Monday, February 17, 2020

Investible launches it’s $22m early stage fund




Trevor Folsom and Creel Price’s Investible has closed its first early / seed stage venture capital fund of $22 million early stage funding in Australia run by veteran Daniel Veytsblit.

The fund plans to make 40 investments of circa $300k and 7-10 follow on investments of $700k -$1m. This will de risk the investment in startups says Veytsbilt. 

To date, the fund has backed 10 companies such as seafood auction platform Manettas Seafood, hotel pricing optimisation platform Hotelmize, tourism attraction big data start-up Dexibit and diversity recruitment company WORK180.

One of the early investors into the new fund was son of Primo Smallgoods rich lister Paul Lederer, Rob Lederer, who has been an angel investor for about five years and has built up a portfolio of 30 investments.

Mr Lederer said the $1.45 billion sale of Primo Smallgoods in 2014 had put him in a position to be an investor.

"All the maths shows to have a decent portfolio you need at least 25 investments.

"Through Investible's “club” fund they'll be able to back 40 start-ups, so by investing in this fund, I should get that diversification, as well as their experience and due diligence. The team have the capability, processes and bandwidth to do the relevant due diligence and ensure that the investments are looked after. 

The fund uses 16 criteria to guide its investments, incorporating 250 data points, covering the strength of a start-up's business model plan, pitch, investor deck and the chemistry of the founders.

Hopefully the successes of the fund will be a catalyst for further investments in early stage funding.

Source .... 

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Basic business principals in making a successful cap raise




TEDx Speaker Dr A Minai and linked in influencer talks about the 3 things that will bolster your success of an ICO and the 9 things you need to do to make your ICO succeed.


These are the things and practices that every business needs to omunderstand to scale, raise money and succeed


3 VERY BASIC things that will bolster your ICO success substantially.


  1. Clarity about the idea of an ICO - what pain does it solve
  2. The quality of the whitepaper
  3. Influencer and content marketing should be you breakfast lunch and supper


nine (9) best practices you ideally should eat, sleep, & breath when you're ICO-ing.


  1. Build your community
  2. it’s about giving an roi to investors
  3. Build a great team
  4. Make it real - not vapourware
  5. Timing is everything
  6. It’s not about the ICO - it’s about after the ICO
  7. Beware of scammers and impersonators 
  8. Be sure to hustle - attend events, conferences, do Pr and social media
  9. Make sure your customers can add value 


Read article on link in comments below - it’s gold 

The Sh*t you need to know about ICO’s



With regards to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO), the reality is that the majority fails more than anything else because of an over-obsession on all the “Bells & Whistles” instead of just keeping it simple & recognising three (3) VERY BASIC things that will bolster your ICO success substantially.

(a) The fundamental idea behind why you’re pivoting on an ICO? Of course the idea needs to good, but is it something that people will rally behind? Is it truly something that adds value or solves a problem? If you aren’t clear on this, then believe us — you’ve already got problems.

(b) The quality of your white-paper. We’ve all heard that 90% of the ICOs out there are bogus. Well that’s true and not true at the same time. Many of the schemes accused of being ponzy are in-fact just really really badly explained at a white-paper level. Here’s what’s happening today ladies & gentlemen — this is a new space in which every second tom, dick, and harry claims to know what they are doing when the reality is simply, that very few actually do. We are at the tip of the iceberg today and that’s just the blunt reality we all have to embrace while we keep learning as we go through this. So I can’t emphasise this enough, the quality of your white-paper has to be top-notch. It can’t be a bunch of tech jargon slapped together to impress someone. It’s got to be value on paper from the minute someone, anyone starts to read it.

(c) Influencer & Content Marketing should be your breakfast every morning when you’re ramping up to ICO. In the crypto-world, selecting the right advisors really helps. Getting as much as PR as possible really helps. Roadshows need to be happening every damn month if its possible. You need to shout “legit” from the get-go. More often than not, forget about having massive A&P budgets in order to do this. We live in a bootstrap world in the midst of a bursting gig economy. You can build epic partnerships and influence the sh*t out of the market today IF you know why & what you’re doing.

With the aforementioned three points, the icing on the cake should be an adaptive & agile mindset when you’re on this journey. Speed is key in ensuring that your ICO is on track, all the time. If you notice a problem with the quality of your white-paper, fix it now. If you think a bunch of advisors on your board aren’t bringing the value they were meant to, fix it now. Don’t wait on anything when it’s down to you ensuring a successful ICO. You need partners who know why & what they’re doing.

So what's the checklist to Success? News flash. There isn't one. 

Here’s a checklist of nine (9) best practices you ideally should eat, sleep, & breath when you're ICO-ing. At the very least, they should aid & amplify the success of your ICO: 

  • Live, eat, sleep COMMUNITY BUILDING.

ICO or not, at the core you need to have a product or service that a lot of people want to build on top of and ultimately use. Nurture community, be authentic, & keep them updated regularly through some form of two-way engagement. Let me tell you, bounty campaigns don’t work anymore in this market. You’ve got a better chance with things like Telegram, and even those can be sh*tty as hell. The key is to build an “engaged” community before you launch a product or service. Bottomline, its important to build up your community earlier than later.

  • ICO is much more a shareholder’s game than it is a stakeholders.

Understand two things. Firstly, that you need to find investors as quickly as possible before anything else starts when you're talking ICO. Your investors are your biggest marketers, especially if you’ve got the right ones. Secondly, don’t underestimate demography but don't obsess over it either. We live in the age of psychographics now. More than half the ICOs out there today regret that they didn’t explore the China market as much as they first should have. So do whatever it takes to build the smarts as well as the connections to ensure you know how to keep your investors happy as you build epic partnerships for the ICO.

  • Build your team like its the Justice League. 

So here’s a reality check in the crypto-world. Everyone’s a f**king cowboy and the industry, let’s face it, is the wild wild west for the most part. If you don’t find the “right” team players for your core ICO ramp-up & management — you are in for a nasty ride. The team is crucial. Either you or your consultants need to be 100% clear on what to look for, in order to build a strong in-house team for ICO. Don't underestimate the need to be absolutely meticulous when it comes to your core ICO team. Invest time, money, and resources into this like you're building the next DreamTeam for the NBA (that was so 90s, sorry)

  • We hate “concepts”. Your ICO needs to be REAL.

There are hundreds of ICOs that are all active at the same time. So how the hell is your ICO going to stand out? Having an MVP at the very least is crucial. If you’re still at “concept” halfway through to ICO, you're in trouble. People will rally behind you if you give them a real reason or product. Contracts aren’t the only thing that have gotten smart on the blockchain these days. The market is watching your every move. So ensure that your business model is real, ready, & easy-to-understand.

  • Timing is everything.

You need to be able to count on your team & advisors to tell you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear. 5 out of 10 times, I've told companies that their ICO just won’t happen. Why? because of a variety of market variables that you and I can’t control. Timing is crucial, and so having a team with you who understands when & how to max out your ICO is absolutely imperative. An example of that was when China had just banned ICOs a while back — do you think that would have had an affect on the rest of the market? Hell yeah it did, and Bitcoin tanked for a bit back then.

  • Prepare for ICO by preparing what’s after the ICO.

Too many companies fail in this industry simply because they have no clue around what to do in order to put effective operations, customer support, and legal clarity into place after an ICO goes live. The market needs to see your company and its ICO as a legitimate opportunity. KYC, Bookbuilding, Refunds, Compliance, Token sale spots, Traffic, Website, etc — you name it, be absolutely clear on what your brand needs to do in order to keep the ICO going full-steam ahead, transparently.

  • Scammers are hunters in the crypto-world, & they’re smart.

What do you do if a scammer impersonates or spoofs your site? How does your team react to those who will do anything to hijack your ICO because they know for a fact that yours is one of the few that’s legit. FYI, ICOs went from 90% capping to 90% scamming in a matter of months. Do you even know why? One of the most important things you need to be conscious of is how to effectively steer clear of scammers, hijackers, & impersonators during and after your ICO.

  • Hustling at the right time & place is key.

Every ICO has a different way of building awareness. It could be conferences, articles, PR, websites, ads. It’s critical to know your value, your audience and your message & then pick the right channel for the audience. Every brand is different. Some have massive marketing budgets which undeniably make visibility a lot more easier. Others don’t have that sort of cash or coin behind them. So that’s when your team, your advisors, or your consultants need to get creative and do nutty things to get your brand noticed in ways that other would never do. Don't be afraid to get yourself out there.

  • Your advisors & investors need to be more than just trophies.

A lot of ICOs position their investors & advisors as their “call-to-credibility” in the market as they ramp-up towards pre-launch and onwards. But they have no f**king clue that these guys aren’t just a credibility boost. They are value-creators waiting to happen if used in the right way at the right time. Picking and choosing the right advisors particularly is something of an art. My advice is to do a thorough gap analysis coupled with an understanding of your “why”, after that you should be able to identify and invigorate your ICO journey with connections that make things happen instead of just sitting there & looking pretty!

To all those who read this up till here. Thank you very much & best of luck building your product, your community, your fundraising platform, and in getting your ICO mechanics in place.

Having many avatars in the market, Dr. A.J Minai is also CEO of Omni Payment Solutions Sdn. Bhd - an upcoming, mobile platform that's set to disrupt the way we spend, pay, & transfer money on a daily basis using Blockchain. He is also an investor at HODL Miners alongside a mentor on a variety of subject matter including Fintech & BlockchainI  at brands like Futurelabs, Ubaru, & Supercharger.

Tuesday, February 04, 2020

X15 - CBA’s Fintech Incubator - 25 startups planned in 5 years




The CBA is open for business - supporting fintech startups with X15 enabling them to leverage the bank’s balance sheet and brand .


CBA has teamed up with Microsoft and KPMG to launch X15 - an incubator which plans to fund 25  fintech startups in the next 5 years - with the hope of adding value to its existing and new customers.


CBA will need to transition its technology systems amid IT transformation in the global banking industry - and to do so - they need to innovate and  enhance its CBA's banking applications.


It is well known that innovation in a large enterprise is difficult - where failure is not tolerated! X15 will allow innovation in a startup environment - said Matt Comyn - CEO of CBA .


Toby Norton-Smith -  CBA's general manager for digital growth has been appointed managing director of X15 Ventures.


 "Our startups will have access to a technology stack and operating model that sits outside of the CBA group, but with the support of the bank infrastructure enabling them to achieve rapid growth.”


"New ideas can be brought to market faster with external managers operating and outside the bank's traditional product development cycles.” 


KPMG High Growth Ventures is working as an adviser while Microsoft will provide platform and engineering services, including providing the new businesses with access to its artificial intelligence technologies.


Microsoft Australia managing director Steven Worrall said that the next wave of major technology breakthroughs "will come from partnerships such as this, bringing together our deep technical capabilities and absolute clarity about the business challenges that need to be addressed.”


X15 was announced shortly after the nmbank

pumped  almost $450 million into Swedish fintech Klarna, which launched an integration with the CBA banking app last week, to offer instalment payments services as Millennials shift away from spending on credit cards. 


X15  announced the first two concepts that its new "venture building entity" will support: 


Home-In, a digital concierge to assist customers with the home buying process; and 


Vonto, an aggregation tool for business insights.