Real estate tube - has it got legs ?

This was published a year ago - how has Steve Makris performed ? He is presenting at Wholesale investor next week. Looking forward to an update 

DINUSHI DIAS / Friday, February 26, 2016

When Melbourne entrepreneur Steve Makris secured the domain for his startup he gained a powerful enemy: Google.

Makris says the tech giant raised several barriers to prevent them from making progress when they noticed realestatetube.com.

 But the Real Estate Tube founder says he decided to play nice and eventually won Google over.

“When a company the size of Google can make you disappear off the face of the earth you don’t want to fight fire with fire,” Makris tells StartupSmart.

Instead, he met with Google representatives and spoke from the heart about his idea for a global video-sharing platform focused on real estate and his long-term vision.

“They initially came on being like ‘we’re going to destroy’, but towards the end it was ‘we’re happy to help you’,” Makris says.

The discussions ended with a “friendly gesture”, he says.

ON THE VERGE OF LAUNCHING

Real Estate Tube is now only days away from launching, a milestone that was celebrated at a party on Wednesday night.

Real Estate Tube is a user-generated content platform specialising in property.

In stage one, prospective tenants and homeowners can upload “selfie videos” to showcase homes or what they’re looking for.

“You can say things in words but a picture speaks a thousand words and then you get video,” he says.

Users can also live stream video to answer questions in real time and choose who sees their videos for a small fee.

In stage two, Makris plans to open up to buyers and sellers before leading on to commercial real estate in stage three.

“Within the next six months, we should be able to have 50,000 to 80,000 users predominantly in Australia, UK and the US,” he says.

The venture has been mostly bootstrapped but Makris now hopes to raise $2.5 million to rapidly scale Real Estate Tube to a global market.

“We want to have it on all devices,” he says.

“EBAY FOR REAL ESTATE”

After more than 25 years in real estate, Makris believes agents are on the brink of being digitalised.

The elephant in the room is anyone that owns a property is licensed to sell and market their own property, he says.

“We empower people to become their own agents,” Makris says.

“We want to be the eBay for real estate.”

The startup was built at LaTrobe University and the institution has become a small equity partner, helping Makris to commercialise the concept.

Makris says entering into a partnership with the university meant he had instant access to great offices and services in kind.

Real Estate Tube will be available for download next week.

Article originally published by StartupSmart. Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and SoundCloud.

HashChing seeking another round

In April last year Sapien invested $1m in Hasching. They are raising another round from wholesale investor. Interesting! 

 

Wealthy Chinese migrants will help disrupt the Australian mortgage broking industry via an investment in Hashching, an online marketplace for home loans that is putting pressure on banks and their brokers.

The investment will be the first for Sapien Ventures, which was established last year by Victor Jiang and has raised a $50 million fund to invest in fintech and online marketplaces. Much of the capital has been raised from high-net-worth Chinese migrants after changes to the Significant Investor Visa program last year that require migrants bringing $5 million into Australia to invest at least $500,000 in eligible venture capital.

Sapien has invested $1 million in Hashching, and is preparing to announce another equity investment in a prominent local start-up. Mr Jiang said Sapien was raising two additional VC funds, a corporate and institutional fund, and a joint venture with a local wealth player, which could lift Sapien's funds under management to well over $100 million.

Sapien, which has partners in Sydney, Melbourne and Silicon Valley and recently acquired a team of five in Shanghai, is also preparing to raise a $15 million fund domiciled in China. This will be deployed to back Australian start-ups using Austrade's new Shanghai "Landing pad" as a start for expanding into China. Mr Jiang was a member of the trade delegation to China with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier this month. David Gee, a former chief information officer at CUA, was also working with Sapien as an adviser.

Hashching, which launched in August last year, is a marketplace for prospective home buyers to choose mortgage brokers. The company, which works out of the Tyro fintech hub in Sydney, has received 991 applications for loans worth $517 million. Of these, 37 have been settled, worth $19.5 million, while 189, worth $93.1 million, are in the progress of being settled.

Eighty-one brokers are paying to use the Hashching platform, which offers them document and customer relationship management features to streamline application processes and lift customer service. About 1800 have registered their interest to join. Brokers pay $50 month to use the CRM features of the platform and Hashching takes a proportion of the broker fee once a loan is settled.

Where Larry Diamond Sees ZipMoney In 5 Years

From Glennon Capital newsletter@glennon.com.au - Glennon holds shares in zipmoney on behalf of clients 

 

ZipMoney CEO and Managing Director, Larry Diamond, talks company growth and their goals for the next 5 years, as well as changes they are seeing in the fintech space and how they are taking on the likes of Visa and Mastercard by offering a different value-proposition – flexibility.

 

Q: What does your company do?

