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Raising funds from FISMA (UK)
By Jon Gillespie-Brown | September 15, 2006
Summary: FiSMA is a not-for-profit organisation, helping entrepreneurs communicate with investors. Entrepreneurs can promote their investment ideas through FiSMA to self-certified investors. When their proposals go on the web site an email with the investment summary is sent to FiSMA registered members. Contact details for the entrepreneur (or his adviser) and documents relating to the proposal remain accessible on the web site for 120 days.
Companies on FiSMA may be selected by investors to appear at a FiSMA presentation event. These regular events are attended by self-certified High Net Worth and Sophisticated investors and held under ‘eight minutes only and no visual aids’ rules.
My impression was that it was a noble effort but the investors were not very IT focused. One or two accountants, lawyers and bankers pitching for business and not so many heavy hitting angels.
Felt a bit like a laugh and a free lunch for city types but that doesn’t mean that your idea will not get funded, there were definitely some real angels on the day and with the right type of idea there is potential.
Presentation format: 8 Min, No slides. 4-6 Companies over lunch. They have a fun buzzer system to remind you when your time is up. You will need to be very comfortable presenting, you will be standing in front of a crowd with no lectern or projector, it’s just you and your notes! You may also have the pleasure of Simon Woodroffe of Dragon’s Den and Yo! fame..hmmm!
Costs: Free. Just pay part of the costs of entertaining the investors, usually less than £150. You can also post your plan on their site for £50.
Contacts: Tom Mackay
Approach: Apply via the FISMA site and if they like your 1 page summary they will let you come and present. Stand up in front of 20-30 investors in the City Club in the heart of the city.
Do’s: Remember the audience, mostly bankers and the like. They will not be technical and will tend to be looking for a more conservative approach. Wear a suit and tie. Watch out for funding ‘agents’ trying to get you to sign up for them to help you raise money with exorbitant fees.
Don’ts: Be unrealistic, many of these investors will be looking for something they understand and can make a lot of money out of fast. They will be more speculative type investors in my view and I am not sure anything other than simple IT ideas will go down well with the group.
Audience: City set. Pot luck, could be small or big investors. May depend on the time of year, if it’s bonus time could be a good time to pitch!
Performance: No details on successful fund raising’s.
Locations: London (city)
Learn more about them: http://www.fisma.org/
Last 3 posts by Jon Gillespie-Brown
- Choosing a "Stanford quality" startup idea–part 3 - October 11th, 2011
- Choosing a "Stanford quality" startup idea–part 2 - October 11th, 2011
- Choosing a "Stanford quality" startup idea - October 10th, 2011
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About the Author: |
| Jon Gillespie-Brown is a published Author, Lecturer, Founder/CEO and Mentor on Entrepreneurship. He currently mentors at Stanford, UC Berkeley and the London Business School. Visit his site for tips by email/twitter, blog updates, detailed articles, worksheets, news, a free quiz and more! Go now to http://www.tobeanentrepreneur.com/ | |
