business funding Archives - Page 27 of 33

05/31/202006/01/2020

Arterys $28 Million Funded for Clinical Platform

A global medical imaging platform in San Francisco, CA, the Arterys was funded $28 million in series C funding.

The Benslie Investment Group and Temasek Holdings led series C investment, participated with Fosun, Revelation Partners, Emergent Medical Partners, and Varian Medical Systems.

Arterys is one of the global medical imaging platforms to bring clinical AI products over the internet. Its objective is to convert healthcare by transfiguring radiology. The Arterys platform is 100 percent web-based, AI-powered, and has USA FDA clearance, open simple clinical solutions.

This new round of financing intended to broaden its ecosystem containing a broad set of partners on the new marketplace that utilizes its cloud platform.

A specific focus will be to accelerate partners’ efforts to bring new clinical-grade AI applications to contributors by broadening the Arterys technology platform to application participants to combine AI into their workflows, the company said.

Because they are technology and AI, the current crisis has shown to them necessarily different approaches in providing healthcare are crucial for future access. Arterys dedicated to transforming the way AI combined into the medical workflow, which is long due in the industry.

Arterys acting CEO John Axerio-Cilies said they realized they could not transfigure the healthcare system alone.

Because of the support of other technology and strengths, they build their core products (Arterys Cardio AI and Arterys Lung AI) that are now available to universities and medical innovators companies around the world. They can benefit from regulatory support, channel partnerships, performance, security, and excellent hospital system integrations.

Author statement:

Funded.com is the leading platform for accredited investors network worldwide. We monitor and provide updates on important funding events. Angel Investors and Venture Funding can be a key growth for a startup or existing business. Whether it is a first, second or third round financing having a strategic alliance with an Angel Investor or Venture Capital financing can propel a business to the next level and give the competitive edge.

By: K.Tagura

05/24/202005/25/2020

Spruce Funded $29M for Real Estate Innovation

A large number of companies have introduced to digitize all aspects of real estate, from estimating valuations to observing operational costs and underwriting mortgages.

Spruce is one of those companies in New York City that has a digitized platform for enabling online real estate transactions. The company funded Scale Venture Partners led $ 29 million in growth capital with participation from Zigg Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.

The funding intends to use in the team’s expansion, accelerate the development of its proprietary technology, and deepen integrations with client partners.

Spruce founded back in 2016, led by Patrick Burns, CEO. This company provides a platform for powering online real estate transactions, including handling titles, ensuring all closing docs completed, and monitoring compliance in every geographical jurisdiction they operate.

Since the global pandemic is happening right now, most buyers cannot attend because of social distancing policies. The outcome of this was to scramble the traditional real estate closing, which needs attorneys and other work together to get all documents signed. Spruce and other digitalization startups in the space are composed to transition more of that paperwork onto their platforms as industry participants look for online approaches.

The company presently has operations hubs in New York, Texas, and California. Since its launch, Spruce has grown to service transactions nationwide, from operations hubs in New York, Texas, and California.

Author statement:

By: K. Tagura

05/15/202005/18/2020

Clear Labs Funded $18M for COVID-19 Diagnostics

Clear Labs is a US-based provider of an automated and food safety testing technology that has been funded $18 million. The funding led by Redmile Group, Wing VC, Menlo Ventures, Tyson Ventures, and Khosla Ventures, GV, Felicis Ventures, and HBM Genomics.

These funds intend to used to commercialize the company’s food safety platform and to leverage the underlying Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology in the clinical market, mainly to enhance the availability and quality of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

Specialists agree that the shortage of COVID-19 testing has been a large factor in the spread of the virus in the United States.

While the lack of ability to trace infection group and transmission routes this could lead the way to difficult resistance against new and emerging pharmaceutical interventions intended to target COVID-19.

Clear Labs provides a fully- automated and intelligent diagnostic NGS platform flexible and robust architecture. It had allowed the company to develop a genomics-based essay that hasn’t before existed in the clinical space.

This platform supports the latest technology in molecular testing by combining DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and robotics to protect the global food supply and enhance preventative food safety management systems.

Author statement:

By: K.Tagura

06/02/201906/02/2019

Ways To Secure Venture Capital for Your Business Startup

For most business startup owners, one of the most difficult aspects of their job is the task of securing venture capital. And while there are many available sources of funds out there, we have to realize that there are also a huge number of business startups that are competing for the money.

