Business angels is an important component of the modern international economy. These are informal investors helping to see the light of promising innovative projects, technologies and ideas, many of which can later become an indispensable part of our lives.
The content of the article:
Who are business angels
What is a business angel, where to find them and what do they look like?
business angel (business angels) is a private person who invests his personal funds in promising projects at the initial stage of their development.
For example, you have an interesting business idea. You have carefully worked out a business plan, assembled a team of professional assistants, calculated approximate benefits and are ready to launch a startup. If not for one "but" - the lack of finance, without which not a single business will start. This is where business angels can come to the rescue.
The romantic name for this category of sponsors appeared in America at the beginning of the 20th century. This was the name given to wealthy businessmen who invested money on a grand scale in chic productions on Broadway. And today the meaning of the name remains the same: angels are perceived as benefactors from business, well, or very loyal partners.
To better understand who business angels are, you need to highlight their distinctive features. These are experienced entrepreneurs who successfully develop their business, top managers of the largest companies, people who have built a successful career. The experience and intuition of a businessman - important qualities business angels, because they initially have no guarantees of success, and not every startup brings profit. Funds are invested for a period of 3 to 7 years, without collateral for a block of shares in the company.
According to statistics, every fifth business angel receives a profit from invested projects in the amount of 10-15% per annum, every fourth - more than 20% per annum, every third loses his money, the rest only manage to "recapture" the invested funds.
- The task of business angels is not just professional investment in potentially profitable ideas, but also mentoring, counseling, curating, and possibly helping with leadership.
- The goal is to develop supervised projects, increase their cost, promote the developed high-tech products to the market.
When a startup starts to bring real profit, the angels sell their share in the company (by that time it already far exceeds the value of the initial investment) - in this way they receive their income.
Video about who are business angels
Interesting fact. Few people know, but dozens of world-famous companies at the initial stage of development were invested by business angels. For example, Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Intel.
What you need to know about business angels
Business angels in simple words are " sowing» investors ( seed business angels), because they invest in the initial, or "seed" stages of a project (when there is only an idea). 
These are professional investors, 99% of them are men aged 45 to 65: experienced businessmen, managers and economists. As a rule, one in five business angels is a millionaire.
Business angels build open, friendly and trusting relationships with their wards.
Watch another great video about business angels, their principles and the essence of investments:
Types of business angels
Depending on the goals, methods and techniques of investing, there are top 5 types of modern business angels. This classification will help the project team in finding an investor, focusing on his interests and field of activity. So, about what business angels of startups are like.
- Entrepreneur Angels. They are successful businessmen who are ready to invest large sums of money (from 200 to 500 thousand dollars) in promising ideas to build your investment portfolio. Since the main employment is their own projects, they do not pretend to manage startups.
- Professionals. They invest only in those industries that are close and understandable to them. They operate with different amounts, including significant ones (from 25 to 200 thousand dollars). They often practice joint investments with other business angels or individuals.
- Angels - enthusiasts. They do not have much experience and professionalism in the field of investment. They can simultaneously lead several startups in different directions, investing small funds (usually no more than $10,000). They do not delve into the essence of projects in detail and do not interfere in the management process.
- microcontrollers. Like enthusiasts, they oversee several projects at once, but at the same time they invest different amounts. In addition to cash injections, they study in detail the business plan of a startup, apply for management positions and a share in the board of directors, due to which they better control capital expenditure and profit distribution.
- Corporate. Usually these are former top managers of reputable international firms who, after their dismissal, received large monetary compensation (on average, $ 1 million). It is this money that they use for investments. They develop no more than one project, trying to participate in its management.
Regardless of the type, all business angels are entrepreneurs aimed at making a profit from their investments. Heightened Sense business man and accurate calculation help them extract from 70% to 200% of the profits from one successful startup. This is one of the most income types entrepreneurship.
Differences between business angels and investors
The activity of business angels has several differences from the work of classical investors: venture funds or credit institutions. First of all, the fact that angels are engaged in projects that are not of interest to traditional investors. And a few more points.
- Use of personal funds. While venture capitalists or financial institutions invest attracted capital of third parties, business angels operate only with their own money.
- Wider possibilities. This concerns the adoption of investment decisions, the procedure for drawing up contracts between project developers and fund contributors. Angels have a lower rate of return, and attracting them is cheaper than, for example, a financial institution: investments do not involve interest, cash payments, or insurance. If necessary, they can also act as a financial guarantor, which will significantly raise the rating and capabilities of the startup team. In addition, angel investors can pay attention to the most original and extraordinary idea, if it seems promising to them.
- High risk and self-interest. Yes, angel businessmen also study business plans and calculate the benefits. But this is not only a bare calculation of future profits: an important role is also played by the enthusiasm for the proposed project, the intuitive choice of startup partners. A business angel can simply “fall in love” with an idea so much that he himself will develop a detailed plan for its implementation. And often interest wins over pragmatism, which increases the level of risk for the investor. In other words, a venture fund invests in a project, while a business angel invests in an idea and people.
- Detailed project management. Most often, business angels invest in a startup not only money, but also their own invaluable experience, knowledge, and wisdom. This type of investment is called "smart" - angels advise the development team, help develop and promote the project, attract their own business connections.
How to find business angels
Attracting a business angel to invest in your project is not easy, because there are many more ideas than those who want to sponsor and implement them. But, following a small instruction, you can increase the chances of a successful "hunt". Some tips on how to find a business angel.
- Idea generation. The idea should be fresh and unique, attract attention, "catch". It is not at all necessary to invent a miracle of technology or ingenious developments. You can look at existing projects from a different angle - open a non-standard restaurant, salon. At the same time, the creator of the idea must clearly understand how much profit his project will bring, and be able to clearly convey this information to the investor. At least a small market analysis in the chosen industry is very welcome - then communication with the angel will become more productive.
- Identification of the target audience. It is necessary to determine the circle of people who will be interested in the proposed product or service. The wider the target audience- the more likely it is to captivate an angel investor, since he is interested in long-term profit.
- Selection of a team of professionals. In rare cases, angels take on sole projects, for this they must be truly unique. Therefore, a professional team is the key to success in attracting an investor. At a minimum, the creator of the idea needs good manager for competent promotion and implementation of a startup.
- Drawing up a business plan. Another advantage of the idea developer will be a clear business plan, the presence of which will significantly increase the effectiveness of the search for a business angel. The business plan usually contains comprehensive information about the innovative product: description, differences from competitors, benefits and cost. If necessary, you can use the services of consulting firms to draw up a business plan.
- Communication with a business angel. Traditionally, the first meeting with investors takes place at presentations, where everyone presents projects. Each applicant has 10 minutes to draw attention to their startup. You need to try to make sure that in this short period of time you are interested in the angel. A video demonstration and handouts will be a good help: the brighter and more complete the presentation is, the higher the chance to arouse the interest of the investor and achieve his approval.
- Search in your geography zone. Often angels prefer to deal with applicants who live in their immediate vicinity: it is easier to arrange meetings, maintain close communication and “ keep your finger on the pulse».
Many business angels have their own websites, email, are quite open to contact with talented inventors: it will not be difficult to contact them. These private investors willingly attend thematic events, forums and specialized exhibitions, the probability of meeting an angel businessman is much higher than getting an appointment with a venture fund. You can also leave your offers on open Internet sites. AskCap, StartUpStep, RusBase: they are periodically viewed by influential Russian business angels or their agents.
When several investors unite, associations arise, the activities of which are more productive. The most famous Russian associations of business angels:
- Business angels of St. Petersburg
- Investment Club Skolkovo
- Internet Initiatives Development Fund (sponsoring start-ups at the seed stage)
- National Association of Business Angels (provides an up-to-date list of business angels who are ready to cooperate)
- National Commonwealth of Business Angels
- Union of business angel organizations
- AddVenture Business Angels Fund
TOP 52 business angels in Russia
In Russia, as well as abroad, angel investors are ordinary people with their own preferences and tastes, both personal and commercial. To date, the most famous and influential business angels in Russia are:
Head of the association of Russian business angels "Starting Investments". Fiyaksel founded the Department of Marketing at the National Research University " graduate School economics”, published his own books and textbooks on venture business, marketing and management.
I started investing 15 years ago. Prefers investments in telecommunications, IT and biotechnology startups. Does not advertise his projects, but average check is equal to 100-200 thousand dollars.
Founder of the laboratory for the development of mobile and Internet applications FutureLabs. Invests in Russian and Western projects in the early stages.
Behind him are 22 invested startups, among them: VKReader, Colorizza, Verbling, ConferenceCast. Invests in mobile applications, trading services, and education on the Internet.
Professional investor with over 60 successful realized ideas. In 2013 he was awarded the prestigious " Angel of the Year". It has its own fund, which attracts the funds of many successful businessmen who want to increase their income.
The most famous projects: Eruditor, Online ticket.rf. Works with Russian, American and Israeli partners. Preference is given to innovations in the field of education, finance, medicine and IT, entertainment and gaming and content.
Author of many investments, founder of the academy Farmers(invests up to 150 thousand dollars in projects for a 40% share of the business), has its own investment fund IMI.VC actively cooperates with other investors. Oversees at least 10 projects each year.
He prefers to invest in mobile and gaming applications, but is ready to invest $1 million in a promising startup. Among the successful projects: MyWardrobe, Proberry.
Karlov founded the association of business angels Angel Relations Group, he invests both at the expense of own funds and company capital.
Famous Projects: Applications for Windows phone, image visualization software, SlyLamb studio. Invests in the field of medicine, mobile applications, and those projects that could introduce their products to African markets.
Head of the Angel Network The United Venture Company. Most successful projects: To Go TV, Boommy, Alloka, Interior.Pro.
Invests in the early stages of projects in mobile application management, innovative communication, entertainment and cloud technologies. The average check is 200-300 thousand dollars.
Chairman of the investor club at the Skolkovo School of Management, public figure. It is invested both at early and later stages of project development.
Preferred investment sectors include science, health, Internet services and technology. Of the 25 ideas, the most successful were: "Life Button", Printio.ru, Eduson.tv.
The formation of a businessman's career took place in companies Microsoft and Sputnik Labs. Now Cherkashin is investing in non-standard Russian and American projects: these are mainly projects for social networks, search technologies, ideas for entertainment and social services; projects related to photo and video on the Internet.
Most famous invested startups: applications Webbanker, Minute and AdWired. The average check is 200-300 thousand dollars.
The list of business angels continues:
- Alexander Aivazov, projects - MartMania
- Alexander Borodich, FutureLabs business incubator (MyWishBoard, WishCoins)
- Alexander Vashchenko, projects - Narr8
- Alexander Dresen, projects – Zin.gl, TechPitch.ru
- Alexander Turkot – Qbaka
- Alexander Yunyaev, projects - Cashsquare
- Alexey Basov, projects - Pruffi, Habrahabr, Roem, Firrma
- Alexey Karlov - SlyLamb
- Alexey Kichaikin, projects – Displair
- Alexey Prudnikov, projects - "Traffic from the window"
- Andrey Golovin, projects - Russian Story, Promo.ru, Kinoplex
- Arkady Moreinis - Klevosti, Plantains, Tagbrand
- Askar Tuganbaev, projects - Videomore, Tolkien.Ru
- Vadim Asadov, projects –Neurok, AlumniFunder
- Vadim Kulikov, Kulikov Innovation Center
- Vadim Tarasov, Investment Director at Bright Capital (Doctor at Work, Photo School)
- Viktor Frumkin, projects - Flocktory
- Vyacheslav Davidenko, projects - Alytics, Witget
- Dmitry Maslennikov, projects - KudaPotratil.ru
- Evgeny Zaitsev, Helix Ventures (medical)
- Egor Rudi, projects - Eruditor, Printio, LinguaLeo
- Igor Ashmanov, projects - Wada!, Roem.ru, Remparo Filter, Ayayay.ru
- Igor Balk, Managing Director of Global Innovation Labs, TaskPoint
- Igor Matsanyuk - Proberry, Woodla, MyWardrobe.
- Igor Ryabenky, Altair Foundation (SocialMart, SailPlay, Alloka, HiConvertion, etc.)
- Igor Ustinov, projects - ClipClock
- Ilya Osipov, projects - I2IStudy.com, Numbuster, Bankrupt.Pro, MDDay events (Mobile Developer Day).
- Konstantin Sinyushin, projects – Gbooking, director of the Untitled venture capital company
- Leonid Volkov, Founder of Projector Ventures, projects - Callaround, Oktodon, Receptol, Domosite, Timeliner, Citrea, DalSlovo.ru, Evrent, SideNotes
- Mikhail Kechinov, projects - Absly.com
- Mikhail Paulkin, projects - RuTube, Minutta
- Murad Sofizade, projects - TravelTipz
- Nikita Khalyavin, projects - YaKlass, Professionals.ru, ShopogoliQ.ru
- Nikolay Badulin, investments in innovative projects with the help of FiBr
- Hovhannes Poghosyan, projects - Onetwotrip, Mainpeople.com
- Oleg Mikhalsky, projects - AR2Life, B-152, partner and co-founder of iAaccelerator
- Oskar Hartmann – Pharma Express
- Pavel Glushenkov, Investment Director, Inventure Partners
- Pavel Cherkashin, Vestor.In Foundation
- Sergey Gribov - American and Russian projects
- Sergey Zhukov, projects - "Goods from the 90s", "BeriDari"
- Eduard Fiyaksel - projects not disclosed
- Yuri Virovets, projects - Clickberry, Actio.tv
- Yuriy Oreshin, lifescience projects - Angelico Ventures venture fund
Conclusion
After definitions and examples, it becomes more clear who business angels are. if you have real business idea, its model and plan, but there are no funds for implementation, business angels can be one of the financing options.
Attracting a business angel to finance your project is a great chance to start and promote a business in the absence of a material base.
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"Secret" presents the annual rating of the most active Russian business angels, compiled by Firrma Group with the support of RVC and the National Association of Business Angels (NABA). Participants are private investors, for whom investing in Russian and foreign startups is their main business, not a hobby or patronage. The main criterion that determines the place in the rating is the number of transactions in 2016 that received public confirmation. For a detailed methodology, please refer to
Alexander Rumyantsev
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
A2 Leasing System, CyberGame.tv, My Schedule, Reg.fm, Flashsafe, Maroom, Agroinnovations, Zig-Zag, Little Pirate, MamaDoma.Biz, Teleport
Rumyantsev has been investing in startups for just over a year - and 15 deals at once. The former financier says that he came to the startup industry to earn money. As an investor, he is omnivorous, but he admits that he especially loves fintech, ecology and VR. He invests relatively small amounts - several million rubles. Judging by the handwriting, Rumyantsev acts mathematically: he has his own methodology and even a small team (although usually angels are still single filibusters). Interestingly, he does not communicate very closely with colleagues in the shop (which is rare in this business), and therefore he has no or almost no joint deals, but at the same time he is quite open (this is even rarer): 11 out of 15 deals are confirmed by public sources. Of the interesting transactions - Flash.so, whose founder Alexey Churkin managed to give his "endless flash drive" to Dmitry Medvedev, and the Agroinnovations startup with the Electronic Herd project, which monitors the number, health and quality of care for cows.
