6 Easy Ways to Find an Investor for Your Startup

Lack of funding can result in the failure of your business. In fact, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% fail in their first year, and about 50% of small businesses fail in their fifth year. If you want to generate revenue of your business, then you need to fuel up with by capital.

How to finance your startup

2018 was the year supergiant VC deals became a nearly everyday occurrence. Thinking about ‘supergiant VC?’

Well, these aren’t the absolute biggest, brightest things in the universe, though they loom larger than just about everything else.

Therefore, their equity funding rounds of $100 million bending the curve of the venture market. Nevertheless, there are some another size up startups which is known by Hypergiant stars. These are many times the size of supergiant stars, and, so, it follows that hypergiant VC rounds would follow a similar pattern.

Hypergiant rounds are as any VC round of $250 million or more (at least 2.5x more substantial than the “supergiant” threshold). These are the deals that shine a bright and sometimes harsh light over a given market. And, at this point, there are sufficiently few of them that we can track a whole year’s worth of hypergiant deals.

Do you know that CrunchBase has recently released one article? Well, the article is about Most Recent Startup Investments Over $250 Million In 2019.” So, are you looking for some information from the article so that you can have an idea of how they have started their business? In that case, I’ve had just gathered one example on how the business has reached the scale of success with the help of investors?

Then let’s dive deep into the article.

Lalamove

Well, Lalamove (货拉拉) is a Hong Kong-based delivery and logistics service marketplace company. This company aims to deliveries in 55 minutes.

This idea has lured many investors who are seeking for logistics companies to revolutionize a fast-changing e-commerce world, and the result is the latest unicorn in the logistics space.

This Hong Kong-based delivery company has just announced a $300 million Series D funding round, pulling its total funding to $461.5 million in seven rounds. Sequoia Capital China, PV Seed Fund LP, MindWorks Ventures, Hillhouse Capital Group., Shunwei Capital, and Eastern Venture Capital are its latest funders.

Moreover, this company was started with the name of EasyVan in 2013 by Chow “Shing”-Yuk, Gary Hui, and Santit Jirawongkraisorn. And now, with time, and support from the investors, Lalamove currently operates in more than 100 cities in Asia, mostly in China. What’s more, the funding is coming on the way to fuel expansion in other Asian markets.

6 Easy Ways to Find an investor for your startup

I think that now you have a better idea about how investors can help you in scaling your business and generating more revenue. Well, I know that it’s hard to locate your investors for getting funding, but it’s not an impossible task.

There are a plethora of different routes you can take when looking for private investors. But don’t think that it will happen overnight. You might need to speak to hundreds of investors before you find the right fit, for them and your startup. So, never give up: remember that this is part of the process.

Keep some patience, and keep trying, utilizing some of these resources:

#1 Resource- Incubators and Accelerators

If you are really curious to scale up your business, then incubators and accelerators would be your first choice. They will help you in getting a lot of great advice, mentorships, and connecting with many resources such as investors, who can truly help you and your startups to grow your business.

Although investors in incubators will grab a more significant role, and more importantly, more considerable equity when they help you in succeeding, you’ll also be exposed to networks and ideas that you would never have found otherwise.

#2 Resource- Contact city’s Entrepreneurial Community

As a matter of fact, a meeting of the minds between entrepreneurs and investors in order to curb the financial problems is a must do the activity. When you are all ready to put your project out of the garage, then the first thing that you should do is to get involved with the other founders around you.

Moreover, make sure that you are mingling tech and startup groups on various social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. This way you will not only meet money-minded people but also gain more knowledge about how you can scale up your business.

Word of advice is that you need to act like a human being, not just a pitching machine. Therefore, ask for some advice, and also give information when you can; get to know some of the other founders, investors, and the tech community around you, and talk about struggles in the life of an entrepreneur.

Through this process, you can gain more contacts and knowledge for setting up your business perfectly. It’s not always like that you can only learn various things in your life by experiencing itself. You can also gain knowledge from experienced people and apply in your life so that you can restrict the stage of failure, and tension.

#3 Resource- Research the Competition

Never ignore the importance of researching your competitive strategies, products, services, and their loyal customers. If you don’t know which things you need to focus on, then how could you suppose that you can stay ahead of your rivals. Moreover, look for the angels who might be interested in your company.

Ready to analyze your competition?

Great, all you need to do is to have a quick Google search of funding rounds to find out who they are. From there, you will get to know about the investors who can help you in leveraging your excellent idea from the ground to the sky.

#4 Resource- Angel Networks

Another tip for finding the right investors for your startups is angel networks. This place is the most sensible place to start; they don’t only offer capital, but also mentors, guides, and your access point to a much larger group of contacts.

Start your search at the Angel Investment Network, and the Angel Capital Association, both are jam-packed with hundreds of thousands of angel investors between them.

#5 Resource- Prove You are Market Ready

There is no denying the fact that when you at the stage of starting pitching to venture capitals, you should be established in some way. You could have a huge social media presence, significant name recognition; your prototype should be working and showing signs of traction.

The next thing that you need to make sure that there is a market for your product and services. Research for your business model, look for the best services which you can offer to your customers in order to attract them more.

Furthermore, make sure that you can defend your model when you (inevitably) get asked for it. The more risk that a potential investor can see in your company, the less they’ll want to invest in it.

#6 Resource- Crowdfunding Platforms

And last but not least, crowdfunding platforms can also help you in putting your business off the ground. Those of you who want to get seed funding, then you can try these platforms to try your hand.

In fact, crowdfunding platforms are also available for targeted industries such as science, business, startups, arts, and others with angles like Venture networks, equity investments, and loans.

What’s more, crowdfunding platforms are viable options for those companies who are either active participants in their industry or perhaps for founders who don’t mind the bare minimum of guidance.

Furthermore, for people who are extraordinarily good at social media and customer outreach in order to maximize the number of potential views by investors in one go.

Outlook

I firmly believe that now you have a better idea about finding an investor for your startups, and how they can help your startup leaving the ground. The future growth of the business entity could be relying on the possibility of seeing the right angels invest in your startup.

Make sure that you are doing well for your business and attracting the right investment so that you can make your dreams come true as soon as possible. Good Luck!

6 Easy Ways to Find an Investor for Your Startup was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.