20
Mar

Why Government subsidies won’t make a difference to SME’s

Posted by RB   Categories: Blog,Richard Turner   1,262 Comments »

Richard TurnerThere is much discussion at the moment about the Banks not willing to lend to SME’s. Government has proposed to help SME’s by subsidising loans to the tune of £20 billion. This will reduce the interest rate on loans made by participating banks by 1%. Is this likely to stimulate the SME economy?

The answer I am afraid is not by much. Our worms eye view at Catalyst is that the problem is not the cost of debt but the absence of debt. There is in effect a binary problem. If your project leaps the banks hurdles then you get the finance if it fails then you don’t. The problem is the that the bar has got higher and higher – what was sensible and fundable in 2005 now fails absolutely – not because the outcomes are different but because of a climate of fear .

I am not arguing for a return to the wild and woolly days merely that the cost of debt needs to reflect the risk of the project. Banks used to pride themselves that they understood risk  and could price it.  There even used to be what was called mezzanine debt which ranked below senior debt but above equity.

This finance would have interest rates of 15% with an equity kicker. Risk is not binary – often projects do not fail in an absolute sense: the investors may have to wait for a long time to get their money back; debt may have to be rescheduled. Debt providers need to re-learn how to price risk and be more creative with financial instruments.

8
Mar

How to stimulate economic growth?

Posted by RB   Categories: Blog,Richard Turner   1,397 Comments »

Richard TurnerThere has been much discussion on the News and in the Press on how to fuel growth in the UK. Most commentators agree that SME’s will be a major source of future growth . So  it seems reasonable to ask what is holding back SME’s from growing and diversifying?

Our experience at Catalyst suggests that while many factors affect SME growth and company foundation the major source of constraint is finance. This is both cash flow finance and investment finance.  Until this constraint is tackled then removing regulation, providing tax incentives, and creating enterprise zones is merely papering over the cracks.

We at Catalyst have launched two “credit crunch” products: the first through our partner company – Catalyst IFG helps ease companies cash flow constraints. The second our Bond aims to provide investment funding on reasonable terms.

6
Mar

Top Ten Tips for Equity Fundraising

Posted by RB   Categories: Blog,Richard Turner   614 Comments »

Richard TurnerAt Catalyst we receive many proposals a week from entrepreneurial companies in various stages of growth. Sometimes it’s obvious that the company is on the fast track to raising finance but in most cases there are obvious – and often simple – ways to improve a proposition. Here are my top 10 tips for fundraising;

1. Understand where you are in your company development i.e. are you at the seed stage (pre-revenue),  Start-up (initial revenues), early stage (below £1m annual revenues), growth stage (£1m plus annual revenues).

2. Have a scaleable business model with demonstrable economies of scale and scope

3. Have ambition to achieve revenues of £10+ in five years

4. Get the right management team. You need to have a management team with the right experience and track record.

5. Research your market make sure you understand how it works from the bottom up – who are your competitors, how big is the market, what is its growth rate and key drivers.

6. Write a realistic business plan using bottom up estimates of growth and a detailed analysis of to whom you are going to sell and why they are going to buy.

7. Have a detailed understanding of the routes to market and tactically how you are going to sell through them’.

8. Get all members of the management team on side and signed up to the plan.

9. Match your fund raising focus to sources suitable for your stage: Seed stage – friends and family; Start-up – Angels and early stage funds; early stage – venture capital; Growth stage – Venture Capital, VCT’s , Bond Finance etc

10. Build a board of industry heavy weights who have invested in your company.

If you would like to discuss a proposal or indeed get more information on any of the points raised above please get in touch for a chat. We are always happy to hear from successful companies who have an interest in raising finance for growth.

 

1
Mar

Catalyst supports new accelerator programme for green entrepreneurs

Posted by RB   Categories: Latest News,Press Release   3,078 Comments »

 

 

 

 

 

A new Accelerator programme launched by entrepreneur and CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw, James Caan, is offering first class business support and access to multi-million pound funding for the UK’s most innovative green entrepreneurs.

The Berti Green Accelerator programme, supported by James Caan’s Hamilton Bradshaw Impact Partners (HBIP), is searching for three successful low carbon businesses to award six months of first-class business support from HBIP and the opportunity to receive funding of up to £1million each from Berti Investments.

Whilst UK economic growth has substantially slowed since 2008, venture capital investment into the UK’s cleantech sector increased in 2011 for the sixth year in a row, to over £350million. With considerable work still to be done to reach 2020 carbon reduction targets, significant opportunities lie ahead for green entrepreneurs.

Berti Investments believes the low carbon sector can drive impactful growth that serves a triple bottom line: profit, people and planet, but green entrepreneurs need access to the right kind of business support and finance in order for this to happen.

The Berti Green Accelerator programme is open to any conceptually good, low carbon UK business with growth potential and a proof of concept. The three successful businesses will have to demonstrate that their business aims to tackle climate change by sustainably reducing carbon emissions.

James Caan, founder and CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw said:
“The Berti Green Accelerator programme has been developed by Berti Investments and HBIP following a shared commitment to making a difference through impact investing. The programme combines my desire to seek out and support potential high growth businesses with my interest in impact investing.

