Capital Raising Services
We provide introductory services to the whole food chain of professional investors.
Given our +25 years of experience in raising capital, we have deep relationships with all levels of professional investors. Over the past years, we have helped companies raise billions of $’s in all sectors of the economy. The sectors where we have had the most experience are, Infrastructure, Property, Education, Healthcare and MedTech, Quantum Computing, Ai, FinTech, Environmental, IoT Technologies, Energy, Data Security, Retail, Marine/Nautical.
We introduce companies to the investors that are relevant to the given size and type of fundraising.
UHNW Investors:
These investors are good for early-stage investments, normally pre-series A.
Family Offices:
Family offices are developing quickly and some are being run more like professional VC funds these days. This diverse range of investors are good for anything from early-stage pre-series A to series A, B, and even C.
Venture Capital Funds:
VC funds are also diverse and have different time frames for a given investment. The key is matching the right investment to the right VC funds and understanding the key components of everything from Investment Committee dynamics to whether a fund likes to lead an investment or tag along. Minimum and maximum investment bite sizes are also important to understand.
Private Equity Funds:
PE Funds are also a diverse group and these nuances need to be well understood. For example, if a PE fund is focusing on Impact Investing it may use the UN classification of 17 Sustainable Development Goals for screening investments before putting the investments through an initial investment committee process. As with VC funds, the minimum and maximum investment sizes are important to understand.
Mutual Funds:
The mutual funds we deal with, like the pension funds, would tend to be invited into larger and later-stage investments. As global wealth grows and a wider spectrum of the population want to invest, mutual funds have become more important to the overall investment food chain and they can be great partners when we are looking to help companies grow, particularly if a company is looking to list and continue to grow as a listed entity.
Pension Funds:
Given the aging population in developed countries we continue to see huge growth in pension funds, and this growth in pension fund $’s looking for investments will continue. Given this growth, pension funds have plenty of capital to invest, but at the same time tend to be looking for quality long term investments with a lower level of risk-return profile than some other investments.
Sovereign Wealth Funds:
SWF’s have developed over the past 30 years as the wealth of certain nations has increased to the point where that wealth needs to be managed by a large team of diverse investment professionals. We would only tend to talk to our Sovereign Wealth Fund contacts for the larger type of investments over US$100mill and often in the billions of $’s.
How the Ansari Group Adds Value:
Most businesses fail to raise capital because they are not properly prepared before they meet potential investors.
We like to think of 3 simple things when it comes to companies growing and raising capital:
1. The People (Founders, Senior Management of a business)
2. The Product (the technology, invention, the differentiating factor v competition)
3. The $’s (How does the business execute/commercialize and create $’s for investors
Over the past 25 years, we have seen common mistakes made by business owners looking to grow and raise capital.
Companies should be looking to do the following:
* Articulate the projected return on investment to potential investors.
* Always have a well thought out business plan.
* Explain the use of capital clearly.
* Have a robust execution plan and then execute that plan.
* Be realistic about sales and profit projections.
* Good understanding of the competition and industry.
* Identify areas of risk and how those can be mitigated.
* Do not over promise and under deliver.
* Strong Corporate Governance from day one. Board of Directors, Advisory Board.
* Address any deficit in the current team’s capabilities and plan improvements.
* Valuation of equity at the right level. We often call this a journey of price discovery after talking to appropriate investors.
* Keep the momentum. Don’t drag the process for too long or you may miss the window of opportunity.
* Have a slick, polished presentation and be ready to answer all questions openly and honestly.