With so much talk of crowdfunding in the air we probably need to start asking the question on whether crowdfunding will be asking over from VC firms in providing the much needed business finance for the 1000's of startups needing seed money and not finding it anywhere at the moment. Recently, Fred Wilson, a famous VC at Union Square Ventures, prof...

Today South Africa is one of the largest emerging consumer markets, and requires working capital to operate, to grow and to compete successfully in sectors with future potential, such as agro-industries, solar energy, business finance, mobile phones, gold mining and advertising industries. Unfortunately, there are very few accredited angel investo...

As an entrepreneur with big ambitions you would have no doubt have heard of venture capital as a business finance option and I'm sure will be well aware that finding business finance without a business plan is just about impossible. So the obvious question will be what exactly needs to be included in a business plan for venture capital? You need ...

So what do we know about venture capitalists? Sure we know that they take calculated risks investing in viable business plans often taking a large steak in the business with the "hope" that the business will grow sufficiently fast to ensure that the the investor makes a large profit on the initial risk taken. But its not always this straight forwar...

When you?ve got a brilliant business idea lingering in the back of your mind, and you have a burning desire to make that idea a reality at any cost, it?s easy to fall into the trap of considering, and pursuing, any type of business finance that might be a remote possibility. However, while VC has helped many a major company get started, most of th...

Some of you reading this blog over the past year or so may be starting to see Venture capital as an attractive career opportunity. You may be thinking, I love business, Ive written a business plan and sourced business finance myself, I like money and I like helping others, why not join the three and become a Venture Capitalist. Well as interesting...

If you look at where entrepreneurs come from then you will find that most wold previously been in permanent employment from where business ideas, business experience and eventually a business plan may come from. Yes of course graduate entrepreneurs are becoming more commonly found today with entrepreneurship as an career becoming more and more po...

With banks increasingly risk averse especially when it comes to financing the business plans of entrepreneurs and small firms, both individuals and businesses alike are turning to business angels and venture capital firms to provide the business finance for their new or growing businesses. But of course these funding options with all its benefits o...

From an entrepreneurial perspective, few things are more refreshing than to hear of the increasing amount of venture capital deals investing in business plans in South Africa in recent months. With a large amount of business investors already being active in the country entrepreneurs looking to fund their business plans will take heart from the fac...

Twitter is looking to raise business investment of more than $100 million after valuing the company at $3 billion. TechRadar reports that Russian technology investment firm, DST global is seeking to lead the funding round for the platform. Twitter currently has over 175 million users and last year introduced a limited ad revenue model catering t...

A South African Venture Capital fund is in a big money bid, hoping to invest in the business plan and development of Neotel. A South African consortium currently leads a $455.5 million venture capital investment bid, hoping to clinch the deal in the next few monthsBig companies are targeting South Africa. Top economies of the world are turning the...

Great news for SMEs looking for start-up or growth finance is that another new initiative, this time through private equity firm Trinitas is injecting further finance into promising business plans. The company has raised R430m to invest in high cash-generating businesses and wants to increase this to as much as R1bn in the next 12 months. Executive...

For many entrepreneurs, writing a business plan is a tedious process. Entrepreneurs are often more contempt with being practically involved overcoming real challenges than sitting down and writing a 30-40 page document. Unfortunately, a comprehensive business plan will almost always be a requirement from Venture Capital firms as it will allow them ...

Although South Africa?s economy is already showing strong signs of growth and the economical difficulties of 2009 starting to feel like a distant past, may entrepreneurs are still finding it difficult to secure business financing. This, however does not have to be the case and as long as your business plan supports you and your feasibility study ha...

Finding the right venture capital fund to support you wityh your business may be a challenging task. There are 10,000 venture capitalists and only top 1% are any good. Be smart about smart money and learn from the top 1%. What do some of South Africa's best venture capitalists have in common? How do they consistently obtain supernormal returns? H...

'Venture capital is better spend on existing and growing firms' This is the opinion of South African venture capital company HBD, which is still strongly associated with information-technology entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. The organisation expects to have disbursed some R100-million by year-end as part of its second fund, launched in late 2006. ...

??Both Venture capitalists & Business Angels are really just investors in your business providing business finance together with experience, business links and support. This is because the objective is still the same. The business or individuals involved will normally be reviewing tons of business proposals until one is found that have some synchro...

??Both Venture capitalists & Business Angels are really just investors in your business. This is because the objective is simmilar to what it will be for any other investor. The business or individuals involved will normally be reviewing tons of business proposals until one is found that have some synchronicity with the values and objectives of the...

The New York Times this week reported that Google will be launching its own venture capital arm investing in new and growing ventures around the globe.Google, which has invested in many start-ups over the years, announced late Monday that it is creating a venture capital arm whose main objective will be to turn a profit.The group, called Google Ven...

