Funding your quantum leap

This was an opportunity for 3 entrepreneurs, Sarah McVittie - co-founder of Texperts, Andrew Dahl - managing director of Sealskinz and Dr Tim Mitchell - CEO of Sareum to give delegates the inside track as to how they secured the right funding to develop their businesses.

Sarah McVittie explained how she had raised £2.4 million through 3 rounds of angel funding.  She underlined the importance of a good team to adapt to and address changes in the business, of understanding your own businesses, understanding what investors are looking for i.e. a good return on their investment, understanding who you are pitching to and the need to create a process which is competitive.  Sarah also told delegates not to get disheartened as you must expect to be knocked back many times but you get a 'yes' and that networking is essential for you to succeed.

Andrew Dahl went to a venture capitalist for financial support.  It is important for the venture capitalists to really understand what they are buying and to meet the management team.  In addition it is crucial to have someone within your own team or to bring someone in who you are confident will work closely with the venture capitalists and speak their language.  Sealskinz pitched to four venture capitalists which created the atmosphere of competition.  In addition, Andrew talked about EEDA's own Proof of Concept fund which gave him funding to take his product and test a new market which was invaluable to him.

Dr Tim Mitchell generated all the funding for Sareum on AIM which is a more unusual approach but was right for his business.  Even though they were a small company, they went to the market because it gave them the best deal - their business model was suitable for it and they could generate value and revenue from their product.

For all the speakers, they underlined the importance of really knowing your own business and the potential funders you are looking to attract, creating an element of competition and of perseverance and determination to succeed.

Download the audio clip (mp3 format, 4.6mb)