How to use your technology to create a compelling proposition for investors
The perpetual question for startup founders is: what are investors looking for?
Finding an investor to lend their expertise, offer guidance and provide the financial backing for your growth plans is essential to propel your startup forward.
Investors will be on the lookout for a business that’s efficient and innovative, with the potential to grow and ultimately provide a good return on their investment.
Technology can help you to tick all those boxes, and create a compelling investment pitch that will secure the investment – here’s how.
Laying the foundations for scaling up
Fundamentally, your pitch audience wants to know that their investment is going to bring them returns in the long run. As technology continues to shape the way we live and work, it’s crucial to demonstrate your knowledge of how technology and innovation will underpin your startup’s growth.
Some basic digital capabilities are must-haves for any startup – and should definitely be in place before seeking investment.
Hybrid working is undeniably the future, which means infrastructure to enable you and your team to work from anywhere is one of those basics. Think ordinateurs portables puissants for seamless communication and high-performance servers to uphold your data security when working remotely.
Showing an innovative mindset
Funding pitches are also your chance to demonstrate your vision for your startup’s future. Discussing the innovative tech you plan to implement – possibly with the funding you raise – will inspire confidence that you understand the future of work and are building a business that will thrive in that environment.
For example, tech solutions like edge computing can open new opportunities for scaling up, as well as providing rich data insights to inform your strategic decisions. Similarly, businesses are increasingly exploring augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to enhance their business offering and customer experiences. After all, investors want to see businesses that solve a problem for customers.
Demonstrating efficiency and productivity
Your startup’s achievements will speak for themselves in your pitch. But confidently explaining the tech-driven processes you followed to get there will go even further towards securing investment.
Again, there are some fundamentals that investors will want to see here, including evidence that you’ve already adopted a productivity mindset. This could be simplifying your finances with accounting software, implementing project management tools or using a CRM system to speed up your marketing efforts. Anything that streamlines your processes and frees up time to focus on the business will add value.
There are plenty of other opportunities to enhance your productivity with tech before you raise investment too, and give investors confidence in the direction your business is going in.
For example, implementing Cloud Computing. to backup your data, ensure seamless access to all your information and reduce frustrating inefficiencies. Or exploring possibilities for automation, to reduce your team’s workload and enable more time to be allocated to value-adding activities.
Evidence of innovation
Investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of business plans and pitches every year. They want to back startups with exciting propositions and the potential to make a positive change. Showing them that your startup is capable of adopting innovative ideas and cutting-edge technologies (and is actively doing so) is essential.
For example, you might be thinking that the exponential growth of AI-powered tools can only benefit big businesses. But startups actually have more of the agility and appetite for innovation that’s needed to embrace cutting-edge tech.
Brainstorm a few AI use cases related to your business goals and test out one at a time. This might include using Generative AI to:
Generate insights from your data
Summarize emails and pull out action items
Create content ideas
Draft emails and social media posts
These measures aren’t just powerful ways to unlock productivity; showing investors that you’re AI-fluent and understand where it adds value will reassure them that your business is primed for scaling up in an increasingly competitive landscape.
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Join DWEN and connect with women founders
Technology is evolving rapidly and there are more opportunities than ever to use cutting-edge capabilities in your startup – but you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
Le réseau Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) is a global community of women entrepreneurs, investors and advisors. As a DWEN member, you can share stories, learn from others, and access tailored resources to help your startup reach its maximum potential.
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