FREE online courses on How To Start Your Own Dot Com Company - Scouting
for Funds
Seed money
Are you an entrepreneur looking for seed money to start
your dot-com? Welcome to the world of angel investors, Venture Capitalists
(VCs) and private equity investors. However before you approach them to make a
bid for funds, keep the following in mind:
Angel investors take on the maximum risk since they step in
at the preliminary stage, so all other things being equal, capital is more
expensive at this stage. Striking a few alliances and developing a prototype,
which could simply be the ‘proto-web site' could enhance your chances of
getting funds on better terms.
Caption: Although it is not very
difficult to get early stage funding, you can increase the confidence of the
investor by putting in money to set up a site.
DBS Internet, Coolstartups, Ultimedia and Netacross are a
few among the web consultancies, which guide you through the initial phase. A
site which gives VCs an idea of what you want to do can be set up for as
little as Rs 50,000. Remember the budget should not be your major worry as
most of the consultancies are willing to give their services in return for
equity in the proposed venture.
Where the primary objective is to get seed money, it does not matter
who does the funding. However, if you are aiming to gain access to a
larger network for your business needs; it is always better to
approach a specialist outfit.
You are at an advantage if your angels are working with a VC firm to fund
startups. For instance the VC firm Chrysalis Capital and angels Infinity work
together on deals. So if you are able to sell your idea to Infinity, it
becomes easier to get successive rounds of funding. However, if you are not
lucky enough, don't fret. There are specialized firms to take care of the
funding process for you. Edelweiss Capital and
coolstartups.com
are two such entrepreneurship catalysts, which help you get funding.
Your team should be good. Angel investors want to be
convinced about your capacity to execute and the onus is on you to present
them with a team that is capable of rising to the challenge. If you have
already roped in people with a good track record in functional areas it can
make all the difference.