“The impact investing market place is growing, but many entrepreneurs struggle to become investment ready due to lack of experience or knowledge about certain aspects of their business, such as financial or operational know-how. The Berti Green Accelerator programme tackles this by blending bespoke business support with access to capital. It’s what we call intelligent capital.”

Jeremy Leggett, Berti Green Accelerator judge and founder and Chairman of Solarcentury said:
“Renewable and energy efficiency technologies will have to replace fossil fuels far faster than most people currently anticipate. In the UK, we have the potential to source all of our primary energy from renewables, such and solar photovolatics, wind and marine technologies, but to do this we need an explosive growth in all renewable and energy efficient technology markets.

“The UK needs fast-growing domestic renewable energy businesses more than ever, and programmes like the Berti Green Accelerator, that provide investment and support for cleantech businesses, are vital for encouraging growth and stimulating this sector.”

Applications for the fund are now open with a closing date of 17th April 2012. Shortlisted candidates will pitch to a Dragons’ Den style panel of judges including James Caan, Jeremy Leggett (Founder and Chairman of Solarcentury), Michael Liebreich (Founder and Chief Executiveof Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and Jacques Tredoux (Berti Investments).

1
Mar

Alpha Tech Fest 2012

Posted by RB   Categories: Latest News,News,Richard Turner   22,303 Comments »

Richard Turner will be taking part in ALPHA TECH FEST 2012                                                                                                                           

LONDON, 16th March 2012

The Annual Festival for tech ventures looking for funding & growth

The Alpha Tech Fest brings together venture capitalists, angel investors and ground-breaking tech ventures every year to discuss funding options and to build their network in an informal setting.

This year, the fest has the opportunity to host leading VCs; seed, early & mid-stage investors and venture directors who have actively been investing over the last year.

WHY ATTEND?

More and more VCs and investors are following a model of progressing discussions with ventures whom they have met and had an opportunity to learn more about. Having a business plan submitted by email hardly has the same impact as a face-to-face interaction.

At Alpha Tech Fest 2012, all participating ventures have their own allotted interaction space, so investors & visitors can look them up for an initial chat. VCs and angels will also be taking the time to have focussed interactions with each participating venture through scheduled investor tours.

These initial meetings could form the basis of follow-up conversations and meetings – attend ATF2012 to draw attention to your ambitious ventures and network with the best in the field.

 WHAT WILL BE THE FORMAT?

Once you are registered to participate in ATF2012, the organising team will be in touch to discuss on-day logistics and scheduling for the investor tours – both for tech ventures and investors.

Read more at: http://alphaversion.co.uk/atf-2012.html

 

TICKETS

 

1
Mar

Green Motion in supply deal with Nissan

Posted by RB   Categories: News,Press Release   2,981 Comments »

New low cost quick charge unit launches at the Geneva Motor Show

A supply agreement between Nissan and Green Motion will see Nissan’s new rapid charging technology, which can power up an electric vehicle in under 30 minutes, sold in the UK and Europe under the Green Motion brand.

The agreement will speed up the installation of thousands of ChadeMo quick charging stations in theUK, making it one of Europe’s most electric-car-friendly nations.

The move to electric transport is now well underway. For widely documented reasons of dwindling oil reserves, desire for cleaner cities and future energy security, electric cars have now entered mainstream mass markets.

The agreement between Nissan and Green Motion brings together unique software and hardware technologies that are vital to the emergence of quick charging in the public space.

Green Motion has developed the software that makes charging devices ‘smart’, enabling networks to connect, validate usage and transact revenues. This is essential in order to deliver necessary commercial ROI viability to the private sector corporations, supermarkets, filling stations, motorway services and city parking lots that will seek profit from their operation. It is anticipated that up to 90 per cent of investment intoUKelectric vehicle charging infrastructure will be from the private sector and will therefore need to be revenue-generating. Only the first ten per cent will come from public funds.

Nissan’s newChadeMoDCquick charging hardware is also game changing. Until now quick charging devices and their installation were too expensive for widespread use.  However, reducing size, complexity and by manufacturing in high volume, Nissan has brought prices to within half the cost of competitive units.

The move to quick charging is widely seen as the tipping point for electric cars sales. In order to secure early agreement on technical and safety issues across all new electric vehicle platforms, OEM manufacturers and suppliers formed a 165 member strong association. The work of the CHAdeMO Association (meaning ‘charge on the go’) has now delivered the single rapid charging protocol that underpins the necessary infrastructure roll out.

About Green Motion – GreenMotion develops and manufactures charging stations, core electronics and a suite of online software management tools, designed for charging station operators and owners of electric vehicles. The company began in January 2009 in Lausanne,Switzerland and has since expanded its operations acrossEurope. The company has manufacturing, installation, servicing and sales operations in theUK.

 

For more information please contact Stewart Mckee, managing director, Green Motion (UK) Limited.

 

Tel: +44 (0) 84 53 01 76 80/mobile: +44 (0) 78 80 89 84 99.

Email: stewart@green-motion.co.uk