alex van someren nordic seed capital summit 2012
TRANSCRIPT
Slide 1
Finding the right Early Stage opportunities
Nordic Seed Capital Summit 2012
Alex van Someren – Amadeus Capital
Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority
Slide 2
Amadeus Overview
Slide 3
Introduction to Amadeus
• A leading European technology investor
– Invested in >80 companies, over 14 years, from seven funds with
commitments of £500m
• Longstanding sector focus in
– Mobile/Communications
– Software and Services
– CleanTech
– MedTech/Healthcare IT
• Backs high-growth companies to become leaders in large markets
• Builds successful global companies from start-up
• Has generated 5x plus returns many times
Our ambition is to be the leading European technology investor
Slide 4
We invest across Europe…
Portfolio composition by country
Slide 5
Hardware & software for managing broadband networks
(Acquired by Seven) Software platform for mobile messaging
Optical data transport systems for metropolitan networks
Processors for high speed network appliances
Ultra-low power video storage appliances
Remote eye-tracking systems
Software as a service behavioural marketing
Automated camera surveillance service
Web content management software
Content Delivery Platform for mobile operators
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DK
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We are present in the Nordic region for >10 years
Slide 6
US Exchanges Rest of World Exchanges
Strong track record of achieving liquidity at IPO
LSE (2004)
LSE (2001)
LSE (2006) NASDAQ (2000)
NASDAQ (2004); merged with Illumina NASDAQ (2006)
NASDAQ OMX (2011)
AIM (2005)
AIM (2000)
LSE (2000)
Slide 7
US Acquirers Rest of World Acquirers
Strong record of trade exits through M&A
Broadcom (2001)
entropic Microsoft (1999)
Kopin (2011)
NVIDIA (2011)
Oracle (2010)
MACH (2005)
IK Investment Partners (2010)
Samsung (2010)
Portrait Software (2005)
Marvell (2011)
Lyceum Capital (2011)
Yammer (2012)
Slide 8
Finding the right early stage opportunities
Slide 9
The Moments to Invest…..
Expansion Seed
Early Rev
..but sometimes timing of take-off is difficult to predict!
Slide 10
What makes a great Seed investment?
• The three most important things are:
– Great Team – Great Team – Great Team
• Very large market opportunity
• Disruptive technology innovation
Slide 11
What makes a Great Team?
• Serial entrepreneurs – Experience counts for a lot – Mistakes, disasters, scars are all helpful – Potential for re-recruiting colleagues – Established personal networks
• Keen younger people with poor sense or risk!
– You have to get experienced somehow
Slide 12
We increasingly back serial entrepreneurs…
Slide 13
What makes a Great Team?
• Serial entrepreneurs • Diverse skills mix
– Aim is to cover major functional requirements • I.e. CEO, CTO, VP Sales, VP Marketing, CFO • But, could also be e.g. PhD + MBA
• ABCDE qualities: – Aggression – Brilliance – Commitment – Determination – Ethics
• Luck!
Slide 14
Market trends
• Very low capital intensity required to build businesses – Possible for small, lean teams to succeed fast
• Global access from web/cloud-based platforms – No national barriers; multi-currency payments
• Mobile access to online applications – Always-on customer engagement
• Social networks are driving customer adoption – Viral effects can drive up user numbers fast
Slide 15
Growth & Internationalization
• European markets alone are generally not large enough – We want to build $1 Billion businesses! – Accepting this and planning for it is strongly advised
• Selling into North America & Asia is usually required – Much larger customer base, often with greater spending power – Different culture requires local engagement
• Sending inexperienced local team there is usually a #FAIL • Examples mentioned earlier e.g. Russia, China
• Bridging from smaller countries into larger ones is effective – We see this model a lot in Scandinavia – We see this model a lot in Israel
Slide 16
What value can a Seed VC add?
• Business model innovation – Macro viewpoint helps to evolve new approaches
• Recruitment of team – Plentiful supply of CVs – Referencing for new hires – No charge!
• Customer & Partner introductions – Usually have good market knowledge – Regular contact with potential product users
• Corporate Development – Good existing networks with strategic corporates
• Exits – Understanding the M&A, IPO environment
Slide 17
Investment focus for Amadeus Seed/Early Stage
• Low-power computing/Internet of Things – explosion of endpoints enables disruptive business opportunities – impacts both macro (e.g. datacentre) and micro (e.g. mobile) – enables the application of IT to new sectors such as CleanTech
• Software (including Cyber-Security) – Cloud/Mobile generates hyper-growth opportunities – low-capital-intensity enables rapid time to market – excellent liquidity potential due to high-intensity M&A
• MedTech and Healthcare IT – compelling need to shift from Treatment to Prevention & Diagnosis – Engineering, Software & Social Networking applied to Life Sciences – strong European capability and favourable regulatory environment
Slide 18
Nordic Seed Capital Summit
Thank you!
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @alexvans
Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority