Inventions and innovations are the main drivers of the modern economy. And its main driving force in the new millennium is the so-called "garage" startups. Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter- these are only the most striking examples of companies that were created almost out of sheer enthusiasm, and after emerging from the underground, they conquered the entire globe.

Financial analysts believe that the time of the “dinosaurs” in the IT market is coming to an end. Today, the initiative is gradually being seized by those who have creative ideas and the desire to implement them. And venture capitalists help young people turn their bold idea into reality - people who are ready to invest in the most risky project, of course, for their piece of the overall pie.

As a separate type of business, venture capital originated in the United States.

At first, such investors were considered bold adventurers, but gradually this attitude began to change and today they are more like ordinary bankers and entrepreneurs.

There are also legends here - Arthur Rock, Tommy Davis, Tom Perkins, Eugene Kleiner and many of their associates are considered the first venture capitalists. The investments, knowledge and experience of these people played a key role in the development of the modern IT industry.

Venture fund in simple words is an organization that invests its own money and the money of investors in projects or enterprises at the startup level.

The activities of a venture fund are associated with great risks, since about 80% of investments do not generate income or do not have the opportunity to pay off at all. Nevertheless, the remaining 20% ​​bring in large incomes, more than covering all losses.

This concept is almost unfamiliar to many of our entrepreneurs, because such funds began to appear in the CIS relatively recently. But for their colleagues from the USA and Western Europe It was they who became the real ticket to big business.

Venture fund ( venture- translated as risk, risky investment) is an investment organization that accumulates funds in its accounts and uses them to finance young innovative projects and enterprises in order to make a profit. The main criterion for investing is the success of the startup and its commercial value in the short term. For this reason, the selection of a suitable investment object today is carried out by highly qualified economists who rely on criteria such as:

• innovativeness;
• the possibility of using patented technologies and various know-how in the work of the enterprise;
• payback of costs in the shortest possible time;
• the prospect of becoming a pioneer in its field with subsequent monopolization of this market segment.

Like many types of business and entrepreneurship, venture capital funds were created and finally formed in the United States.

The world first learned what a venture fund is in the eighties of the last century, at a time of incredible technological progress and the introduction of unique developments in the field of electronics. By 1985, there were approximately 650 organizations in the states that were ready to provide investments in a similar format. Developmentprojects were actively supported by the US government, which provided assistance to entrepreneurs in this area of ​​venture investment. In 1987, venture capital funds reached the peak of their development. The volume of investments by that time totaled more than four billion dollars.

The main business of venture funds is investing in securities. However, legislation allows these organizations to carry out riskier activities, so they can not only buy out rights to a share of the total capital, but also lend to companies (for example, by purchasing bills of exchange).

Currently, venture funds, as a rule, support projects with a medium risk level.

The standard investment amount for one project is $1-5 million.

That is why such funds mainly work only with institutional investors - official investment companies.

In Russia, the venture fund market is relatively poorly developed. Due to the fact that there is very little experience in such work, most companies are still not ready to risk their money, having virtually no guarantees for a return on their investment, much less earnings. But funds have begun to appear in recent years, which means we can hope for good prospects for the development of this area in the Russian Federation.

Reputable venture funds in Russia

1. Softline Venture Partners. The company invests in projects at the earliest stages. This fund is more interested in the areas of IT technologies, cloud storage and information security.
2. Russian Vetures. The fund invests in Russian projects. For example, the company cooperates with such projects as Molniya (news feeds on the Internet), Atlas (mobile communications).
3. Addventure 2. The Foundation is ready to provide both financial and information assistance to projects that are of interest and have a well-established business model.
4. RBK. Powerful fund created in 2009. The fund focuses on projects with the potential to conquer the world market and promotes the progress of companies engaged in the scientific and technical field. The venture capital of the company and its partners is about two billion dollars.

