in the form of loan agreements or the purchase of bonds.

What is the ideal risk-free investment subject? This is a state fund, a large corporation. Why? For both, stability is very important. Profitability comes second.

Ideal business: a large public or private corporation with a very large capitalization (allowing it to service bonds and loans).

How to interest an investor? Experts believe this is possible:

By publishing financial statements in an extremely transparent manner;

Showing actual performance results (market coverage, ratings, etc.);

Convince the sustainability of the business model.

Moderate investment

The main criterion here is the guaranteed absence of losses for the investor, regardless of how the business goes, but subject to a sufficiently high probability of extracting greater profits than with the first type of strategy.

Example. Ivanov tells Petrov that he is ready to invest in his business. The conditions are as follows: the contract period is three years, and if during this time the company grows, the investor will receive a profit in proportion to the increase in capitalization. If the business goes negative, the entrepreneur returns the amount of investment without profit. Let’s say Ivanov invested 1 million rubles, while Petrov’s company had a capitalization of 10 million. Option one: after three years the company grew to 15 million. Ivanov will thus receive 1.5 million rubles. Option two: in three years the company

Petrova loses 30% in capitalization. Ivanov, in accordance with the agreement, receives the invested 1 million back without any additional payments. Legally, the relationship between an entrepreneur and an investor can be formalized in the form of an option agreement for the purchase and sale of shares. That is, Ivanov, at the moment of signing an agreement with Petrov, buys securities from him and receives an option - the right to sell them - at the price that will be in three years.

This strategy helps very well in solving the question of “how to find an investor for production.” As a rule, expanding the capacity of a factory or plant means that the entrepreneur has found some new markets. Therefore, there is a high probability that the investor will want to finance an increase in the volume of production of goods for which demand is expected to increase. Due to similar patterns, using this strategy, you can find an investor for construction. Who, having seen the prospects for developing new markets, may decide to finance the construction of new, commercially in demand facilities.

Ideal investors: private funds, individuals (Russians and foreigners).

Ideal business: small and medium-sized enterprise, service company, catering facility, operating on the market for 1-2 years or more.

How to attract an investor? According to experts, this is what you should do:

Show the dynamics of profit growth and, no less important, in combination with the amount of costs;

Make it clear what principles the business model operates on and how sustainable it is;

Show that nothing prevents the company from developing (the sales market is large enough, there are no crisis trends, etc.).

Venture investments

This type of investment involves the greatest risks for the investor, but contains the possibility of receiving very large profits. The relationship between the entrepreneur and the entity investing funds allows for 100% unprofitability based on the results of doing business. However, the investor’s profit can amount to hundreds or even thousands of percent.

Example. Petrov developed a technology for producing wear-free socks using nanotechnology and invited Ivanov to invest 10 million rubles. into their industrial production. He agreed. According to the agreement between the businessman and the investor, the second received 80% of the company's shares and retained this share regardless of the company's success.

Option one: the whole world began to buy Petrov’s innovative socks. In three years, the company's capitalization has grown to $10 billion. 8 of which now belong to Ivanov. Option two: Petrov’s innovative socks turned out to be unclaimed. The company's loss amounted to 7 million rubles. Ivanov ultimately remains the owner of a share estimated at 80% of the remaining capital of the company, that is, assets worth 2.4 million, and has no claims against Petrov.

Of course, the above story is more fiction than reality. The venture market is a place where finding investors for a business is incredibly difficult. As a rule, funds and individuals who prefer an aggressive investment strategy choose 1-2 entrepreneurial projects out of 100. Having selected 10-15, they expect (and, as many experts believe, not unreasonably) the bankruptcy of 7-8 of them, that is, more half. And only due to the success of other companies do they recoup expenses and turn a profit.

An ideal business for this type of investment: a startup, a small organization that has just entered the market or is just about to do so. Venture strategy is one of the best ways to find an investor to start a business, despite the difficulties described above. The main thing here is not to stop searching, to offer, to act. And then the company will have a chance to get into those same 1-2 “elite” percent.

Ideal venture investors: private organizations (including those that specialize in this type of investment), individuals. Interestingly, this may also include some government funds. In particular, those aimed at supporting innovation. Thus, government agencies are gradually becoming the place where it is quite possible for even a novice entrepreneur to find an investor.

How to attract financing? Experts recommend the following tactics:

Tell the investor in detail about the target market, about who will definitely buy the innovative product;

Make it clear why the promoted product or service is better than solutions from competitors;

Tell us about the success of promoting a similar product (if there are such precedents) in other markets.

Attracting investments: tools

How is interaction between entrepreneurs and investors carried out in practice? Experts identify the following main mechanisms.

1. Personal communication with the investor

Most funds have offices, and with them - structures responsible for the “personal reception” of entrepreneurs, where experts sit and assess the prospects of businesses whose owners come looking for investments. Many economists consider this method of searching for investors to be one of the most effective. At least due to the fact that the proposal will be guaranteed to be considered. If an entrepreneur chooses a strategy of personal visits to foundations, then it is better for him to temporarily move to a large city where there are many such organizations (if he does not live in such a locality himself). Finding an investor in Moscow is much easier than in remote regions.

2. Remote communication (correspondence, phone calls, Skype)

As a rule, this method of interaction is relevant for cases where an entrepreneur lives in one country and an investor lives in another (or they are separated by significant distances). One of the advantages of this method is the ability to interact with several funds from different states and cities at once. You can solve the problem of how to find an investor in Moscow, and at the same time communicate with companies from the USA and Singapore. In this case, the chances of attracting financing increase significantly.

3. Public addresses of the entrepreneur

There is an option in which a businessman does not visit any specific structure, but addresses the entire business community. The main “platform” where it will be easiest to find a private investor will be the company’s website, the personal blog of its founder or his page on a social network. The most popular method of interaction with the public is crowdfunding, in which absolutely anyone can invest in a business.

You can attract investors through several channels at once. This is a common practice for businessmen today (especially startups). The main thing is not to retreat, to convince yourself: “I will find an investor.” Unlike banks, which either give a loan or not (and then some time must pass before the next application), people who decide to invest in someone's business can change their minds.

Having refused an entrepreneur today, the investor may well change his mind and give consent tomorrow. This nuance, experts believe, is one of the key ones in building a successful strategy for attracting funds to business. Don’t just think about how to find a private investor. As we said above, in the modern capitalist space there are also interested state structures.

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