ALTERNATIVE FINANCING FORMS
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3 questions to smart minds
Photo: Benedict Rodenstock

Strategy for venture investments by individuals and organizations

For this 3 questions to Benedict Rodenstock

ASTUTIA Ventures and Astu­tia Advisory
Photo: Bene­dict Rodenstock
22. Octo­ber 2019

More and more indi­vi­du­als and orga­niza­ti­ons are inte­res­ted in inves­t­ing in start­ups or even want to deve­lop a venture capi­tal stra­tegy. They lack the exper­tise. They want an expe­ri­en­ced part­ner to advise them on deve­lo­ping and imple­men­ting their own strategy.


For this 3 ques­ti­ons to Bene­dict Roden­stock, foun­der of ASTUTIA Ventures and Astu­tia Advi­sory in Munich

1. They have found that indi­vi­du­als or small compa­nies are more often inte­res­ted in venture invest­ments. Where do you see the need?

The startup sector has been booming for years. Along­side tradi­tio­nal medium-sized busi­nesses, resourceful entre­pre­neurs are estab­li­shing them­sel­ves as the source of growth for today and tomor­row. Current tech­no­lo­gies such as arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence, block­chain and deep tech are constantly offe­ring new, exci­ting busi­ness models. More and more corpo­ra­tes and family offices are disco­ve­ring start­ups and venture capi­tal as a source of inno­va­tion, return and inspi­ra­tion. In addi­tion to the pure finan­cial invest­ment, the bene­fit often consists of a tech­no­logy trans­fer or the estab­lish­ment of a new busi­ness unit. Colla­bo­ra­ting with and acqui­ring start­ups can also serve to retain talent. Our offer is prima­rily aimed at play­ers, also from small and medium-sized enter­pri­ses, who have had little cont­act to date. In many cases, we see a need for orien­ta­tion. Which way should I go? What stra­tegy should I follow? How do I get access? How do I avoid typi­cal, expen­sive, rookie mistakes?

2. How can you imagine this in detail? Where do you see your USP? Where is your target?

Our offer is modu­lar and flexi­ble, with indi­vi­dual, freely combi­nable service compon­ents. We aim to tailor an indi­vi­dual solu­tion to each mandate. We bring our back­ground from a company that was family owned for 125 years. Perso­nally, I have gained 13 years of expe­ri­ence in the invest­ment busi­ness with over 30 direct invest­ments and seve­ral invest­ments in VC funds since ASTUTIA was foun­ded in 2006. Here we have reali­zed nume­rous exits and also expe­ri­en­ced many things that went wrong, which was just as instruc­tive. We have a great deal flow and a good over­view of VC funds in Europe. We can pass on this first-hand expe­ri­ence at the consul­ting level. We main­tain a team of quali­fied, highly moti­va­ted profes­sio­nals, which we can increase as needed.

3. Can you please give us some examples?

We will usually start with a work­shop to map out the perspec­ti­ves. It will be neces­sary to clarify: What are the goals — how far do you want to go? Do you want to invest directly, prefer to diver­sify via funds or are you just looking for coope­ra­tion with inno­va­tive companies? 

We can assist with deal sourcing or due dili­gence. Further coope­ra­tion can lead to the estab­lish­ment of a mana­ged account or a corpo­rate fund, the manage­ment of which we offer. We support and acce­le­rate the lear­ning process and help to outsource admi­nis­tra­tive acti­vi­ties in a favorable way. For fami­lies inte­res­ted in deals above all, we are curr­ently working on a family trust in which we want to bundle a handful of diffe­rent parties into one pot from which invest­ments can be made.


FYB 2020 Glossary:

Single Family Offices (SFO)

TCMS
AUM — Assets under Management

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