Venture capital fills the void

This source of funding plays a significant role in the development of innovation today. According to analysts' estimates CrunchBase, over the past 20 years, venture capitalists have invested more than $10 billion. There are projects financed from the state treasury, there are completely amateur endeavors that are sponsored by business angels or developed with personal funds, and everything else is the work of venture funds.

Venture capital investment fills the gap between sources of funds for innovation such as corporations and government bodies on the one hand, and private investors, as well as the entrepreneur’s friends and family, on the other.

Features of venture business

• Big risks. It is impossible to accurately predict the development of a company, even taking into account all known parameters.
• Fast return on investment Money (on average, it takes from 3 to 5 years to promote a company).
• In any case, the investor will have to participate in the life of the project, since he is personally interested in its successful development. Consultations, studies and other similar activities are carried out throughout the process.
• Invested funds are often withdrawn immediately after the company reaches a sufficiently high level of development.
• People can also be investment objects who have original ideas and have already had successful experience in implementing their projects in the past.

How to invest in a venture fund

There are several ways to become a venture investor:

Crowdinvesting platforms.

Investing through thematic platforms for investment in order to make a profit is a popular way in the West (and more recently here too) to make money from startups. In this case, the investor receives:

• royalties (percentage of project income);
• return of the deposit with interest;
• share in the company after its reorganization into a joint stock company.

Convenient for novice investors. They allow you to gain experience by investing little money in many projects at once. However, the risk that startups will turn out to be unprofitable, or even not implemented at all, is also very high.

Investing through investor clubs.

In this case, the investor entrusts the search for a suitable project and the organization of the transaction to the club, for which the latter receives a commission. The main benefit is that the investor spends a minimum of time and effort organizing the process. In addition, clubs provide the opportunity for co-investment, so even a beginner has a chance to enter good project with a minimum amount.

Invest in a venture fund.

Option for experienced investors. The main advantage is professional selection of projects and a minimum of time and effort. All the work is done by the fund's employees - they distribute venture investments, assess risks, conduct market research and everything else. The investor only receives income, naturally, with the deduction of interest for capital management.

This option also has its limitations. The main thing is a high barrier to entry. The average investment lower limit is approximately $500 thousand. In addition, many funds work only with trusted people, so newcomers will first have to personally negotiate with the management of the investment company.

Creating your own venture fund.

This option carries the highest risks and costs, but if successful, the profit will be much greater. Anyone who wants to start their own fund needs not only to know thoroughly what a venture fund is and how it functions, but also to invest a substantial amount in organizing the process. According to an average estimate, in order to rent an office, assemble a team, find a suitable project, carry out market research, launch production, conduct an advertising campaign and legally arrange everything, you will have to spend an average of $10 million. However, the final amount depends on the scale of the enterprise. For those who are not ready to shell out serious money, it is better to realize themselves as a business angel, where investment amounts start from several tens of thousands of dollars.

How much can you earn from venture investments?

Today there are many examples of successful development of young startups by venture funds. The most obvious of them are the following:

As you can see, the venture business, even despite the high financial risks, is very promising and can bring enormous profits. According to the latest data from the largest online database of investors and IT startups CrunchBase, on average, each promising startup today attracts approximately $25 million investment, and after promotion and transformation into a joint stock company, is sold for 180-200 million. For the investor the profit is several hundred percent.

Therefore, someone who has a good foundation for starting and is already well versed in the basics and nuances of investing can not only make money, but also become the founding father of a new direction in the IT industry.

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• • When plans materialized

Definition of venture investments

Venture investment is financial investments to any company at the stage of its formation and growth. Or, more simply, it is the financing of promising start-ups. The term “venture” itself (derived from the English “venture” and meaning “risky undertaking”) implies investing money in an innovative business that is unknown to anyone and, therefore, does not have access to the main stock markets.

An investor who is willing to risk money and spend in favor of a start-up company, in exchange for the money invested, receives an ownership interest in this company. Today's billion-dollar cutting-edge giants such as Intel, Apple, Compaq (today's HP) and many others managed to rise and develop in their time thanks to venture capital investments made by far-sighted and successful investors.

