Listen to this articleStartup Bee Invested is a new Swiss equity crowdfunding platform dedicated to innovative startups. They’re creating a collaborative ecosystem, a community supporting Swiss entrepreneurship and innovation and helping innovative entrepreneurs to raise smart capital as well. Below is a recent interview with Ilham Hikmi, Co-Founder of Bee Invested.
Q: Tell us your story and something more about Bee Invested?
A: I have always been sensitive to business ethics and equal capital access issues. I realized something has to be done when friends had the ambition to become entrepreneurs and started looking for financing. They received a quite unanimous answer from all the banks and this answer was a clear and firm NO. The project was considered too risky to be given a chance because of the innovative idea behind and the early stage of development. Unfortunately, banking is truly a system that gives justice only to those who can afford it. I thought that the capital market couldn’t be that inefficient and that there must be an adequate solution out there for all the projects which couldn’t show a long track record.
One day, while I was zapping between business channels, I came across a TV program talking about crowdfunding as a growing financing model. I must say that for me it was an eye opener! This is the kind of solution my friends would like to have available. Here comes the idea of offering crowdfunding services to Swiss entrepreneurs and to bridge the financing gap. Bee Invested project was born!
The whole world knows Switzerland for its outstanding mountain landscape, luxurious watch industry and tasty fine chocolate, but the country’s reputation is also established as a fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship. With a high scale education system, world renowned laboratories and a myriad of startups created every year, it is not a coincidence that Switzerland has been ranked the most innovative country worldwide by the Global innovation index. Well, believe it or not, few international pure players are emerging from the Swiss ecosystem because brain power, innovative ideas and outstanding competencies should be supported by money to be valuable and recognized. Unfortunately, a tiny fraction of capital is directed to early stages innovative startups and this is the reason why Bee invested decided to dedicate its efforts to the entrepreneurs with the riskiest profile: the startups.
Q: How Bee Invested can help startups?
A: We are an equity crowdfunding platform so our primary added value is to connect innovative entrepreneurs to smart investors. We are helping disruptive startups regardless of their stage of development with a focus on the ones at the earliest stage so that even angel investors are reluctant to take a stake. We want to democratize startup investing only reserved to the wealthier. Our main mission is to turn anyone into a successful business angel. Fulfilling this mission will obviously lead to a bigger fraction of capital available to new business ventures.
Crowdfunding is about money but not exclusively, Marketing plays a central role in building links, relationships, communities…in other words, doing business! We will help startups to get promoted to a large audience and to receive early and valuable feedback on their projects. For the early stage startups that we are targeting, this can be crucial and invaluable information for pivoting correctly when needed
We are also working hard in building partnerships with key actors of the swiss ecosystem in order to be able to direct our startups to institutions, mentors and coaches that can help them grow faster and better. One of our dreams would be to create our own accelerator.
Q: What are benefits for investors?
A: Most of them will have access to an asset class previously inaccessible. Beside the diversification effect, they will now be in a position to expect the same profitability that angels are currently enjoying.
Beyond the financial aspect, they will take back control over their money by deciding themselves, and not by their banker, where to invest their capital. They will have the guarantee that their money is injected directly in the real economy, and they will quickly see the positive effects generated by their investment. Bee Invested will allow anyone to make socially responsible investments.
Our selection process is rigorous. We spend a lot of time and efforts in hunting, screening, analyzing and selecting our startups. In addition to the high expected return and feeling useful to the society, we will be a time saver for investors looking to find the best startups based on their criteria.
Q: What is your main goal at the moment?
A: We are currently focusing on our launch. We have a good base of investors and our challenge is to find startups that are not only promising but also matching our current investors’ appetite.
Q: When do you plan to launch it?
A: Our plan is to launch during the last quarter of 2014, no precise date yet but there is also a chance that we launch earlier than expected. We are very careful to create a high level platform to make equity crowdfunding easy and intuitive for Entrepreneurs and for Investors.
Activate Social Media:
