Cómo ampliar capital en una startup. Insider/2013/05/01/barcelona-startup-ecosystem-deep-dive/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=share+button&utm_content=A+deep+dive+into+BarcelonaâÂÂs+startup+ecosystem,+and+how+itâÂÂs+much+like+the+Sagrada+FamÃÂlia&utm_campaign=social+media. I had it all figured out. I was going to write a solid feature on the Barcelona startup ecosystem, how it has so many things going for it and yet would probably never become a thriving tech hub like London, Berlin or even Paris or Moscow. I’ve spent the past few months living and working in the city, and I’ve had a great deal of conversations with entrepreneurs, investors and people otherwise involved in the local startup community from day one.
At a given point, it was clear as day in my mind: Barcelona wasn’t really ‘igniting’ the way some people – both ‘insiders and outsiders’ so to speak – perceived it to be. Like in any city this size, entrepreneurs were being entrepreneurs and thus things were happening, but there wasn’t nearly enough movement to deem it one of Europe’s ‘hot’ tech hubs. I even had a nice working title for the piece: Barcelona had an abundance of quality ingredients, but not enough top chefs running star kitchens. What’s really cooking? Is there cash flowing in Barna? Education Giant Pearson Continues Digital Push, Acquires Flipped Classroom Managers, Learning Catalytics. Educational publishing giant, Pearson, has lately been making a push to snatch up (and incubate) promising young EdTech startups and concepts to help it compete in an increasingly tech-influenced educational landscape. Last May, Pearson acquired Certiport, the maker and marketer of IT and digital literacy products, for $140 million, followed by the acquisition of online learning services provider EmbaNetCompass for $650 million, its taking a stake in Nook Media and TutorVista, along with launching its very own EdTech incubator program.
Today, Pearson continued this march with the acquisition of Learning Catalytics, a cloud-based learning analytics and assessment system developed by Harvard University professors Eric Mazur and Gary King, along with software engineer and current post-doctoral fellow at Harvard, Brian Lukoff. As students proceed through the class, they can respond to questions in class or for homework via text, numerical, algebraic or graphical responses.
Ed Tech Pulls in $1.37 Billion of Venture Capital. Ed tech industry averages $294 million of funding per quarter as investors clearly see an opportunity in disrupting the massive business of education. Education technology (or EdTech) has become a major focus area for venture capitalists with 324 companies building education-oriented tools & services raking in $1.43 billion between Q2’11 to Q2’12. Since 2011, CB Insights data shows an average of 64 venture capital financings per quarter to education focused startups Deal activity peaked in the second half of 2012, with 58 deals in the first quarter and 83 in the second but with recent notable financings such as Udacity’s $15 million from Andreessen Horowitz, sentiment to the space clearly remains high.
Funding per quarter has also been significant with ed tech startups pulling down an average of $286.56 million per quarter over the Q2’11 to Q2’12 period. Top 10 Ed Tech Deals of 2012 and an Ed Tech Bubble. 70% of the deal activity in Ed Tech is seed/angel deals. How investors treat them will be the determinant of whether there is a bubble or not, but right now, there isn't one. Ed tech saw $1.1B of financing in 2012 from VCs, angels, corporations and private equity investors continuing its strength in both deal activity and funding.
While the $1.1B is certainly eye-opening, it is worth noting that 1/3 of the funding went to just 10 companies (see list below) displaying a familiar and expected trend – a handful of companies getting big funding while the number of deals is driven primarily by early stage activity at the seed, angel and Series A stages. The Ed Tech Bubble? Sentiment around ed tech remains very positive and it continues to be one of the handful of themes that investors see major opportunity in (akin to big data). Of course, not all the funding is at the early stages as our list of top 10 ed tech deals in 2012 highlights. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 2U | $26m 6. 7. 8. 9. Mayor Pumps $33M Into London Startups With New MMC London Fund, TechCity To Benefit. London is about to get a shot in the arm as a hub for UK and European technology startups that choose to HQ themselves there. For a long time the funding problem for startups here was at the Seed stage.
That pain has been greatly eased in the last few years with multiple seed and early stage funding sources appearing such as Passion Capital, EC1 Capital, Playfair Capital and Hoxton Ventures for example. Now the problem is at “follow-on” and Series A of around £1-5m. Well, this issue just got easier with the announcement today that London-based fund manager and investor MMC Ventures has won a competitive tender from the Mayor of London to launch the brand new MMC London Fund. The new £11m ($16.8m) fund is specifically focused on investment in London-based businesses and is a ‘matching fund’ alongside other VCs and Angels, so that pot will swell to £22 million ($33.6m).
But MMC has not hung around. Investors. Ed tech accelerators go corporate: Pearson and Kaplan launch startup programs. Have an idea for an ed tech startup? Now might be a good time to go forward with it, because in the last month not one, not two, but four new ed tech accelerators have launched. Earlier this month, we reported on the launches of Boston’s LearnLaunchX and New York’s Socratic Labs. On Monday, Kaplan and TechStars announced a new ed tech accelerator and on Wednesday, Pearson announced its own incubator for ed tech companies.
