We offer more than money.
If you are a founder or a member of the Exec team of your company and you have considered raising capital for your company, read on... we want to hear from you. We want to know why you need investment, what you intend to achieve with investment and why you feel your company is ready for investment. Above all, ESM would like to discuss what milestones you feel you can achieve and what is blocking you from achieving your plans.
What comes with investment.
- 01Decades of operating experienceMeet investors who founded, operated and sold technology companies themselves. Offering insights and sharing experiences.
- 02Strengthening your management team or BoardESM will help your management team achieve more, bolster your Board and give you confidence to take measured risk to achieve your goals.
- 03Introductions to co-investorsESM actively invests alongside other established syndicated investors, corporate investors, family offices and public sector investors. ESM can help your company leverage more investment, more contacts and more expertise to help you and your company grow.
Three things, in every company members back.
- 01The right management teamWe back management teams that have high energy and a determination to succeed. A team led by someone who has demonstrable leadership skills, the right attitude and a need to win. Also a team that can clearly define the company’s value proposition.
- 02A large market & differentiated productA market big enough to build a substantial company within and a product offering that is clearly differentiated.
- 03Defensible IPWe ideally look to back companies with defensible intellectual property.
Seed to growth stage and beyond.
ESM prefers to invest at a stage best described as not too early yet not too late. What we mean by this is, if your company is at idea stage, then we’d usually ask you to invest more time to advance your idea & bring it to fruition and readiness for a professional investor. In contrast, if your company has accelerated beyond the product-market-fit stage & achieving revenues above £5m per annum, then it’s unlikely our investment money can make a material difference to your company’s growth plans.
The gap outlined above is where ESM can add value. ESM typically invests between £250k & £1m per company per investment round.
ESM does not have any priority sectors. The investment stage outlined above is important to the ESM investment thesis. We require companies to be in the UK and we look for business-to-business commercial models.
From introduction to investment.
- 01
Initial due diligence
ESM requires certain information on your company prior to being invited to pitch at an ESM event.
- 02
Pitch at an ESM member event
ESM events are informal. They can be a lot of fun. Founders often enjoy the interaction and feedback. ESM members also enjoy the same and these events allow people to get to know people.
- 03
Deeper due diligence
Following the pitch event, an exercise to learn more is undertaken, usually at the company’s premises but often using remote video technology. This stage is supported by a sector or domain expert and general business advisory input is provided too. The outcome is a report on proposed next steps.
- 04
Investment panel & terms of reference
An informal investment panel consisting of sector experts and experienced investors is gathered and the DD reports and founder background checks are completed. At this stage a terms of reference document is created for submission to successful companies for acceptance of terms.
- 05
Post-investment monitoring
Financial, operational & technology reports are received from companies & distributed to shareholders on request. ESM provides a board representation service or board attendance and bi-annual shareholder updates are distributed to shareholders.
Raising investment?
Tell us about your company. We want to hear from you.