So what elements of businesses guarantee financial support from investors? Actually, there isn’t. Most of the time, the chances of securing a venture capital greatly depends on the situation, in addition to the characteristics of the business and the venture capitalist. However, despite this reality, there are some things that a business owner can do to increase his or her chances of securing financial support from venture capitalists.

Among the most important pointers that a business startup owner must remember is the need for him or her to be prepared with what’s going to happen.

Establishing a business is not as easy as coming up with an idea that will entice a large market. In addition to passion and dedication, a business owner is expected to be knowledgeable with every single aspect of his or her business. Thus, before approaching a venture capitalist, it’s important for owners to know their businesses.

This is important because it would prepare them for all sorts of questions that may arise during a presentation for potential investors. Likewise, a full understanding of the business would enhance the viability of the business plan, therefore increasing the chances of getting financial support.

Aside from being prepared with all the questions that a potential investor may ask, business owners must also have some knowledge on the people that would be the receiving end of their pitches.

Sometimes, owners tend to contact every single venture capitalist in the country. And while this increases your chances of securing investments, this also increases the amount of time that you spend looking for money. As they say, time is gold. So why spend a lot of time when you can do something much better?

Instead of calling every single venture capitalist in the planet, try to look into the list and study your chances of getting support from every single person in it. Doing this would make you realize that more than half of the people in your list would not even read your request because they are not interested on the concept of your business.

There’s no single advice that will boost your chances of securing venture capital. Nevertheless, like in any other field, being a little bit smarter will increase the possibility of getting financial support.

Access our network of Angel Investors, Venture Capital or get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

07/20/2018

Launching a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign – The Dos and Don’ts

Crowdfunding is an opportunity to gain traction among a wider audience while raising money so you can take your idea and turn it into a reality. The immense popularity of crowdfunding platforms is what encourages startups in the first place.

Everywhere you look, you’ll see success-story companies that came to be because of forums like Kickstarter and GoFundMe. However, that’s exactly what you’ll see- the success stories because no one talks about campaigns that go wrong and ideas that you should flush down the drain. If you want your startup to kick off and skyrocket like the ones you’ve seen, it’s essential that you take crowdfunding seriously by knowing what to and not to do. Here are crucial Dos and Don’ts to remember.

Do Explain Your Plan

People that fund your idea will only do so if they understand it and think that it can be of use in the near future. Even if your idea is brilliant and will help many people, it won’t get far until you get into the practical details of it. However, that’s not all; being brilliant won’t do much if you’re not responsible. That’s why it’s necessary that you be transparent with your audience and go into detail as to how you will spend their money.

Don’t Expect Your Funding From a Single Campaign

Being over-optimistic about your crowdfunding campaign can be detrimental because you’re not prepared to be disappointed when the inevitable happens; not generating all the required funds with a single campaign. Actually, the essence of a campaign is to simply bring your development team to the next stage of your idea. Once you reach the next stage and prove to your audience how you’re progressing, they’ll be willing to fund again and even get their friends in on it.

Do Involve Your Supporters

A crowdfunding campaign shouldn’t be all about securing capital but engaging with your supporters. One good way to do this is by involving them in the process. By giving special updates on how far your product has come, you ensure building a supportive base of backers. Meeting your product release deadline will be beneficial since it gives you an opportunity to pre-sell it to your backers. This allows them a firsthand experience of your product before it hits the shelves.

Don’t be Unrealistic

While there may be pressure to gather enough funds and meet deadlines, nothing should compel you to make unrealistic promises. Donors and supporters will have higher expectations, which can lead them to withdraw support at any time during the campaign if they discover that you weren’t being completely honest as to what your company would deliver. This tends to create a domino effect and you’ll end up with a bad reputation, which will hinder any plans of a crowdfunding campaign.

Do Get Creative with Your Campaign

A campaign isn’t just about setting up accounts and waiting for the cash to flow in. You’ll have to make an effort to convince potential donors and backers to support your idea. Let’s face it: there are thousands of startups looking to take off and you’ll need a pivotal aspect that makes the audience choose you. One way to do this is to be creative with your startup website.