South Africa is seeing an increasing amount of woman entrepreneurs. The huge range of industries now including woman entrepreneurs is encouraging and these stats have now even been made official by organizations such as the global entrepreneurship monitor. But how do female entrepreneurs find business funding. Where and how do they source there ven...

South African Entrepreneurs and business start-ups benefit hugely from joining forces with venture capital firms or even look for angel funding. Once you have your business plan and feasibility study done and are confident that this business idea is the way forward for you there may be numerous avenues for you to explore to get investment for a bu...

How do I become a venture capitalist? A common question asked by graduates, professionals and entrepreneurs who may have been through the process of finding venture capital to grow their business. Venture capital is of course not for everyone and you need to be certain of your motivations of why to enter this are of business.If you have the money t...

After a relatively slow month in June we saw that venture finance activity started picking up again in July. A few of the more interesting deals are listed below.VentureBeat Reported that Twitter may not have figured out a way to make money from its business yet, but that is not stopping spinoffs of the microblogger. Twitter?s increasing popularity...

Presenting your idea to a VC can be a nerve wrecking experience at the best of times so most businesses will take all the help they can get when it comes to the presentation. Once you have found the right VC firm, remember that VC's are also just people and most importantly looking for good investment opportunities. I was sitting in a presentation ...

In our regular monthly blog on business funding activity around the globe, this month again we saw some interesting activity some of which are listed below.Grou.ps, a do-it-yourself social networking start-up, has landed an additional $1 million in its first round of financing, led by Golden Horn Ventures.Google has invested an additional $2.6 mill...

If you're still in two minds about whether to push ahead with a clean tech or healthcare project, take comfort from the latest VC investment figures. Funds are definitely out there to back good ideas - and record amounts of cash are now being poured into some sectors.Data released by Dow Jones VentureOne over the weekend indicates that US VC firms ...

Some of the interesting venture funding deals and almost deals for May included the following:Facebook, the social networking site, has held meetings with a bevy of private equity firms to explore raising another round of financing, The New York Post reported. Facebook held ?valuation discussions? with Providence Equity Partners, General Atlantic, ...

Are you making the most of the web to build your business? With the right combination of classic marketing principles and clever techniques, even the smallest companies can reach a big audienceType 'treatment abroad' into Google and the top four non-sponsored results take you to a site run by Berkhamsted-based Intuition Communication. 'Private heal...

There were a few interesting business funding deals and almost deals in April. Here are a few:HyTrust, a virtualization start-up, launched its flagship product Monday with $5 million from its backers, VentureBeat reported. Trident Capital led the round, which included participation from Epic Ventures. HyTrust?s launch partners include VMWare, Syman...

We may all be mired in economic uncertainty, but if you?re looking for funding, there?s no need to be unduly discouraged by the current slowdown. Getting funded has never been a pushover, but the current economic uncertainties don?t seem to be stopping the right people with the right product.In recent weeks there have been a plenty of upbeat messag...

Some interesting venture capital deals that took place in March this year are as follows:Google has joined a $5.75 million investment round for Pixazza, a start-up that hopes to profit by overlaying photos on the Web with links that let people buy the products in the images.Audience, a maker of mobile-phone technology intended to drown out backgrou...

The typical response of a business in hard times is to start cutting costs. But managing cash more effectively can have equally significant results. According to the Credit Management Research Centre (CMRC) at Leeds University, there?s one and a half times the volume of the primary money supply (from banks and financial institutions) swilling aroun...

One of the in jokes at IBM?s support centres is about people who ring up asking to upgrade to Web 2.0. Explaining that it doesn?t come in a box, nor can it be downloaded, inevitably leads to the question: ?Well, what is it exactly??All the usual suspects have had a go at providing an answer and as usual, when the subject is rather nebulous, nobody ...

Talk of recession may be gradually morphing into talk of depression, but many business leaders continue to point to the opportunities that a recession brings. Despite constraints on funding for small businesses, a host of experts point out that things will turn around ? and when they do, entrepreneurs need to be ready with their next big idea.The e...

Is there not just a hint of xenophobia in the way the British press has set against US private equity house TPG Capital, the key investor in a restructuring plan for troubled Bradford & Bingley? This week, as B&B?s UK Shareholders Association advised retail investors to consider voting against the TPG offer at B&B?s upcoming general meeting, TPG ha...

Frank Lavin, under secretary for international trade at the US Department of Commerce, knows as well as anyone how difficult it is for tech entrepreneurs to market their wares internationally. Dubbed 'America's salesman-in-chief', part of his job is to help US businesses partner and collaborate abroad. Speaking at a briefing this week focused on cl...

More and more matching services for investors and entrepreneurs are springing up. The 2007 launch of SA Investors Network Angels Den was followed last month by the opening of Venture Giant: and on the international stage, last year’s launch of pan-European network Easy followed in the footsteps of AngelSoft, which was founded in 2004 by lege...