Alexander Borodich
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
GetShop.TV (twice), GrowFood, Inverse, WiMark System, Buklya, TicketsCloud, MingIvision
Boris Zhilin
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
100 000–200 000
UberChef, BoomStarter, ParkApp, Done
Zhilin lives in Lausanne, but at the same time, a significant part of his transactions are with partners from Russia (for example, with another well-known angel Alexei Menn and VTB24 top manager Nadia Cherkasova). In general, Zhilin is one of the few Russians who invest in domestic companies from abroad. And he does it very actively: 13 transactions per year (four are confirmed by sources), and 12 of them are in Russia, which is rare for a "foreigner". Zhilin is called a flexible investor, and he confirms this: “I believe in maximum flexibility and am ready to consider investments both at the very early stage of development (a team with an idea) and at later stages when growth funding is required.” The average check is quite high - $100–200,000. From the interesting in the portfolio: Zhilin, together with Alexei Menn, invested 20 million rubles in the apartment renovation service Made by Ilya Oskolkov-Tsenciper, co-founder of Afisha and the Strelka Institute. Other notable projects include food delivery services FoodFox and Elementaree, as well as a cook-to-home service called UberChef.
Bogdan Yarovoy
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
Style Consierge, MasterZen, WiMark System, HiConversion
Yarovoy from Kaliningrad is one of the few active business angels living in Russia and not in Moscow. The former chairman of the board of European Bank began investing in venture not very long ago, but rather quickly turned this occupation into a conscious process. He organized venture company SmartHub, which combines the functions of the club of angels (Yarovaya and the team are developing it as a platform for co-investment) and an accelerator. In communication, Yarovaya is corporately restrained, but nevertheless he invests recklessly: 16 companies in two years, five in the last year (public sources confirm four transactions). He plans to close “one or two more deals” before the New Year. The average check is quite high - $50–70,000. The stages are classic for seed and pre-seed angels. Among the interesting companies in the portfolio are the Russian-British photo marketplace Lobster (deal in 2015), TicketsCloud, AppFollow application monitoring service (the first release of IIDF in the history).
Julius Zegelman
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
AirCall, AllSet, Rolith
A successful law practice owner in California, Zegelman has been investing in startups for years. At the same time, while living in America, he also looks at Russian or Ukrainian projects, although, of course, there are more American projects in his portfolio. Zegelman's investment speed is mesmerizing. According to him, this year he alone and with partners invested in 19 projects (only one from Russia). Three deals have been confirmed publicly. In addition, this angel manages to make exits, which, of course, is the highest class for an investor. The technological focus of Zegelman's investments is wide: cloud technologies, fintech, devices, Internet of things, e-commerce and new materials. Stages - from pre-seed to series A. Here is a typical investor transaction in 2016. Paris-based help desk start-up Aircall, an $8 million round (that's a solid European Stage A), which, in addition to Zegelman, involved several large and medium-sized investors, including Balderton Capital and FJLabs.
Oleg Cheltsov
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
Doctrine, Giroptic, 90 seconds (all - France)
Venture partner of Runa Capital and founder of the Fotolia photo bank, Cheltsov, a Frenchman with Russian roots, was once a music producer and is known for discovering the singer Patricia Kaas in Russia. Since the early 2000s, he has invested in more than 50 companies and made about ten successful exits. Cheltsov is still investing a lot. Mostly in France (the local venture capital market is considered quite vigorous). It is difficult to determine the average check, because this angel is usually invested as part of a syndicate. As a rule, this is a strong stage A (which is not very typical for an angel). In 2016, Cheltsov made three deals, all of them “French”.
Sergey Solonin
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
YouDo, Arena Marketing, Instamart
The co-founder of Qiwi, one of the main “blue chips” of Runet, has been investing in technology projects of various sizes for a long time - as an LP (limited partner), through the Qiwi corporate fund, and also individually. The focus of Qiwi is everything related to payment and financial technologies, but the focus of Corned beef is more difficult to understand. His portfolio includes the Arena-Marketing sports ticket distribution service, YouDo, and the Instamart food delivery service (by the way, Albert Sagiryan, managing director of Sberbank CIB, participated in this transaction). It is only clear that the investor Solonin prefers to invest at stage A or higher, and that he is interested in fintech in any case, so he headed working group FinNet National technology initiative(NTI).
Igor Matsanyuk
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
One of the most closed IT entrepreneurs and investors has completely gone into the shadows in recent years. He lives mainly in Vilnius, where he actively participates in the life of the local technopark. His main brainchild, Game Insight, a major global developer of mobile games, also moved there. Previously, Matsanyuk invested in dozens of startups - first himself, then through his own fund IMI.VC and indirectly as an LP in several Russian funds(which, however, is not documented anywhere). Now little is known about Matsanyuk's investments, and there is a feeling that he was somewhat disappointed by the startup topic. On the other hand, this year he joined the board of trustees of the GenerationS accelerator. Matsanyuk's relatively recent investments include TicketsCloud, a new technopark in Vilnius, and an unnamed medical project.
Oleg Evseenkov
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
RollCon, Green Investments
Evseenkov invests a lot - in a year, according to him, he invested in 18 startups (however, only two were found). Basically, they invest at the preseed and seed stages in an area that is far from being the most popular among angels - "industrial technology". However, for the former top manager of Rosnano and RAO UES, as well as the Minister of Industry of the Ryazan Region, this is a completely logical choice. In addition, Evseenkov preach an unusual investment model. “My business model is less about exits and more about dividend yields,” he says. The average check is $50 thousand.