A: Here at zipMoney we are simplifying how you pay everywhere and save everyday, through simple-to-use, consumer friendly and financially-responsible products. We offer an interest-free digital wallet (Zip Pay and Zip Money) allowing consumers to shop seamlessly and responsibly online and instore. We also operate the largest non-bank financial app in Australia, via Pocketbook which lets users manage their money on the fly.

 

Q: How are you growing your company?

A: We have a 3 tiered strategy on the B2B side to acquire retailers:

1. We focus on the 2m small businesses in Australia and more specifically the 300k digital players who have PayPal accounts – we believe every SMB should offer a Zip pay later tender type at checkout. To do this we have a dedicated inside sales and outbound team supported by seamless integration plugin solutions.
2. We focus on midmarket and enterprise businesses in Australia through a team of business development agents across core target segments including electronics, home, travel and leisure, health, food and hospitality, fashion and cosmetics.
3. We build partnerships with key channel operators – this leverages the 1:many relationship where we can access an ecosystem of vendors such as PoS companies or shopping cart platforms through mutually beneficial agreements.

Regarding B2C, we now have over 200,000 customers and more than 3000+ retailers from which to shop from. To this end, we have a few initiatives in place:

1. Organic acquisition of customers directly via the zipMoney and zipPay websites.
2. Encouraging customers to browse our stores marketplace to drive further activity from our base and provide customer acquisition for our retailing partners.
3. Social has become a powerful tool for advocates and consumers.

Q: What changes are you seeing in your industry?

A: We find it an incredibly exciting time in our specific and adjacent sectors. Here are the big changes to name just a few:

1. bank-issued credit cards falling out of favour with consumers, debit cards, digital wallets and alternative payments growing
2. retailers looking to solve the omni-channel payments piece and see a single view of the customer
3. NPP making bank transfers as easy as debit scheme card transactions, but ‘off rails’
4. the rise of the ‘Pays’, ApplePay, AndroidPay, SamsungPay, AliPay
5. close to 90% of all mobile payments in Asia led by WeChat Pay and AliPay, all via the QR code and off scheme rails…starting to expand offshore
   the digitisation of eftpos terminals into smart devices

Q: What are 3 things that you would tell an investor looking at your company?

A:

1. zipMoney is the only consumer finance option in ANZ market that is mobile, 100% digital and entirely payments-oriented. We aren’t a plastic, credit card company.
2. We are the only payments company who can originate a customer at checkout with any transaction dollar amount, low (zipPay) or high (zipMoney).
3. Our proprietary credit, fraud and ID origination platform leverages more data than any of our peers – this drives the highest approval rates in the industry.

Q: Where do you see your company in 5 years time?

A: As I gaze into the crystal ball, we would love to see the following:

1. Zip on parity with Visa and Mastercard but offering a very different value-proposition, be that purchasing power and payment flexiblity. So in short, Zip at every checkout
2. A financial services brand that is synonymous with millenials, digitally-savvy offering simple, smart and financially responsible payment and credit products
3. Pocketbook and Zip amalgamated into one Millenibank

Bill Cates Presenting at Next Weeks BBG Gala Brea...

 Bill Cates Presenting at Next Weeks BBG Gala Brea...: We are delighted to host Bill Cates at our BBG Gala Breakfast Forum's in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane next Week. There are only a...

Q&A app Quora valued around $1.8 billion in $85 million fundraise

Quora just became the unicorn of subjective human knowledge. After eight years carefully cultivating an intelligent question and answer community, it’s just raised an $85 million Series D round co-led by Collaborative Fund and Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund. Quora tells me it’s “roughly doubled its valuation since our last fundraise” of $80 million in 2014 that pegged it at $900 million, meaning Quora is now worth around $1.8 billion. [ Tech Crunch ]

The 22 most prominent venture capital investors in Europe in 2017

RANKED: The 22 most prominent venture capital investors in Europe in 2017

Using data provided by tech and venture analysis firm Dealroom, Business Insider has ranked the 22 most prominent venture capital investors operating in Europe in 2017. So from Benchmark to Balderton Capital, here are the highest-profile VC firms in Europe today on the hunt for the next Spotify or Skype. [ Business Insider ]

Sydney high school dropout sitting on million-dollar empire

 By 

Kate Kachor

Ben Pasternak is living it up in New York after relocating from Sydney to follow his tech ambitions. (Supplied)

Ben Pasternak is a Sydney high school dropout whose app wizardry has reportedly made him a millionaire, yet when he travels in the US or needs to sign business deals he still needs the help of a legal adult.

Pasternak, 17, rocketed to tech stardom in 2014 when he created the Impossible Rush game during a school science class. The game would go on to become one of the most downloaded apps in the world. He was just 15 at the time.

Today, he is living an entrepreneurial existence in New York, paying a reported $5000 a month for an apartment in Hell's Kitchen, has a $160 haircut and is the CEO of his own tech company.