Add plenty of pictures with larger and lesser text to get their attention towards your product. Share pictures of prints and drafts, a timeline of how the design has evolved. This is paramount to not just help backers understand your idea, but make them feel like part of a family that has been there since the beginning.

Don’t Ask For Too Much

Yes, there’s such a thing as asking for too much money and getting too much of it can be ineffective to your cause. On Kickstarter, campaigns considered successful haven’t even raised over 10 thousand dollars. Hence, the chance of becoming a multi-millionaire before your product is released is fairly low. Even if you somehow did have donors willing to give this much, there are laws in place that prevent you from raising over 1 million dollars in a year. I’ll explain in the next point why this is beneficial.

Do Consider Them as Investors

By having effective rules in place that prevent a campaign from raising over a million dollars in a year, platforms can prevent backers from giving too much. This is because supporters and backers are basically investors who expect something in return for their investment. In the case that a certain supporter funded you with a large amount of money, your campaign can get in trouble if you’re unable to provide them a reward for supporting you.

Don’t Forget To Ask For Opinion

Engaging with supporters and backers is a great way to gather support and generate ideas to further proceed with your idea. They’re your audience and they love being asked about their opinions, which is why it helps to take them into consideration while developing your product. Moreover, it helps to get market insight into the kind of people who will be coming in contact with your products and inventions.

Do Make an Interesting Video

A good video can do wonders for developing an engaged supporter base. Since there are multiple startups that people consider investing in, not everyone has time to read your agenda and what your product is about. A video can give them a quick summary about what you’re doing, who you are and how you intend to impact a certain target population with your invention.

Don’t Be Mysterious

While Satoshi Nakamoto might have made it far by hiding his/her/their identity from the public, the stakes are different at this point in time; people want to fund people and not just ideas. It’ll pay off to introduce yourself and members of the team. At times, your idea may not be as unique as you think but it’s still possible to drive a successful campaign if people believe in you and your ability.

These are some of the basic factors to keep in mind while organizing a crowdfunding campaign. It’s true that there is no objective recipe for success but hard work is undoubtedly an ingredient so as long as that’s there, and you follow some guidelines, you can make it.

Access our network of Angel Investors, Venture Capital or get instantly matched with a Lender. Create a crowd funding campaign or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

07/06/201707/24/2018

4 Reasons Why Your Angel Investor Says, “NO” To Your Business Startup

It’s no secret that angel investors prefer a sure thing when it comes investing in a business startup. But, that doesn’t always mean they won’t take risks when it comes to funding a business that shows great promise. If you your business startup has all the makings of a successful operation, but you keep striking out when it comes to getting the nod from a seed investor you need to consider the reasons they keep saying “no” to you.

Here are four reasons why an angel funder may be hesitant to fund your business startup.

You Need A Business Plan That Works

It is imperative to have a business plan in place when you seek out funding from a private investor. An undetailed business plan can raise eyebrows and have seed investors cooling off to your ideas. Take the time to develop your business plan, marketing plan, and short- and long-term goals for the business before you approach an angel investor for business funding as they will be more receptive to your proposal and help you avoid that resounding “no” for no good reason.

It Needs To Be The Right Time And Place

They say that timing is everything in business. It may be true of your angel investor as well. While you may have a stellar idea, sales coming in already, and a strong business plan to back you up, if your investor isn’t ready to make the leap, the chances of you getting funding may soon walk out the door. Don’t take these rejections personally. Realize that when the time comes, and an angel investor is ready, you’ll reap the rewards of waiting until the time was right.

They Don’t Understand The Market

Some markets require a steep learning curve to understand and recognize who the competition is. Your private investor may not be able to grasp who your target customer is and what your business brings that is new. Finding an investor that sees your vision is imperative as you look to propel your business forward. You want an investor that backs you and without a clear understanding of the market, you may face rejection from an angel investor that wasn’t right, to begin with.

They Are Just Not The Right Investor

Sometimes hearing a “no” from a business investor is a blessing in disguise. They may not have complimented your business in the way that you needed them to or they may not have given you the support you needed to soldier on. Finding the right angel partner can help your business to thrive, but waiting for them to come along can be a challenge. With a little patience, you won’t be disappointed.

