What if you could dramatically improve your possibilities to connect with and invest in undiscovered companies that match your purpose? In the recent past, more and more investment capital has become available in the Netherlands, but many startups find it difficult to raise at an early stage.
“Business angels are one of the largest providers of external capital during the early stages of the company’s development. In addition to providing risk capital, a business angel also plays a role in mentoring, advising, establishing valuable contacts and other forms of non-financial added value,” says Peter Roosenboom, Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM).
Meet Fundsup, Tinder for Investors
Founded by Arjen Strijker, Fundsup is an Amsterdam-based online matchmaking platform that makes it considerably easier for entrepreneurs and investors to find one and other.
To make it simpler, think of it like a dating app Tinder, where the first layer of filtering is done digitally. Relationships between investors and founders are like romantic ones: two parties sharing one vision, who ultimately embark on a journey together.
Efficient and effective
Entrepreneurs in need of growth capital create an extensive company profile on the online platform, which they can publish after a screening by Fundsup. In this way, they can efficiently and effectively bring their company to the attention of a fast-growing network of investors.
Explore anonymously!
Through this platform, investors can find interesting new deals more easily and anonymously. They can indicate their investment criteria by means of filters. When a new deal is available that meets these criteria, they receive a push notification in the Fundsup app. If the investor is indeed interested, he can swipe up to contact the entrepreneur via a chat function.
How is it different from its competitors?
Based out of Amsterdam, the company is a mission to empower young companies to build the change they wish to see in the world. It aims to take the friction out of early-stage fundraising through data-driven matchmaking.
“To increase the chance of a good match between investor and startup, I decided to digitize the deal discovery process. Many other companies do this on the side, but with Fundsup we have made this our core business.”
2400 new founders and 300 players!
Founded in March 2018, more than 2400 new founders have already joined this new technology. At present, 300 players are now active on Fundsup, including business angels, Quote 500 members and other wealthy individuals, private equity houses, government funds and investment clubs.
Business model and fundings
Fundsup charges €100 per month for investors, and €150 per quarter for founders. On the other hand, the company has raised €1.7 million in growth money to date from a number of anonymous angels. The platform still has about 200 (of 500) investor accounts available to experience Fundsup for free for 6 months, and founders can still register for free until the end of March 2019. You can register via Fundsup.
Onwards and upwards
Startup incubator YES! Delft has already confirmed that it will work with Fundsup to bring promising startups to the attention of investors. And at the end of last year, the City of Rotterdam and the regional development company InnovationQuarter also entered into a partnership with Fundsup, in order to find co-investors with specific knowledge and expertise in certain markets.
Other regional development companies have also shown interest. Once these collaborations are in place, Fundsup aims to roll out to the rest of Europe.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
5 innovative European sci-tech startups you should know about in 2019