Edward Fiyaksel
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
50 000–150 000
there is no data
Perhaps one of the most successful Russian business angels. It was Eduard Fiyaksel who made several bright angel exits in the history of Russian venture, and immediately sold the projects to a strategist. So, in 2014, he sold the operator of broadband Internet access Megamax and Internet Laboratory to companies from the group Richard's Virgin Branson. The multiplier for transactions, according to the investor, exceeded 28. This investor loves areas that are not very popular among angels: telecom, the Internet of things, medical devices. Invests from $50-150,000 at the seed and start-up stages - that is, on average, a little more than most angels. This year, Fiyaksel has invested in eight startups (public sources point to two). Fiyaksel is the Head of the Department of Venture Management at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Permanently residing in his native Nizhny Novgorod, he leads the local association of business angels "Starting Investments".
Sergei Dashkov
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
Whatshelp, hellobaby
Dashkov is a member of the Venture Club, one of the most active angel groups. The range of investment interests is very wide: Big Data, fintech, new energy, VR, Internet of Things, biotech, etc. The portfolio includes projects such as Veeroute and Minglvion. Dashkov says he has closed eight deals this year, but only two are publicly available. The first is a customer support service via Whatshelp messengers (an $80,000 round, which also involved Pavel Cherkashin, a veteran of the angelic movement, and several other private investors). The second is the HelloBaby baby app. Dashkov invested in it together with the production center Riki Group (the owner of Smeshariki, Fixiki and Malysharikov) and several members of the Venture Club.
Andrey Golovin
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
Golovin, a veteran of the angel movement, began investing in the 1990s. At the same time, he does not really like the publicity and partying that is inherent in the angel market (Golovin is one of the few who does not make joint deals, and this is generally rare), so it is not so easy to meet him. He invests not only in venture capital, but also in infrastructure - for example, this year he invested in coworking in Spain. Geography, like all experienced angels, goes beyond the borders of the country: for Golovin, these are the Baltic states and Spain. There are also many topics of interest to him: platforms for developing bots and business communications through messengers, cross-border e-commerce, distributed online business systems, new interface technologies, etc. The main criterion for selecting projects is the quality of the team. “We need people not only with bright eyes, but with good experience and a professional background,” he explains. “I even had to make early exits because I began to doubt the competence of project leaders.”
Oleksandr Chernyak
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
300,000–2 million
Instacarro (Brazil), Mobalytics (USA)
Chernyak is a big angel who invests up to stage B inclusive (and this is definitely the domain of adult venture funds) up to $2 million. Mostly in his native Ukraine, but manages to watch good projects in Russia and even in Brazil, where Chernyak, according to him, already has one project. Interested in e-commerce, food tech, fintech, smart consumption and travel services. Perhaps one of the most stellar (at least among the known) transactions for an investor was an investment in CarPrice. Today it is one of the most promising young technology companies - you can’t even call it a startup anymore. Now such giants as, for example, Baring Vostok sit in it, but Chernyak was one of the first investors. Yak was one of the first investors.
Igor Shoifot
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
250,000–1 million
Sixa (USA), California in Ukraine (Ukraine)
This angel makes deals in the amount of $250,000 to $1 million - in fact, in the venture funds zone. Shoifot has lived in the US since the 1990s, but regularly invests in Russia and other countries former USSR(especially often in Ukraine). In America, he is also known as the founder of such companies as Epsylon Games, Fotki.Com, vInternship. Choifot is located in friendly relations with the RBC founders' fund - TMT Investments. The investor is interested in several topics: marketplaces, e-commerce, clouds, Big Data, media. Of the latest interesting transactions - the Sixa project. Shoyfot is also known for regularly making good exits - for example, he sold Kanvas to the giant AOL.
Alexey Menn
public data
personal data
Invested startups
Average bill, $
25 000–400 000
Done, Elementaree
Menn has been an active player in the market for about three years. In addition, he founded his own venture fund Sun Capital, through which he also makes deals. How an angel invests $200-400,000 in a startup. Menn differs from many other participants in the rating in that he loves not only classic venture deals. “Traditional industries that haven't had technological changes for a long time are interesting,” he explains. “Retail, construction, food tech, e-sports, various b2b services are especially interesting.” At least one of his portfolio companies is known to many young Muscovites - this is the "food designer" Elementaree.
Igor Kaloshin
public data
The rating was commissioned by RVC in partnership with the National Association of Business Angels and vc.ru. “The main criterion for us: for a person, venture investments should be business and work,” its authors note. The rating includes investors who have made at least 2 venture deals in the last 12 months. In addition, at least two transactions must be confirmed by public information.
Alexander Rumyantsev. 30 transactions, of which 28 were confirmed
Rumyantsev becomes the leader of the rating for the second year in a row. The size of the average check is 500 thousand - 3 million rubles, and the volume of investments for the year is not less than 15 million rubles. This year, he doubled the number of transactions: from 15 to 30. By the end of December, the investor plans to increase the number of startups in his portfolio to 50.
Vitaly Polekhin. 10 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
Polekhin is the head of the National Association of Business Angels and the Club of Angels of the Skolkovo Business School. The average check size was $50-150 thousand. Polekhin invests not only startups, but also venture funds: for example, AddVenture.
Sergey Dashkov. 10 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
Dashkov is a MIPT graduate and co-founder of SDS-Foods. He invests in projects in the field of the Internet of things, virtual reality, fintech, etc. The average check size is $150 thousand, and the volume of investments per year is $1 million.
Andrey Golovin. 7 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
Golovin does not like to advertise his investments. It is known that he now manages a network of co-working spaces in Europe. The average check size is €10-15 thousand, the volume of investments per year is €60 thousand.
Roman Povolotsky. 6 transactions, of which 6 were confirmed
Povolotsky is a newcomer to the rating, who ended up in a venture from the IT business. He is a game developer and producer and runs Taiga VR. invested in Tilt Shift, the Imperium team with the VR Helper project, Aura Lab, the RGUPS team and Avatar-1. Data on the average check and the volume of investments is not yet available.
Dmitry Sutormin. 5 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
Sutormin is another newcomer among the most active business angels. He has invested in Woom, RCML, Prostodom, Platfomni and ACT. Having entered the market in 2016, this year it made two full launches: SkyPark SDN and Enaza.ru. The average size of a check is $250,000, the volume of investments is $950,000.
Edward Fiyaksel. 5 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
Fiyaksel is an investor from Nizhny Novgorod and a lecturer at the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the National Research University Higher School of Economics with a professorship. The average volume of a check is from $50,000, the volume of investments per year is $400,000.
Bogdan Yarovoy. 5 transactions, of which 2 were confirmed
The ex-chairman of the board and co-owner of European Bank Yarovoy runs the SmartHub business angel club in Kaliningrad. The average check size is $50,000. The total amount of investments over the past 12 months has not been disclosed.
Oleg Evseenkov. 3 transactions, of which 3 were confirmed
Evseenkov has been consistently investing in a large number of startups for many years in a row. At the same time, he often invests in companies that can return investments with dividends. The average size of a check is $30,000, the volume of investments is $200,000.
Alexey Menn. 3 transactions of which confirmed - 2
Menn is a partner at Sun Capital. He invested in Russian startups Elementaree and Made. The average check size is from $400. The volume of investments is not disclosed.
In total, 49 business angels were included in the rating. It is compiled on the basis of research and public information, as well as data received from the shortlisted angels themselves, whom the compilers interviewed personally. In addition, almost all participants completed a survey. Among the newcomers not included in the top ten are Dmitry Sysoev, Artem Rudi, Evgeny Zhulanov and Nikolai Kartorzhnov.
Thirty-year-old Olga Kotsur started creating a mobile application under the working title "Crib for the seller" in 2013 while studying at Harvard University. Although the idea of a technology startup appeared earlier, which was fully facilitated by her meteoric career. After studying at MIPT, she graduated from the Russian School of Economics, which sent her for an internship at the London office of Lehman Brothers. She then worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she specialized in telecoms. It was BCG that sent her to Harvard to get an MBA, paying for her education.
A clerk with a smartphone or tablet running Crib Sheet (now called Mercaux) can quickly find the right size by scanning the label, or recommend thoughtful clothing sets (from items sold in the store) to shoppers in response to the question “What wear it?" According to Kozur, the Mercaux service helps increase the average check by 8-11% through cross-selling.
The application has already been implemented by several Russian and international companies: Benetton, Loriblu, Kiko Milano, Kira Plastinina, Inсity. Each store pays $150-$300 per month for a subscription, depending on the feature set. Kotsur hopes to sign contracts with clothing and footwear retailers worth $1.3 million by mid-2017.
shop assistant
“I was surprised that offline clothing stores have not changed, technology has not reached them,” says Kotsur. Sellers need to keep a lot of information in their heads: know the assortment, commodity balances, novelties. They often cannot properly advise the client, looking for the right model or size for a long time, now and then running to the checkout. “I faced terrible retail work in Moscow, London, and the USA,” recalls Kotsur. Salespeople need a tool to help them work better, she decided.
In the US, Kozur found a soul mate, a Harvard classmate from India. The partners registered a company in the US and hired a group of developers in India to prototype the app. The programmers did the work for free - under the promise that they would be taken to the team if everything worked out. In the summer of 2013, the Plug and Play business incubator invested $25,000 in Mercaux. Its leaders regularly come to Harvard and the project seemed promising to them, says Kotzur. This allowed us to pay off the developers and continue the business.
The entrepreneur talked to retailers - for example, with network managers Donna Karan, Macy's, Nordstrom, to understand their problems. It became clear that retail needed a more sophisticated tool than sizing. Later, the partners invested another $30,000 of their own savings in the development.
Looking for investors
In early 2014, Kotzur's partner left the business and moved to California, a difficult period for Kotzur, she recalls. The project developed slowly, the studies were coming to an end, and it was necessary to make a decision whether to continue the business. For six months, the founder of Mercaux met and talked with about 20 investors and funds in Europe, Russia and the USA: “I understood better what needs to be changed in the presentation of the product and what points of the business to pay attention to, for example, it is better to think over the sales cycle and expansion strategy business."
Clothing technology
Innovations in clothing chains are primarily related to multimedia technologies and logistics optimization, Burmistrov clarifies. Mobile applications for sellers are not widespread yet, he notes.
To get things off the ground, you need venture capital money, a strong team, and a real client ready to implement the application, Kotzur explains. She had a team ready to jump in when there was money, but the clients didn't work out. Many retailers were interested in the app, but were only willing to implement it after another company tried it out. American investors did not want to invest in business in Russia, says Kotsur.