In venture investing, the risks for the investor and the entrepreneur are almost equal

Attractiveness and risks of venture investment

Venture investments are capital with a high risk of loss, it is a bet on the "dark horse" of the business. Risks can be very diverse, ranging from incorrect distribution of cash flows to miscalculations in forecasts of possible profits. Therefore, as a rule, venture capital is invested in stocks or shares in which the degree possible risk offset by a very high share of the profits in case of success. The main sources of venture investment are mutual funds investment funds, venture capital firms or private investors (business angels).

Venture investments in a company allow investors to be closely connected to the workflow of the enterprise.

VCs can provide due diligence and help with planning, as well as advise during meetings. Thus, in addition to the monetary part, business angels often contribute their time, connections and valuable experience to the process of becoming a sponsored company.

However, the sole purpose of all venture capital investments is to get the maximum return on investment, hence most investors are looking for ventures and companies that have a real chance of financial growth.

Ideal companies for venture investments

Enterprises that are attractive to venture capital investments must have high growth potential. The current status of the company is not so relevant (it happens that there are investors even for a project that exists at the initial stage of its development, the so-called "seed investments"), but the prospects for its development.

The choice of most venture funds is made in favor of companies that can offer significant turnover in the next five years. Thus, there are general beacons of attractiveness for venture capital investment, which include:

• high growth prospects;
• an ambitious team
• experienced management;
• the ability to turn plans into reality.

Venture programs and investments in startups

Venture investment process

The term of financial investments in a venture project usually lasts from three to seven years. Venture investments to introduce innovations in mature businesses, where production growth is faster, will also lead to a return on profits. In enterprises where the development of a business model takes a lot of time, it is natural that longer periods of financial investment will be required before the desired profit is realized.

Most venture capital deals can take anywhere from a month to a year to close. A typical period of three to six months is considered normal. There are also quick offers, but these are exceptions.

The speed of funding largely depends on the type of information that was provided to venture investors for consideration.

The process of acquiring venture capital investments begins with an evaluation of the business plan. (See How to compose). The main aspects that, according to potential investors, can motivate risky financial investments in a particular enterprise are as follows:

• the viability of the product or service;
• potential for sustainable growth of the company;
• effective team management for the effective operation of the company;
• the ratio of risk and expected profit;
• substantiation of venture investment and investment criteria.

Evaluation and selection of the company is accompanied by the structuring of venture investments. As usual, venture investments are made in equity capital. Investors receive, according to costs, a share in the enterprise, and the shares of existing shareholders are reduced. At the same time, all the money goes exclusively to the development of production.

What are venture investments and how do they differ from other methods of investing in business activities? Venture investing is a type of direct investment related to the financing of business projects associated with high or relatively high risks.

However, this does not mean at all that the financier goes to the venture capital investment business, relying solely on intuition and luck. Venture investments require accurate calculations and a deep understanding of the processes associated with the mechanism of such investments, as well as the “rules of the game” in venture markets.

The main mechanisms ensuring success in venture markets are:

• objective assessment of companies selected for investment;
• development of a detailed step-by-step financing strategy;
• investor participation in the process of managing the recipient company;
• a reasonable ratio of venture financing to other types of investment in a developing business.

Features of venture investments

Venture investments have whole line features that distinguish them from other types of direct investment.

1. First of all, venture investment is always associated with the so-called “startup” - a business in search of a reproducible and scalable model for the development of business activity. This happens because such a business is based on a promising idea that, if successful, can bring maximum profit.
2. Another feature is that a venture investor usually invests in innovations that are highly scalable and fast-paced from scratch. Successful venture financing of innovative projects turns out to be the most profitable.
3. Due to the increased risks associated with venture financing, the investor strives for maximum expertise of the business or its segment in which he invests money. The greatest importance here is the activity of professional experts, which allows optimizing the development of a business project at the most risky stages of its implementation.
4. Venture investments implement strictly defined tasks and goals, i.e. have a clear target character. Among the areas that venture investment follows are hypotheses for the development of the market for certain commercial products, effective scaling, development of new markets, etc.

