The futureSAX Start-up Forum II in Leipzig

What makes investors tick for innovative start-ups?

With the Saxon Start-up Award entrance to investors

Under the title "Creating an investor-capable financing concept", over 70 participants had followed the invitation to the Mediencampus Villa Ida. futureSAX Managing Director Marina Heimann initially tuned them into the further course of the event and cordially invited the young entrepreneurs present to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Saxon Start-up Award 2020. The first three winners will receive prize money totaling 30,000 euros. All participants benefit from the accompanying public relations work and the integration into the futureSAX network with its approximately 8,000 contacts - including numerous investors. Founders and those who want to become founders in the next two years can still apply until March 29.

The investor - the not so shy deer

But what do investors actually do? Are they really the much quoted shy deer? Not at all, Frederick von Mallinckrodt, partner at Senovo, a venture capital company from Munich, let us know in his introductory keynote. He also dispelled the cliché that investors focus exclusively on numbers. The founding team is at least equally important in deciding whether to invest or not. For example, the focus is on a balanced staffing in terms of entrepreneurial skills, but also on a realistic assessment of opportunities and risks as well as planning skills. The criteria grid is supplemented by characteristics of the business model, such as scaling potential and existing pilot customers.

Investors chat from the sewing box

Afterwards, the two fishbowl discussions started the heart of the second founders' forum this year. As at the first event for the development of business models at the beginning of February in Chemnitz, the guests used the opportunity to discuss with the experts present exactly the questions that were burning under their nails. The first round was formed by Sören Schuster, Managing Director of the Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, Sebastian Brüdgam, Corporate Client Advisor Start-ups@Germany at Deutsche Bank, who shared insights from the investor's perspective. They were joined by Lasse Landt, Managing Director at Pamyra GmbH and Dr. Dilan Sinem Sert, Managing Director of SeDiDoc, who enriched the discussion with their experience in financing their start-ups from a business perspective. Moderated by futureSAX project manager Gründen Alexander Seedorff, a lively exchange developed, in which experts and start-up representatives chatted from the proverbial sewing box and thus offered insightful insights for the audience.

Crowdfinancing - not an easy but promising way

In the second leap into the goldfish bowl, alternatives to financing through the risk capital fund or bank loans were discussed. Dr. Frank Stummer, Business Angel and co-founder of futureSAX-Alumnus Rhebo, Johannes Ranscht, Managing Director of the crowd investment platform Seedmatch, and Antje Stumpe, also a futureSAX-Alumnus and Managing Director of MuseKind GmbH, were on hand to answer questions. It became clear: Nobody should hope for fast and easily acquired money with crowd financing forms. This, too, requires sophisticated preparation and a fine-tuned action plan in order to raise the desired amount. Nevertheless, the advantage of this approach is a potential marketing effect for the own product or company.

Upcoming Start-up Forum on 25 May 2020 in Dresden

After the thirst for knowledge had been quenched, participants and experts took the opportunity to strengthen themselves at the buffet during the subsequent get-together. But the topics of the evening were also omnipresent. In the discussions, which now took place in smaller groups, one or the other took the opportunity to practice in directly approaching potential investors or to tap into the expertise of their counterpart with further detailed questions. Within the framework of the jury lounge, the prospective candidates for the Saxon Start-up Award also had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the evaluators and to pick up valuable tips for optimizing their application.

The third futureSAX Start-up Forum will then take place on May 25, 2020 in Dresden. The focus topic of the last event in the series will then be "Presenting your own idea convincingly".

Applications for the Saxon Start-up Award 2020 can be submitted until March 29, 2020. All information and the online application portal can be found here.