30 October 2017
“Many of them come from industry and they like tangibles, projects related to the digital economy, 4.0, where their usefulness is clear and the bio projects; from the purely social perspective”, Nagore Ardanza pointed out. Coordinator of Crecer+, she made these remarks at a press breakfast this morning as she referred to the 20th platform forum held last Thursday.
A total of 96 projects have been presented at the forums held since 2011 and over 21 business deals have been closed for investments amounting to over six million euros. Crecer+ receives 200 entrepreneurial projects yearly, with an average of 15 of them to be presented to their network which has more than 60 investors.
“When obtaining financing in general, the key point is how well the project is set out. Our investors are more encouraged to join a project that they see as close to the market and with clear monetization", states Ardanza. In this respect, the platform works with entrepreneurial projects for a time before presenting them to the forum. The aim is to prepare them so that they know how to address and make their project attractive to the investor, "the intention is that both parties speak the same language".
The platform has a range of investors with different profiles such as: business angels, family assets, small businesses that seek an innovation channel through entrepreneurship, banks, venture capital, Elkargi and collaboration with other more mature networks such as ESADEBAN. “In addition to financing, investors normally engage in projects by contributing knowledge and contacts to accelerate entrepreneurial initiative-related processes".
As for their behaviour in the network, Ardanza remarks "individual investors put money into three or four projects during a certain time period and then stop". One of Crecer+’s main concerns in this aspect is attracting and encouraging new investors to participate and help finance these projects that show growth potential to enable them to fulfil their business goals.
With this purpose in mind, the platform has closed several agreements focusing on capturing new investors in the network since 2015. "The last platform forums have been held jointly with Basque business organisations and Chambers of Commerce. And on 14th December, we will organise one with the Bilbao Stock Exchange". Nevertheless, as Nagore Ardanza remarked, “we face a major challenge, which is creating the awareness that anybody who has capital can invest in these projects, regardless of their contribution”.
With the creation of a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem, the intention is to make profits from the perspective of entrepreneurship, investment, competitiveness and the territory’s social welfare.