These features of venture investment require the constant participation of the financier in the work of the recipient company. They also put forward demands on the level of his competence. As a rule, the greatest success in venture capital is achieved by an investor who invests money in strictly defined sectors of the economy.

Venture investment management

Corporate management of venture financing is also characterized by its specifics. All important steps, including the liquidation of companies associated with the venture business, are taken by the boards of directors of the companies. Therefore, to protect their interests, venture capitalists need to sit on boards of directors. The situation is complicated by the fact that investors do not have a majority there at first.

The contradiction is resolved when several seats are obtained by independent directors who are elected by consensus. Venture investments allow this to be carried out due to the high risks that require relying heavily on the authority, knowledge and connections of the financier. Practice shows that any such director usually takes the investor’s side in most disputes that arise.

If it is impossible to resolve the conflict through legal means, it becomes necessary to take measures legal regulation. They are based both on the domestic legislation of the country and on concluded international agreements related to direct and venture financing.

Venture investment mechanisms

Venture investing in Russia, as well as abroad, includes two main sectors:

• venture funds;
• informal sector.

Venture funds are large, ramified organizations that combine funds from at least several venture projects. Compared to other private equity funds, they have longer investment periods. financial resources, since venture capital investment in startups rarely brings quick returns.

The organizational and legal structure of venture funds can be presented:

• limited partnership agreement (investors act as limited partners),
• company or limited liability partnership where investors are the main partners.

The informal venture capital sector is largely represented by individual investors who invest their personal savings in small companies at the growth stage. Such a venture investor is called a “business angel”. Among the “business angels”, mature professionals with high level education in the field of management, economics, as well as exact, natural and applied sciences.

The vast majority of them have extensive experience in independent investment activity or solid work experience as consultants, accountants, lawyers and managers large companies. Due to the shortage of such specialists, venture capital investment in Russia is carried out largely from abroad.

The meaning and prospects of venture investments

The benefit of venture (risky) investments is that, by providing finance to companies that do not have other funds, they receive a share of shares in the total package, which at a certain stage of business development the investor will be able to sell for many times more expensive. Venture investing can produce colossal returns or end in equally colossal losses. But in general, it was the venture business that played a leading role in the current economic well-being of developed countries.

In 1990-1995, in the United States alone, about $130 billion was invested in the development of promising innovations. Investing these funds is usually done with the expectation that the market value will increase over a long period of time. The peculiarities of venture financing also lie in the fact that the money is not “in stockings” and does not put pressure on the budget, but works for production and technological development.

The Russian Venture Investment Association generally assesses the prospects for the development of venture business in our country with cautious optimism. Association experts note the need of Russian business for such investments, i.e. the presence of demand generating supply. At the same time, they note the presence of a number of factors that complicate venture financing of innovative projects. Among them:

• general economic crisis;
• complex geopolitical situation;
• insufficient qualifications of local management personnel;
• imperfect legislation and the associated lack of financial transparency of transactions.

Loan or venture capital?

Venture financing of innovative projects is less common than obtaining loans from banks. However, in the case of innovative start-ups, attracting venture capital much preferable to using borrowed funds.

Of course, in both cases the financier seeks to return his money with interest, i.e. provide yourself with a profit that justifies the risk and effort expended. Moreover, venture investors, who risk much more than lenders, rightly demand a much larger percentage from the recipient when concluding agreements.

At the same time, venture investment has, in terms of benefits for young business significant advantages compared to credit loans.

