Nov 9th 2015

ENHANCING INVESTMENT READINESS IN ORDER TO UNLEASH

SMES' AND MID-CAPS' GROWTH POTENTIAL

Outline

Growth potential? What is investment readiness

about? What are the pitfalls? What can startups do? What can a startup incubator do?

Growth potential I – New paradigms

Growth potential I – New paradigms

Bits and atoms are coming together New paradigms will lead to a

reshuffling of assets and competencies within / between supply chains

SMEs can have a significant role… if they «pivot» Changing tack in their core business Spinning off non-core innovations Absorbing external innovations Entering new supply chains

Growth potential II – The world is big

Growth potential II – The world is big

You have to think in global terms The markets out there are big Your competition is operating

globally The exact assets you need might

not be close to home

… you need finance… bootstrapping?… debt from banks?… government grants?... or should it be equity?

Investment readiness

Investment readiness

It’s up to you… do you want a small cookie or a slice of a potentially very large cake?

Pitfalls Different mindset or lack of

knowledge? Not understanding investors’

objectives and business models (BA, VC, corporate, PE, stock market)

rules of the game, jargon and etiquette

Information asymmetries (both undesired and purposeful)

Building the future, but still clinging on the past

Sharing governance, management… and the ambiguous role of the family (shareholders? CEOs? operational managers?)

Wrong innovation strategy Not having one at all Using a wrong strategy

Pitfalls No plan at all, or an excessively detailed

plan Showing not enough growth, or an

unbelievable growth Not knowing the market and the industry

well enough Not enough «validations» for the funding

stage Unclear «use of funds» Weaknesses in the team Inability to «pitch» and communicate Inability to engage with objections Messing up the negotiation

… not understanding what «that» investor wants

What can startups do?

Provide technology, solutions & competencies with an innovative, cheap & flexible approach ( suppliers and investment and/or acquisition targets)

Create a (small) new market for you ( customers)

Teach you a new (lean) approach to innovation strategy

What can a startup incubator do?

Provide access to startups Host your spinoff Co-develop a corporate incubation

program

What is I3P? A joint stock non-profit-making consortium A consultancy and advisory company

serving Students, Researchers and Lecturers of

Politecnico di Torino and of Public Research centers

Anyone who wants to create a knowledge-based startup that can benefit from the services provided by I3P and from the Politecnico.

Companies that want to create spinoffs to exploit non-core projects

A publicly-owned firm, with an innovative business model, with a strong orientation to results and to the market

Recipient of the «Best Science-based Incubator award» in 2004

Ranked 5th in Europe and 15th in the world by the 2014 UBI (University Business Incubator) Report

What does I3P do?

Fundraising Equity fundraising with BAs, VCs,

corporate investors Debt fundraising with partner banks

Matchmaking between technology and business

competencies Integration of the founding team Recruitment of personnel

Consultancy Strategic consultancy (business

modeling and business planning) Specialist consultancy through

partner firms

Scouting Within Politecnico di Torino (spinoffs) and

outside (Italian and foreign startups, corporate spinoffs)

Events, competitions, hackatons, .... and lots of one-on-one meetings

Support to business development Trade fairs Tailor-made corporate events Development of sales networks Management of corporate

incubation programs

Support to investitors Advisory, board representation,

part-time management

I3P in figures

Out of business

Founded

Surviving(1 IPO)

Currently incubated Acquired

182

99

11

31

42

An annual deal flow made up of 300 applications, 90 business plans / MVPs, 15-20 new startups

Balanced across sectors (ICT/digital, cleantech, medtech, industrial) with strong synergies with Politecnico di Torino and the local industry

Seed-level fundraising amounts to 2.5 M€ per annum on average More than 1,400 jobs created, each of which has required a one-

off investment of 6 k€ in public funds Positive P&L, and financially sound