On Tuesday 20th June, Banco Sabadell held the #ExpatAfterwork event, in collaboration with Barcelona Activa, the Ajuntament de Barcelona at the MediaTic building in Barcelona.
For over 15 years, Banco Sabadell has been constructing a strong relationship with the international community in Spain, offering a range of products designed to fulfill their needs. At the 'Expat Afterwork', we talked about different aspects on ways start-ups and SMEs can access funding channels. This event, organized in collaboration with Barcelona City Council, was an ideal networking opportunity in which speakers and other attendees talked about their projects and future plans.
This video is available in BSabadellTV
What mechanisms can start-ups use to access funding? Which documents are needed? Are there any symptoms of a bubble in the sector?
José Carol, head of the BStartup10 programme, leaded the event’s round table, where they debated these and other matters relating to the main financial tools and alternative forms of funding for start-ups and small-sized enterprises.
Do you know what you should take into account as a start-up when you first start looking for funding? José Carol, of BStartup 10, will share his top tips about what you should consider before starting to look for investors for your project.
- Briefly assess the investment scene
Before starting the search for investors, start-ups need to ‘do their homework’ and briefly assess the investment scene, determine the development stage of their project and how much money they will need. They should then use the answers to these questions to decide what type of investors they need, as this will vary depending on the amount of investment sought and the development stage of the project.
There are different investors for different stages:
- In the seed and development stage, investors tend to be the entrepreneurs themselves and their close friends, family and associates, who are collectively known as the 3 Fs:family, friends and fools.
- During the launch stage, after the product or service has been developed, investors tend to be either seed accelerators or business angels, also known as seed investors.
- Once the product or service has been launched and the first metrics are available, the main investors tend to be business angels and venture capital funds that provide seed funding.
- When the start-up has gained considerable traction, venture capital funds for later stages come into play, followed by growth capital funds, capital markets, etc.
- Figures aren’t everything
The most fundamental factor for a successful start-up is a good team. Figures aren’t everything. In terms of metrics, these will be more or less critical depending on the development stage of the start-up. Normally, the best teams achieve the best results, and they also have the ability to change and adapt and are often successful in making the project grow.
- The importance of having a good team
Team members need to be on the same page, they need to complement each other and they need to cover the most critical positions of the start-up. The last point depends on the project. For example, in a biotechnology company, the team will need to have a scientist or another similar profile on the team, whereas in an e-commerce company, a good marketing director is essential to acquire new users. Teams that have worked together in the past are a bonus, as are people with previous experience in a similar position to the one they will be holding, and one should also look at their training and qualifications.
- Bank financing
If what you’re after is bank financing rather than investors, Banco Sabadell offers you access to branches that specialise in start-ups and which give you, as an entrepreneur, access to products and services aimed at companies which have funding and development models which are different from those of more traditional companies. We offer you the bank finance that you need through a team of specialists in start-up funding and business models.
- Expansión Negocios Account. This account has been designed to help sole proprietors, retailers and small companies to grow. No fees, free cards and preferential funding, together with special terms and conditions for credit facilities.
- ICO/ICF and other subsidised facilities for entrepreneurs.Preferential funding facilities, subscribed with official bodies, in order to provide solutions to all of your financing needs.
- Entrepreneur loans. With flexible amortisation plans, these loans can be adapted to the needs of entrepreneurs, without their cash account movements being affected by irregular payments.
- Click&Sell Virtual POS.Solutions and facilities that allow companies to begin successfully selling their products online.
At Banco Sabadell we have different types of financing available which can be adapted to your type of business:
- Start-ups
The BStartup programme is our business division aimed at technology entrepreneurs, and it offers you different investment instruments depending on the stage of development of your project:
- BStartup 10.If you have an early-stage start-up with a digital profile, this could be the ideal investment vehicle for you. Each year we invest €100,000 per project in 10 seed-stage companies in exchange for a stake in their share capital. Companies receive capital and personalised services to accompany them as they grow, which is particularly helpful for them to develop their market and access the next financing rounds.
- BStartup Venture. If you want to drive the growth of your company through ‘Series A investment rounds’, this could be the investment vehicle which is best suited to your needs. We invest in late-stage start-ups that have a corporate philosophy based on supporting entrepreneurs, and we focus our investment in technology and digital companies that offer a unique and innovative value proposition in terms of their product or business aimed at catering to the needs of the market. With Sabadell Venture Capital, we offer two investment options, equity and venture debt, with a range of investment of between €200k and €2M per company.
With Sabadell Venture Capital, to date Banco Sabadell has invested over €100 million in start-ups, through both bank financing and investment. Over 2,400 start-ups are customers of the bank and we have already invested in 35 start-ups.
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