Ready for angel investment?
At EstBAN, the investors are looking for startups that need investment between €20k to €500k. This is called a pre-seed to seed rounds that help startups to reach its next milestone such as product launch, revenue generation, or entering new markets. If you have a company that has a unique idea, dedicated team and great growth potential, we are interested in taking a closer look at you. The application process is simple and we’ll get in touch with you within 2-3 weeks.
EstBAN pitch events provide startups a networking opportunity with potential investors and usually we invite to pitch 5 different startups per month.
What are we looking for?
How big is the market that you are going after? Show us the number of people that have the pain that you are curing. There are plenty of great business ideas – but not all businesses will generate returns that justify angel and venture capital financing. Therefore, providing a solution to a problem with a large potential market is essential. If applying, your company should have identified a clear international market and target customer segment and you should be ready to present this with numbers.
We prefer to invest in first-of-a-kind new ideas, rather than incremental enhancements to common products and services. Is this a nice-to-have, or a need-to-have product or service? We approach highly complex, esoteric technologies with caution. The concept behind the technology must be proven and verifiable. Further, we avoid science projects that don’t demonstrate a clear path to commercialization. Any breakthrough innovation must be accompanied by a strong business plan. A working prototype or minimum viable product (MVP) should be available, demonstrating technical feasibility and initial customer interest.
We are looking for ideas with a clear plan for scalability and differentiation from competitors. What sets your team and product/service apart from others? Attributes that convey competitive advantage include intellectual property protection, exclusive licenses, exclusive marketing and distribution relationships, strong brands, scarce human resources (i.e. knowledge and skills), and access to scarce raw materials.
It’s a big plus if you can prove early traction: first users, pilot projects, or sales that proves the real demand for your idea.
Our members typically seek returns of at least ten times their initial investment, within eight years. This level of return on investment is essential due to the high risk and likelihood of failure among early stage ventures. Thus, a clearly articulated exit strategy – how angel investors will extract such returns – is essential. Angel investors are not just interested in the strategy you select, but more importantly in the how – the operational strategy that shows specific steps you will take to achieve the exit.
Our group members have significant executive experience in a variety of fields. One of the benefits of working with angel investors is the active coaching and contact network that such investors can provide. For this, there must be a fit between members of our group and your idea. In short, this means that although your idea may be brilliant, if we lack an understanding of the field in which you are operating, we cannot jump in. In that case, it’s not you, it’s us. We will do our best to direct you to appropriate funding and / or know-how.
1. Fill in the application via the link provided above. Be sure to provide as accurate data as possible.
2. We will review your application within 2-3 weeks and provide you initial feedback on the quality of the application (at this stage we do not rate the substance, but rather estimate whether all necessary data is provided).
3. Our investor-screening group gathers once a month to rate the projects and depending on their quality decide whether to invite you to pitch at our pitching event or to recommend you to work with one of our partners to get ready for angel investment.
4. Once you are invited to pitch, our investors will give you feedback to the product/service you are building.
5. If there are investors that are interested in potentially investing in your company, they will continue discussions with you and conduct due diligence to your company.
6. Ideally the process ends with a term sheet followed by the investment to your company.
- The company you apply funding for must be registered, or ready to register, as a legal entity in Estonia or another EU country to enable investment.
- Make an effort to fill in the application profile. This is how to make the first impression.
- Keep your business summary short and simple. Explain why you are the best and how you will conquer the world (or your local domain if that is the case).
- Team – we are people persons. So we tend to invest in people rather than ideas. Show us what you have done before and who you work with.
- Roadmap and financials – show us your key milestones, what you need the extra funding for and what are your planned revenues.
Annual reviews
EstBAN investors have invested into hundreds of companies over the years. Get in contact to see how you measure against those.