1. The relatively small percentage required by the lender is due to the fact that he needs a strong guarantee of payment on time of the amount specified in the contract. Therefore, being denied a loan is very high. It may take too much time to find an “accommodating” lender, which also costs money. Venture investors, on the contrary, take a conscious risk, and therefore are more willing to provide significant amounts, although they strive to carefully assess the prospects of the financed business before doing so.
2. Creditors oblige the debtor to pay the borrowed amount and interest due by law. Defaulter by credit debts forced to pay fines and may even be deprived of property or brought to criminal liability. The obligations to the venture investor are much less stringent. Therefore, in case the seemingly promising business fails, the recipient of venture capital investments is much less likely to go completely bankrupt.
3. In case of failures in business, creditors do nothing to help their client, because... are in no way interested in developing his business. The interest of any credit institution is simply to receive what is specified in the agreement sum of money. On the contrary, venture investors, being not just lenders, but also temporary co-owners of the company, are interested in its development as a means of further increasing their profits.

All this makes venture financing a much less risky undertaking for the recipient than lending. After all, most of the risks in the first case are borne by the investor.

Venture Funding Strategies

There are different types of startup venture capital packages. Basically, in this case we are talking about ordinary and preferred shares. The difference between the latter and ordinary shares is that they bring owners a certain fixed percentage of income instead of dividends that change due to stock market fluctuations.

Only at the next stages of business development does a competent financial policy include lending. Those. loans come after venture capital, since in the case of lending, the financier risks much less than with venture investments, and the “back on his feet” recipient is quite capable of regularly paying off loans without problems for himself and the lender.

The most popular strategy for developing an innovative business fraught with risks is associated with phased financing. In this case, each stage of financing is within a fairly strict time frame, correlated with the overall planning of the business activity of the recipient company.

The importance of objective assessment

Venture capitalists are faced with the challenge of directing capital to the needs of startup companies that are having difficulty obtaining financing from other sources. At the same time, the main problem of such companies is the significant uncertainty of its prospects in terms of the success of the enterprise. Estimates of the profitability of a business in the event of its possible success are no less approximate.

The situation is complicated by the existing information asymmetry between company executives and financiers. The management of the company, more knowledgeable in the intricacies of its business than the investor, often does not have complete information either about the enterprises, or about the industries of their activity, or about the details regarding the proposed technologies.

As a result, venture investment occurs in accordance with the average assessment of the liquidity of firms operating in a particular industry. Therefore, companies with investment potential that is objectively above average do not seek to invest based on low valuations. While in the case of firms with lower than average potential, there is a risk for the investor to make a mistake based on inflated valuations.

In such conditions, there is a risk that markets for innovative enterprises will not form at all where necessary. To avoid such problems, the management of young companies is recommended to give preference to venture investors operating in a strictly defined industry, which gives confidence in the competence of financiers.

Purpose and tasks of RAWI

RAVI, or the Russian Association of Venture Investment, defines its goal as supporting venture financing of innovative projects. In this regard, the list of RAWI tasks includes:

• create an entrepreneurial and political climate in the Russian Federation that is favorable to venture investors;
• represent the interests of venture financiers and their recipients in government bodies, the media, as well as among industrialists and financiers, both Russian Federation, and beyond;
• create communication platforms with modern information support for companies operating in the domestic venture investment market;
• develop a system for forming competent management personnel for venture entrepreneurship.

A venture investor is a person who provides equity financing to companies that have high development potential. And the funds invested by a venture investor in a company are called venture capital.

The main goal of a venture investor is to receive profit from investments made in a company with high growth potential and the ability to manage the enterprise fund. Therefore, to grow a company, a venture investor buys various promotions of this company and becomes its full shareholder.

By purchasing shares of a company, a venture investor becomes its partner. At the same time, he has the risk of losing his money in the event of bankruptcy of this enterprise, because the enterprise is not obliged to return money from already sold shares to its partner. And then, if the company goes bankrupt, the venture capital fund is reset to zero.

To resolve such risky situations, a venture investor invests his funds not in one company, but in several at once, thereby forming a so-called portfolio valuable papers, expecting a high return on investments made in successful “portfolio” companies in the event of bankruptcy of any of the companies.

And in order to reduce the risk of financing to a minimum, a venture investor has to carefully study all business ideas, projects of a given enterprise, and market dynamics even before financing.

