The ideal investment opportunity for Melbourne Angels is in a company with strong intellectual property and strong intellectual capital to serve as both the basis of continued competitive advantage and as the enabler for rapidly scalable growth into global markets.
This opportunity will have a clear value proposition for its target market(s) and early success will create a compelling value proposition for the targeted exit.
The company may be pre-revenue but, will understand its market and be clear on the intended distribution model. The management team probably isn’t complete but, those involved already will be suitably experienced, demonstrably capable, experts in their target market(s) and welcoming of the advice, mentoring and opportunities that Melbourne Angels will contribute.
Typically, an initial investment will enable the company to demonstrate its business model as successful in action within six months. A cumulative total investment of $500k or so will be sufficient for the company to fully engage its revenue streams and to achieve sustainable, profitable revenue within a further 12-18 months. Of course, these metrics are not suitable for all companies so we do consider many opportunities that look different but, we are always focused on capital efficiency, speed to value creation and strategic value for exit.
From the outset the company will have been following a well articulated exit strategy (we can help with this) with a credible opportunity for at least a 10x return on investment through liquid exit in 3-5 years (that usually means selling the company).
The current investors will welcome Angel representatives on the Board of the company and will be as ready to accept our input as the management team with whom we expect to work closely. The entrepreneur(s), the management and the prior investors will all recognise and desire the value of our intellectual capital, as well as our financial capital. We never invest one without the other.
The ethical, social, geopolitical, environmental and regulatory risks of the project will be insignificant. Preferably, the business will deliver a clear and sustainable benefit to society over and above being a ‘better mouse-trap’. We like opportunities that will change the world for the better, even if just in a small way, because experience teaches this is critical to being able to achieve the returns for the entrepreneur and for the investors.
In reviewing the data displayed on this page please keep in mind that not all our investments are recorded through Gust.