Since moving on from Impossible Rush, Pasternak has developed and sent live projects from 'One', 'Flogg' and now 'Monkey'. All of his projects have a social media flavour to them, with the intended audience being those like himself - teenagers.

His latest venture 'Monkey' is a video-chat app that aims to help teenagers find and develop new friendships in a safe space. A blurb on the app's website says it has "zero tolerance" for cyberbullying and threats and takes "extraordinary steps" to keep "our community" safe.

When 'Monkey' went live earlier this year, it was lapped up by teens and had almost 250 million calls between users as of March 20. It also earned Pasternak a personal email of congratulations from Apple boss Tim Cook.

When asked what he believes has been the key to his success, the former Reddam House student is succinct yet modest.

"Simply by being relentless and persistent," he told 9Stories.

In reply to questions about what's it like being thought as "the next Mark Zuckerberg" or the next "great titan of technology", Pasternak simply doesn't pay attention to the hype.

"I don’t think about labels, but I am excited to create and build products that will positively improve the lives of people around the world," he said.

"The way I value success is by the number of people that I positively impact on a daily basis through my work."

The modest nature of his words appears to be an endearing trait for the teenager. It also means he doesn't skip over the not-so-smooth sailing moments of his meteoric rise.

"I made a lot of mistakes but I believe all of them happened for a reason and helped me grow as an entrepreneur," he said.

"I can think of big screw ups but none that I regret."

While he doesn't delve into his "big screw ups", one of them could well have been when he missed out on royalties from the Impossible Rush app by selling it for just $200.

To put this all into perspective, less than a day after Impossible Rush was accepted into the US app store in 2014 it overtook Tinder as the top app.

Impossible Rush is a free download and is based on the concept of connecting a falling coloured ball, or dot, with the colour on a rotatable colour square.

Initially Pasternak had no plans to send the app live as he had been busy focusing on One – an app that combines the social media posts from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

However, after sending the app design to his Chicago-based developer friend Austin Valleskey, who was also 15 at the time, the pair took the finished product to market.

Ben Pasternak.

It was only after Pasternak casually mentioned the app to his friend and New York-based social app marketer Carlos Fajardo that it morphed from a high school time-filler to an internationally recognised game. Fajardo ended up paying $200 to buy Impossible Rush.

According to Sensor Tower data, Fajardo had a total of four apps to his name with an estimated worth of more than $250,000 at the time of the deal. Of these apps, Impossible Rush accounted for more than $130,000 of his app worth.

Despite not making a cent from Impossible Rush royalties, these days Pasternak is estimated to be worth upwards of $2 million after his ideas caught the eye of venture capitalists.

So, as a 17-year-old with so much cash to his name, has he splashed out on any big ticket items? Like a fast car? No, not really, he says.

"I have everything that I want in my life from a materialistic perspective. I have a laptop, phone, and wear the same outfit every day," he said.

"I don't drive as I haven't had time to learn, and in NYC it's kind of pointless. I am excited to “drive” a self-driving car in a few years."

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2017

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/9stories/2017/04/14/12/00/sydney-high-school-dropout-sitting-on-multi-million-dollar-empire#DyPhPBGTiU3FOsFF.99

9 slides for a killer pitchdeck

Great insights on a startup pitch by Bob Pritchard

According to some of Silicon Valleys leading Investors, when entrepreneurs are seeking investment, a killer pitch deck should include the following slides:

• Firstly, identify the problem
• Secondly, provide the solution
• The third slide outlines the product
• The fourth slide details the market size
• The fifth slide details your team
• The sixth slide identifies your traction
• The seventh slide discusses your competition
• The penultimate slide contains your financials
• The final slide states the amount being raised

The cover

Quotes from media outlets give trust and add social proof to your venture. For any investor reviewing your deck this will give instant credibility. By having credible sources you will most likely increase the attention and time spent on your materials.

Problem and solution

Normally startups create different slides for the problem and the solution however summarizing all the information in one single place is good because on just the second slide, the investor knows right away what the company is all about and the problem is trying to solve.

The people

The most important slide in any pitch deck. The investor wants to know who is driving the business and what makes them so unique to execute on that mission and vision. The idea is 10% and 90% is from execution. When you are investing in a first time founder you are also investing in that individual‘s education and all the mistakes he or she will make during the early days. Having the founder experience and domain expertise helps in reducing the risk of an investment.

The product

You should definitely include a slide covering traction. Investors want to know what kind of acceptance your venture has received from the market and if you are ready to scale the business with the capital you raise.   Many founders make the mistake of raising capital to start the company. This ultimately results in taking unnecessary dilution right out of the gate.

The market

Show the growth that the market is experiencing over time.  Include sources from research papers and graphs.

Opportunity and competition

This slide showcases all the competitors in a diagram where you set yourself apart from all the other companies, clearly outlining what makes you unique.