Access our network of Angel Investors, Venture Capital or get instantly matched with a Lender. Create a crowd funding campaign or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

06/05/201706/28/2017

Four ways to secure the nod of angel investors

Securing an investment from an angel investor is considered as one of the most difficult aspects of establishing a business startup. For many, this is even harder than coming up with a good idea for a successful business venture.

Fortunately, there are numerous angel investors out there who can provide financial support to business startups that have potential to make it big in the market. But for entrepreneurs, the common problem is not finding them. Rather, they have a hard time securing the nod of these angel investors. Here are some ways to improve an entrepreneur’s pitch in order to be able to secure investments from angel investors:

Know the audience

A business pitch should vary depending on the character of the potential angel investor. Entrepreneurs should not rely heavily on a “standard pitch” and develop something that could connect more to the possible partners. A pitch should vary depending on various factors such as age, gender, background, and knowledge on the specific market, among others.

Be in charge

Business owners must show to their potential angel investors that they are the ones in charge of the startup. One can get the trust – and later on the deal – by showing that he or she can effectively manage the business to make it successful. In order to do this, business owners must show their expertise on the market as well as exude confidence that the venture will succeed.

Entrepreneurs, however, are cautioned not to show too much confidence on the business. After all, potential angel investors prefer realistic figures over imaginary ones.

Present relevant information

During presentation of business pitches, a number of business owners often start by presenting too much information as regards the market and the business operations itself. Most of the time, this approach is seen as a move that often ends the potential deal. Rather than presenting too much information, entrepreneurs must stick to basic data that will inform angel investors about the market and keep them interested.

Among these data include the current status of the market, as well as the basic figures concerning the business such as the capital and potential revenue in a matter of years.

Be practical

Finally, business owners must keep it practical when presenting before potential angel investors. While it is necessary to inform them of the business operations, going through every single detail of the business is not an appropriate content for a pitch. Instead, entrepreneurs should just highlight the said information and ask the potential partners if they want to know more about this.

More detailed information and useful advice can be found at Funded.com. If you need to access our network of angel investors or a business plan for start-up funding visit Funded.com

04/07/201706/29/2021

The Secret of a Successful Angel Investor

Having a lot of money to support potential start-ups is not the only thing an angel investor needs to be successful. While entrepreneurs often think that the only thing an angel investor invests in his or her ventures is the money, the reality is that there are more than just meets the eye.

There is no denying that money is an important element in the job of an angel investor. However, this is not the only one – he or she needs due diligence in selecting a potential business partners.

Diligence is defined as a person’s carefulness and persistence in his or her job or work. It came from the Latin term diligere, which literally means “to value highly” or “take delight in.” But in English, it usually means working hard or doing everything for the job in hopes for a successful career.

This kind of characteristic and personality is important for angel investors. Generally, would-be entrepreneurs simply think of angels as those who have a lot of money which they can use to fund start-ups, the truth is that they are perhaps the most terrifying people for business startups owners. Angels succeed because of their diligence – or more descriptively, being able to train hard eyes to entrepreneurs and make them sweat while doing their pitches or presentations.

More importantly, successful angel investors simply do not stop after scrutinizing the presentations of potential partners. He or she should not stop until the business is actually well established. Angel investors must be able to point out weaknesses on the business plan, as well as put out suggestions for the good of the business.

Unfortunately, not every angel investor has this kind of diligence. There are some who are really good in selecting potential business startups, but fail to assist its owner from achieving success. This situation is not good, both for the entrepreneur and investor themselves.

Some experts said that a number of angel investors simply think that having a lot of money will make a successful business. It is not, as angel investors are expected to help the business owners in transforming their vision and putting everything written in paper into tangent realities.

The truth is that there is no recipe for the “due diligence” needed by angel investors. The idea is very broad, and its execution will have to depend on the situation and relationship between the angel investor and the entrepreneur.

In the end, what angel investors must remember is that money will not be able to buy them success. Diligence does. Having this kind of trait is the secret of successful angel investors, and everyone who invests in business startups with potentials need to have this to ensure a good future.

This is true for business startup owners, who often think that money is everything. It is not. Entrepreneurs must find diligent angel investors who would be able to help them turn their dreams of having a successful business into a reality.