Each venture investor tries to focus on a certain type of company, while focusing on a specific area. In addition, companies at different stages of their development are the focus of attention of different venture investors. Some of these investors are involved in companies that are at the initial stage of their development, when there is a high risk for investments, some are involved in expanding companies, and others concentrate their attention on companies whose formation is in the final stage. Then there are venture capitalists involved in private equity and leveraged buyouts. And most of them invest their funds in companies that are located at such a distance that they can visit them.

By investing their funds in companies, a venture capitalist does everything to help a given enterprise succeed. They conduct various consultations with entrepreneurs, assist in obtaining valuable information from markets, help establish contacts with clients, etc.

But venture investors also make mistakes. And sometimes they don’t treat their partner companies very well, depriving their co-founders of income. Therefore, entrepreneurs also need to know everything about the investors with whom they are going to work.

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How to become a venture investor and what is it?

Investing in Forex and others financial markets, can be called a very risky activity. However, there is another type of investment, the risks and returns in which in most cases are many times greater than forex. As you already understood from the title, this article will focus on venture capital investment. I think that any professional investor comes to this topic sooner or later. Perhaps some of the lazy investors have already reached this level. I will be glad to see the stories of readers in the comments.

In this article, I will address the following questions:

• What is venture capital investment?
• Features of the venture investment mechanism;
• Successful venture investors;
• Where can an investor look for projects for investment.

What is venture capital investment

I have been blogging for over 6 years now. During this time, I regularly publish reports on the results of my investments. Now the public investment portfolio is more than 1,000,000 rubles.

Especially for readers, I developed the Lazy Investor Course, in which I showed you step by step how to put your personal finances in order and effectively invest your savings in dozens of assets. I recommend that every reader go through at least the first week of training (it's free).

Translated from English, the word "venture" means risk or risky undertaking, thus. By definition, venture investing is a very risky investment. It can be compared with a loan that is issued to a company without any guarantees, roughly speaking, “on parole”. Most often, the objects of investment are small, just starting up enterprises. Thanks to venture investments, high-tech products are created that explode markets. It happens something like this:

1. The young company sets ambitious development goals and invites investors;
2. An interested businessman allocates the required amount of money in exchange for a share in the company (is a member of the founders or becomes a shareholder);
3. There are two possible scenarios for the development of events:

- The company achieves success, and the value of the investor's share grows hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of times. The investor can sell at a large markup, sell his share, or receive a percentage of the company's profits.

- The company for some reason does not achieve its goals and either closes or is engaged in sluggish activities. In this case, the investor loses part or all of his investment.

Significant risks in venture projects force many investors to personally participate in project management, i.e. uses his own experience, personal and professional skills to develop the project. Such investors are called business angels.

The venture investment mechanism has several distinctive features, I will list the main ones:

• High entry threshold for investing;

As a rule, a venture investor is a wealthy person, since amounts ranging from 10,000 to millions of dollars are invested in projects / businesses. For novice investors with several thousand dollars, it is quite difficult to find an interesting project for investment. However, if you wish, you can use the services of joint investment institutions or funds. Fund asset managers accumulate deposits from small investors in order to subsequently invest them in promising project. The disadvantage of such funds is that the investor is forced to rely on the competence of managers, and cannot make a decision on investing in a particular project.

• Long investment horizon;

Having invested money in a growing company, a venture investor cannot simply withdraw it at any time. The invested amount, as a rule, is fully utilized by the project, and the money can be returned only if the project develops successfully. From the moment of investment until significant amounts of income are achieved or the project enters the stock market(IPO) may take many years.

• Lack of control;

Venture capital investors differ from strategic partners or associates in that they do not need a controlling stake. As a rule, they also do not seek to manage the company, taking only financial risks, and shifting all the rest onto the shoulders of top management. However, very often, the desire to save their money forces a venture investor to be a member of the board of directors and personally control the affairs of the company. After all, whatever one may say, such investments are associated with colossal risks.