Until this year, Palo Alto’s ImagineK-12 was the only traditional accelerator focused on ed tech. While Kaplan’s program will follow the model of other TechStars programs (mentorship, space and capital in exchange for a bit of equity), Pearson is taking a slightly different approach with its incubator, called Catalyst. Ten accepted startups will continue to work from their own locations and mostly receive remote access to Pearson executives and product experts. Who's Investing in Ed-Tech?: Tech Investors and Their Education Portfolios. (Another post in my series on what educators should know about the business of (ed-)tech.) I confess: before I became a technology journalist, I’d never thought twice about the funding process for startups. Sure, I’d heard plenty about investors in general — that Warren Buffett fellow, for example; but I knew nothing about the workings of venture capital — how technology startups received investment, what that investment meant, who the investors were, and so on.
I’m guessing that many folks are in the same boat. Hence this post… What is venture capital? Unlike other businesses that rely on bank loans in order to fund their growth and expansion, technology startups rely on a different investment model. At their early stages, many startups opt for “seed funding,” which as the name suggests gives them the seed to get started and growing. After raising seed investment, many startups then turn to venture capitalists for their next rounds of funding. Venture capital doesn’t work that way. Goldrush 2012: Why Venture Capital $$$ Is Flooding Into The EdTech Startup Market. Photo Credit: Orange County Archives via Compfight EdTech is booming. That’s a fact backed up with data that shows More venture capitalist money is flowing into the space. It’s still a small slice of the overall VC pie… but education technology is showing “hockey stick growth” in the VC world, with rapidly rising deals, dollar funding totals and numbers of companies involved.
Here are three recent stories from various media that explain what’s going on in edtech funding and why it’s happening now. Nick DeSantis from The Chronicle of Higher Education writes: Investments in education-technology companies nationwide tripled in the last decade, shooting up to $429-million in 2011 from $146-million in 2002, according to the National Venture Capital Association. Udacity, Udemy, and University Now all have plans to revolutionize online learning. Via The Chronicle of Higher Education Via VentureBeat Emily Goligoski at TechCrunch writes: Via TechCrunch. Pitching a VC: Why Financials Matter. 3 steps to a great elevator pitch. By Guy R. Powell Has this ever happened to you? You're in an elevator. The CEO of your hottest prospect is also in the elevator and realizes that he recognizes you. The elevator pitch is the most powerful and concise description of you, your company, or your products boiled down to 25 to 35 words. What is the purpose of the elevator pitch?
Elevator pitches are developed to relay just enough information to cause your interlocutor to ask, "Tell me more. " How do you get ready to step on the elevator? Building an elevator pitch consists of three steps: Step 1: The five W's Step 2: Iterating Step 3: Adjusting to your audience Step 1: The five W's The first step is to develop answers to the following questions: What does your company do?
Optional W's In some cases, it may be important to develop answers to questions about other aspects of you, your company, or your products that can help lead to that all-important "tell me more" request: What environment is your company operating in? Examples of answers. A List Of The Best Annual Tech Startup Events In Europe In 2013. Back in July, we made an attempt at listing the best annual tech startup events in Europe, with some included from the Middle East and Africa. It was a ‘first attempt’ and as you can see, it’s a complex patchwork of events. But in general we tried to focus on the biggest events (not weekly or monthly meet ups) which cater to an international audience (so held in English).
We have also synched some of the big U.S. events which many Europeans will attend. Hopefully events organisers can use this to plan, because if there is one thing Europe needs to get better at, it’s synchronising events so that people can move easily from one to the other rather than miss out because of stupid clashes. Please Note: TECHCRUNCH DISRUPT EUROPE AND HACKATHON IN BERLIN – OCTOBER 26-29, MORE INFO HERE Why is this important? We have not included events in Asia as this is more about U.S. Although all of the events are good some are genuinely ‘Recommended’, or ‘Interesting’. Week 2CES, Las Vegas, January 8-11. Startups: Here’s A Calculator For Funding And Equity, Courtesy Of SmartAsset. If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, there can be a lot of confusing financial jargon to deal with — especially when you’re raising funding.
If you don’t want to get screwed, some things are worth fighting over, but others probably won’t make a difference. Which is which? You can find plenty of viewpoints online, but now Y Combinator-backed startup SmartAsset has released a Startup Economics calculator, which shows you exactly how each financial decision can affect the money you make when you sell to Google (or, you know, whatever). The calculator basically takes you through each event that can affect the division of a company’s equity. First you start with the founding — entering the total number of shares, each founder, and the equity that they receive.
Then you enter employees and advisors and their equity. You can add multiple funding events and their details, and the eventual exit. Some of this, of course, is fantasy math. Bonds vs. Stocks | Venture Capital and Capital Markets. Startup Economics - SmartAsset.com. Préstamos y créditos | Guía de financiación | BarcelonaNetActiva. 10 Keys to Startup Traction That Investors Look For. Every investor expects to see some business traction, both before and after a funding event. If you have been working 20 hours a day, and spent your last dollar, but have no results to show, investors will be sympathetic, but will probably tell you that your dream doesn’t have wheels. Traction means forward progress. I hear a lot of entrepreneurs contemplating their great “idea” for several years with little discernable progress, and looking for money to start.
Talk and time are cheap, but they need to understand that investors judge past results as a good indicator of future expectations. Document your business plan. Other ways to be visible include writing a blog, speaking at local groups, and issuing press releases which are related to the market need rather than the product you are producing. Your objective is to build a business that marches with power and purpose past its goals and objectives.