In the fall of 2014, an American venture investor agreed to invest $250,000 in the project on the condition that Kotsur find a co-investor. A friend introduced her to business angel Alexei Menn, to whom Mercaux seemed promising. The American changed his mind about investing in the application, and Menn invested a total of $300,000 in the project. “It was an investment in Olya – she understands retail, she has MIPT and Harvard behind her, she is ready to fight,” Menn explains. Now is a good time for such projects - big retailers with a turnover of $ 4 billion are ready to sit down at the negotiating table with startups, so everyone wants to develop digital technologies, Menn notes. According to him, the technology can be sold abroad, and he is interested in such projects.
In three years, the project managed to attract $1.4 million in venture investments from two funds and Menn.
Technique - youth
At the beginning of 2015, Kotsur opened an office in Moscow and hired two developers from Yandex, who later became full-time employees of the company (now there are 14 people on the staff). Until mid-2015, Kotsur actually worked without a paycheck, she says. Then the company got its first client (Kotsur came to his management through a friend) - the Kira Plastinina chain of stores, with which Mercaux conducted a pilot project to introduce the application in 10 stores of the network. The customer was satisfied, but soon the network management changed, and Mercaux decided not to use the new one. But with the results of the pilot project, Kotsur went to other networks. She met many retailers at specialized conferences, as happened, for example, with Benetton. Investors introduced the management of Incity Kotsur. And with the international network Kiko Milano, selling cosmetics, it turned out to be even easier to make friends - the former CEO Kira Plastinina went to work there. In the Russian division of Benetton, the Mercaux application has been used since April this year in three stores in Moscow and five in the regions, says Ruslan Malich, CEO of Benetton in Russia. The network is young sellers (average age - 20-25 years) and they are interested in using the application, he assures. The app, according to Malic, makes it easier to work with the assortment, and there are about 6,000 models in Benetton stores. Merchants themselves can come up with sets of clothes (“looks”) that other stores will then use to recommend to customers, and this is an additional motivation for staff to study the range, notes Malich. He hopes that the innovation will lead to an increase in the conversion of visits to purchases and an increase in cross-selling, but he does not undertake to estimate the economic effect yet.
Free hands
In 2015–2016 sales at many retailers began to decline and the share of personnel costs in the revenue structure increased, says Mikhail Burmistrov, general director of Infoline-analytics. And the most advanced retailers are interested in innovations to improve sales efficiency: mobile applications, online training, the analyst says. However, most chains are now busy with something completely different: they are closing unprofitable stores, developing multi-channel sales, reducing costs, they do not get around to improving staff efficiency, Burmistrov is convinced.
Clothes chains in Russia are conservative, their sellers usually oppose any innovations and the introduction of applications such as Mercaux is sure to cause resistance from the staff, said Dmitry Netkach, managing partner of Watcom Shop Mechanics. Managers themselves are often against it. “I don't really believe that such a decision would help us sell better,” says Eduard Ostrobrod, Vice President of Sela. The seller must know the assortment by heart; for this, training and probation he clarifies. Sela has about 1,000 clothing models and remembering them is not such a difficult task, the vice-president believes. The seller's hands must be free. Wrong, if he will stand in front of the buyer, buried in the tablet, Ostrobrod is convinced. In addition, the offer of clothing sets can annoy the buyer: everyone has their own style and not always one “look” fits different people he adds.
“If we had a larger collection, I would buy such an application,” says Olga Promptova, co-owner of DD-Shop. For her company, it is not relevant: the assortment is small, there are many regular customers. But if you have a lot of SKUs, the app will help you communicate with the customer like you would in a boutique, which you can't find in mass-market stores, Promptova says.
Kotsur is now planning to develop in Europe, since Russian retailers have other priorities. So far, Kotsur has been looking for potential clients, and recently hired several UK retail consultants to look for customers. By the end of the year, Mercaux plans to sign about 10 contracts with European retailers, says Kotzur.
In a crisis, traditional investments often bring only one loss. This makes you look for new opportunities to save and increase your savings, and therefore more and more investors are paying attention to start-ups, because investing in a start-up business can bring tens and even hundreds of percent of profit. Today, anyone can invest in a start-up business on the StartTrack crowdinvesting platform, and the profit is up to 35 percent per year. However, investing in startups also carries risks, because not every young team succeeds. Aleksey Menn, a well-known Russian venture investor and partner at Sun Capital Fund, spoke to Lente.ru about how to choose a startup that will make a profit, and what projects are the most investment-attractive today.
Lenta.ru: Alexey, you are one of the most active investors in Russian startups. What niches Russian market are now the most interesting for the investor in terms of growth and profitability?
Alexey Menn: One of the most investment-attractive niches today is high-tech services in the B2B segment. I'm talking about IT startups that offer services to traditional businesses to increase direct sales, engagement potential buyers into the buying process, reduce costs and make the company more efficient. Over the past couple of years, an amazing trend has appeared in the world. Any junior manager, salesperson or waitress actively uses various technologies and innovations in Everyday life. For example, mobile applications and gadgets.
At the same time, the companies in which they work are most likely far from any technological innovations and innovations. A standard supermarket, restaurant or clothing store looks the same as it did 10-30 years ago. Some innovations, of course, are being introduced, but very slowly and their implementation cycle is 7-10 years. But now the leadership of the big traditional companies understands that the time has come for change, and in order to be competitive in the medium term, it is necessary to introduce or create new technology.