• There are no guarantees of profit;

As for profit, here, too, everything is not so simple. During the entire investment period, the investor may not receive a single dollar of profit, and ultimately sell his stake in the project for millions. In most startups, the real amount of profit becomes known after the public offering (IPO) on stock exchange. Based on the investment attractiveness, the price of its shares will be determined and, accordingly, the amount that the investor will gain by selling his share.

Successful venture investors

Nothing motivates like real success stories. Most of these stories are heard, however, for a better understanding, I will list the specific successes of several venture capital investors in numbers.

• Mike Markula

Mike invested $250,000 in Apple when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were still soldering circuit boards in their garage. For just a quarter of a million dollars, Mike will get a third of Apple.

At the time of investment, Markkula’s total capital was about $2.5 million, which means that he invested only 10% of his portfolio in APPLE. Mike sold his stake in the company for $154 million, earning 61,600%.

By the way, I recommend listening to the audiobook “Steve Jobs. Biography" from appleinsider (Google help). About 2 years ago I listened to it in the car on the way to work for a month. The book is powerful, I was so carried away by it that I listened to it 2 times.

• Thomas Alberg

Thomas invested $100,000 in the Amazon online bookstore. As a result, the total profit of Thomas' investment in Amazon was $26 million.

• Ian McGlynn

Car salesman Ian McGlynn invested £4,000 (in exchange for shares) in the business of his friend Anita Roddick, who opened a Body Shop selling natural cosmetics.

Subsequently, the Body Shop chain of stores (about 2,000 stores) was bought by the largest cosmetics giant L'Oreal. Net profit Ian McGlynn's investment amounted to about 180 million euros, with an initial investment of 5,400 euros.

• An excellent example of venture capital investment in Russia is the story of a small group of researchers who, with an investment of only a few thousand dollars, were able to create the drug Timogen, which demonstrates a powerful immunomodulatory effect. After which a US company acquired a license to manufacture it for several million dollars. That is, the project has increased the initial capital of the investor by several thousand times.

Where can an investor look for projects for venture investments

Not every investor has access to venture capital investment due to the high entry threshold. Fortunately, there are ways to find interesting projects for investment that do not require hundreds of thousands of dollars from the investor. I will list the ways to search for investment objects that I know:

• By acquaintance;

Most startups and novice businessmen do not have the capital to develop the project and, most importantly, they do not have access to investors. Such startups usually attract investments through relatives, acquaintances, friends of friends, etc. I think that everyone at least once in their life heard in their environment that someone they know needs money to develop a business. The difference between an investor and an ordinary person is that he will not let such information go past his ears.

Last year, I was at the all-Russian educational forum "Seliger" on the "Entrepreneurship" shift and saw many interesting projects (especially at the "Innovation" shift), with an entry level of 10-50 thousand dollars. I also met several venture investors who specially came to the forum in search of interesting investments. If any of the readers are interested in this type of investment, I recommend applying for participation in the Seliger 2015 forum in April-May. Maybe I'll go there myself.

• Project exchanges;

If you google “Exchanges investment projects» you can find many interesting sites with offers from startups. For example, inproex.ru, startup.ua, etc. On such sites, if you wish, you can find quite interesting options for investment and cooperation.

• Share exchanges and collective investment platforms;

Unlike exchanges for investment projects, exchanges for equity participation in projects involve the purchase of shares (shares, etc.) of the project directly on the site. Those. the platform is the guarantor and regulator of the relationship between the investor and the project. For example, recently on the vcstart.com exchange, you can become a co-owner of the well-known bigpicchi (bigpicture.ru).

Again, this type of investment comes with huge risks. Therefore, before making decisions, you should at least delve into the legal details of the transaction, consult with specialists (venture funds usually do market research) working in this business area, etc. According to unofficial statistics, only about 10% of projects succeed and more than compensate for losses for the rest 90%. Thus, in order to be a successful venture investor, you need to invest in at least a few projects whose business processes do not correlate with each other.

If any of the readers know where else you can find interesting projects for venture investments, write in the comments.

All profit!