More detailed information and useful advice can be found at Funded.com. it offers expertise and assistance with developing and funding your concept. If you need to access a network of angel investors or business plans for start-up funding visit Funded.com

03/30/201706/28/2017

Think of Funding When Writing Business Plans

One of the mistakes made during the writing of business plans is treating business funding as if it is a completely separate section with no real relevance to the rest of the plan. In other words, you write your executive summary, business description, market strategies and analyze the competition in a funding vacuum. Then the financial section gets tacked on, and it basically states you need money and here’s how much money you need.

But investors read business plans closely, and they are looking for a particular type of company that fits their requirements. The words you choose to describe your business and the presentation counts. For example, if you are looking for a business loans from traditional lenders, they are not going to be impressed with hype in the least. You may have the most “stunning” invention ever created that will change the way mankind lives once your product hits the market, but a bank is going to see that kind of claim as marketing hype.

Professional From Beginning to End

Business plans are unique products. They must be interesting, professional and well written while being interesting, entertaining and exciting. That’s not easy to accomplish which is why so many entrepreneurs decide to get professional help writing their plans. Yet one of the most important features that a business plan should have, yet is often overlooked, is funder appeal.

In other words, the funders you plan on appealing to need to be attracted to what you say in your business plan from the beginning all the way to the financing plan. It’s easy to get carried away while writing because you’re excited about your business and finding startup funding. This can lead to the use of a lot of superlatives that make your business plan look like a lot of hype without substance.

Polish the Product

As a entrepreneur you are not a huckster, so the business plan should not make you look like the equivalent of a snake oil salesman. The business plan that makes a lot of wild promises is not going to attract equity partners. Unsubstantiated claims will not get you approval for business loans. Statements that portray you as a gambler will turn angel investors away.

Business plans should be polished products that are consistently honest and give the right impression throughout the entire document. You can’t write a plan that is sassy and reckless and then expect venture capital funding to be approved because you decide to get serious in the section on financing.

Payment and Plan in Full

Polishing business plans also means making sure the plan is complete. You are in a hurry to get your plan done and to find financing, but a condensed plan won’t get you anything except rejected and especially when looking for startup funding. Business plans prepared for venture capital firms or equity partners need to contain all of the important information about your business. The same thing is true for angel investors. If your plan is missing essential information including marketing plan details or financial projections or only summarizes an operational plan, then the assumption will be you have not bothered to work through these details.

The original business plans that entrepreneurs use to find business funding need to be comprehensive plans that are consistent and always keep potential investors in mind. It never pays to skip the details.

03/17/201706/29/2021

A Business Plan Starts with a Mission to Succeed

Business plans are intended to be flexible plans for succeeding, not just surviving, as a company. Yet, according to a famous Harvard professor John Kotter, 70 percent of business initiatives intended to bring organizational change will fail. That is a remarkable figure because it means efforts to adapt to a changing marketplace is failing. There is a barrier between the business plan founded on a mission and the real world.

The setbacks are sometimes one of losing sight of the company mission and weakening to plan. The purpose of the mission statement clearly states what your organization seeks to accomplish, It has a philosophy underlying it that does not change. The mission statement is a reflection of the nature of products or services sold, potential for growth, pricing strategy, customer service, and role in the community, competition and others.

The business plan needs to be developed so that each and every segment drives the business towards fulfillment of the mission. A change of proposal is merely a strategy for keeping the business on track to fulfill the mission. Leading change requires first turning to the mission statement and the business plan. A business that needs to change must be able to write a sense of urgency all through the organization because staying true to the mission statement is needed to succeed. If a change idea is needed, it means the business has gotten off course from its mission and its vision.

The business plan goals and strategies may need to be revised, but that should always be a step in the change process. In fact, business plans can serve as the direction for change as each section, from the Executive Summary to the Financial Statements, are reviewed in light of the need for change. Leadership will identify specific strategies for incorporating change and then communicate the revisions on an organization-wide basis. The change process must be empowering and encompassing, meaning employees at all levels should be embraced as change agents.

Business plans begin with a mission statement and then serve as a living breathing document. Leading organizational change is not always easy, but it can be impossible unless there is buy-in to the mission and the business plan. The strategies used to get that buy-in can vary, but staying on message cannot.