Barriers to entry

One of the main concerns of investors is the competitive advantage that your company has over the other players in your space. What makes you unique? How will you be able to outperform your competitors? Make sure you include this information on your pitch deck very clearly.

Funding history

Investors want to know who else is part of your company. If you have high profile investors already, include them or their logo in this slide. This will definitely help with increasing the trust with prospects. Also include the use of proceeds. Why are you raising the capital and what you intend to do with it?

Future prospects & vision

Without a proper vision and having the team aligned around it there is no way you will find success with your venture.

Contact

Provide access details to the data room on this slide. This helps in accelerating the process of getting funded as it takes out the back and forth. You can use Dropbox or Hightail for this.

Financial model

Financial projections are a shot in the dark when you are a startup. However, this slide serves as a roadmap and gives a good idea to the investor on where things are headed. It also shows how grounded you and your management team are. If you are not a financial guy, you must have an expert take a look at your financials before you send them out to investors.

 

 

On average an investor will take around 2 minutes to review a pitch deck

Mydeal scores $5m from Tony Gandel

MyDeal CEO Sean Senvirtne said the online retailer would revamp its site and launch a new app after Gandel Invest ploughed in its first external funding. Pat Scala

by Yolanda Redrup 

Melbourne-based online retail marketplace MyDeal.com.au will launch a new app, revamp its website and go on a marketing blitz after one of the country's richest families bought into the company with a $5 million funding injection.

Tony Gandel, son of billionaire property developer John Gandel, is the only backer in the company's first capital raise, through his firm Gandel Invest, with the company hoping to use his extensive contact book and retail sector experience to guide it on a rapid growth trajectory.

MyDeal, which was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Sean Senvirtne, provides an online marketplace for shoppers to buy all their goods in one place, with over 5000 retail brands and almost 1 million website visitors a month.

The company's growth kicked up a notch about three years ago and since then it has averaged 480 per cent growth year-on-year and for the 2017 financial year it is tracking toward $45 million in revenue.

Mydeal has over 5000 retail brands and almost 1 million website visitors a month.

Mr Senvirtne said MyDeal had needed to put in significant effort to get both sides of the market (buyers and sellers) to support the model, but it was now in a position to use its increased funds to expand.

He said he first knew the site was working when one shopper bought $17,000 of goods in a single transaction to furnish her new home.

"Marketplaces are hard to get off the ground in the beginning because you need both sides of the equation to come together. At the start we did a lot of mapping and building blue prints to ensure this would work ... now I believe in the next two years it will be about making a land grab," Mr Senvirtne said.

Mr Gandel said he would now leverage his ties with the bricks and mortar retail sector to help MyDeal.

"As someone with many years of experience in retail and property, I believe the online space is critical in the retail landscape," he said.

"MyDeal has a sustainable model ... and the chief executive has entrepreneurial flair, which sparked our interest."

MyDeal employees 50 people at its Melbourne office and has been self-funded to this stage, despite earlier unsuccessful attempts to attract venture capital backing. Mr Senvirtne said earlier rejection by VC investors, who believed the model was under-developed, taught him to build a sustainable business earlier than other startups.

"Being undercapitalised didn't force us to scale back the business, it forced us to validate the model," he said.

"So now that we have raised money, we know how to grow the business and we know how to grow it three to four times faster."

MyDeal is not the only marketplace to have attract investment in Australia in recent times. 

In 2016 job outsourcing marketplace Airtasker banked $22 million from Seven West Media, online car parts marketplace SparesBox raised $3.5 million and carer's marketplace Better Caring scored $3 million.

In December workplace training marketplace GO1 also received a $4 million cash injection from renowned investors such as Shark Tank's Steve Baxter, Blue Sky Ventures and Tank Stream Ventures.

Mr Senvirtne said MyDeal would use the cash for marketing initiatives, expanding its team, launching an app in three months and also an impending relaunch of its website.

"Our website has been up for three years now. The new one has a better user experience and it will have more data analytics of the 50,000 products. It will be a very search-driven website with a better interface and better flow," Mr Senvirtne said.

Read more: http://www.afr.com/technology/web/ecommerce/tony-gandel-backs-mydeal-marketplace-in-5-million-round-20170327-gv74pv#ixzz4djMHQGab 
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$7.4m offered to 15 companies from the entrepreneurs programme

$7.4 million has been offered to 15 Australian companies undertake commercialisation activities to bring their new products, processes and services to market world wide under the Entrepreneurs' Programme.

The Federal Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator the Hon Arthur Sinodinos AO today announced that 15 Australian businesses have been offered commercialisation grants 

The Entrepreneurs’ Programme is the Australian Government’s flagship initiative for business competitiveness and productivity.

http://www.intuit.com.au/r/money/how-the-australian-entrepreneurs-programme-can-help-your-small-business/