As a rule, at first the company tries to create an IT product on its own, but soon (with rare exceptions) it comes to the realization that it is expensive, long, difficult and completely incomprehensible how the product created on its own will turn out. The company then considers ordering an IT solution from market leaders such as SAP, Oracle and IBM, but this approach can be even more expensive and time consuming.
Photo: StartTrack Facebook page
This is where unique opportunities for a startup lie. Small technology company can not only get to the negotiating table with a large organization whose turnover is billions of dollars, but also "get" it as a client. Five or six years ago in the world, and especially in Russia, such a situation would most likely be impossible, large companies would not communicate with a small startup, let alone become its clients, entrusting a significant part of their business.
Thanks to the ideal timing for the development of ITB2B startups, even very small companies, with unique technology, can sign huge customers. Thus, Mercaux, founded by Olga Kotsur (offers IT solutions for sellers in clothing and cosmetics stores), signed the international brand Benetton and immediately became of interest to a large number of international retailers. And the company SailPlay, founded by Leonid Shangin, signed contracts with the international chain Papa John’s and the Volkswagen automaker, and subsequently attracted many iconic investors. And there are hundreds of such examples in recent months alone.
A lot of venture capital funds invest in IT services. And the prospects for high-quality developments in this area, of course, are impressive. But at one of the StartTrack conferences, you said that you were interested in investing in food startups. How can this segment be attractive for an investor?
Yes, food startups are a very interesting niche. All over the world, including Russia, in the next five to seven years there will be a real investment boom in this industry. Actually, it has already begun. We are talking about innovations in the field of nutrition, about new approaches to it, such as a subscription to food delivery, new technologies for growing food and preparing them. This niche is called foodtech. Its classic representative in Russia is the Elementaree project, a healthy food constructor. Within a month, by subscription, service couriers deliver to customers a special menu (healthy and tasty food) for a week, completely replacing the need to go to the supermarket.
Or, for example, Uberchef allows you to call a chef for a holiday or family dinner using a mobile application, who will purchase products, bring them and cook dinner for you (saving time and new experiences). Representatives of several large Western venture funds told me not so long ago that they are not considering any projects in Russia, except for foodtech.
But food and all sorts of innovations with it is an eternal topic. At least some new dishes and restaurant concepts have appeared before. What is the novelty and relevance? Why is foodtech being talked about only now?
Over the past couple of years, several very large Western funds have made investments in foodtech startups at once. Most of the projects were successful. And now many investors are actively interested in innovations in the field of food. It also happens that the project makes its first successes and, thanks to the hype in foodtech, receives a significant venture margin (for example, investors estimate it at 10-20 annual revenue), and then it turns out that, in fact, the project has no innovative component. Investors receive losses and clutch their heads: “Where did we find the venture margin here!?”
That is, venture investors also have their own fashion?
It is possible to say so. Yes, it is now fashionable to invest in food startups. By the way, it is now fashionable to invest in startups in general and to create them is also very fashionable now. To be honest, it's a little scary. And it's like a gold rush: many expect to make easy money without putting in serious effort.
Therefore, I recommend choosing a project for investment very carefully. But if, after a thorough analysis, you see that a foodtech startup has a strong team interested in mid- and long-term results, an innovative component, and the project is able to scale and develop not only in the Russian market, the investor has good chance get income.
The same Elementaree offers the client a subscription, that is, an agreement for the supply of products for a certain period of time. Probably, such a scheme of work is innovative for this market and is beneficial for the business and the client?
Subscribing to anything saves us time and money. Food projects want you not to go to the store, but to get food at home, today you can subscribe to a variety of services: dry cleaning, hotel accommodation, sweets, and even a surprise from a sex shop. Even Apple now offers a subscription: every month you pay dues, and at the end of the year you get a new iPhone.
Subscription related services are interesting business. But I would recommend that startups also think about creating a service that allows you to cancel subscriptions that you do not use. Many friends and colleagues complained to me that several companies at once withdraw small amounts from them every month, but they themselves no longer remember what they signed up for and how to cancel this subscription, as a result, the money goes to waste.
What other niches can you call investment attractive?
For example, smart cities. It is about innovations in the urban space. Here Russia, for example, is one of the best markets in the world for the development of parking services. Our country has only recently taken up the issue of paid parking, and the parking system here is one of the most innovative in the world.
Photo: StartTrack page "VKontakte"
Our startups have the opportunity to offer city authorities and residents convenient services for paying for parking, such as mobile applications. Highly interesting project In this regard, ParkApp, the company aims to tell users about free parking in any city in Russia in real time, as well as provide the ability to pay not only for open city parking, but also for many private parking lots with a barrier (the driver does not need to get out of the car to pay, or attach a special card). Zhenya Liebermann, the founder of the project, came up with a unique algorithm that will allow drivers to save a lot of time looking for free parking and how to pay for it
As an experienced investor, what advice would you give to a novice investor? Many would like to invest in startups (as you yourself said, it is even fashionable), but this carries certain risks. How to protect yourself from failure?
If it's about serious investments For a novice investor, it is important to get acquainted with other projects from this industry, attend industry conferences, find out what new products are emerging in this area. For example, in the last month I have been offered six or seven very similar projects for the delivery of products from supermarkets or markets. If I had talked to only one team, then perhaps I would have remained confident that this is a very promising project for a venture investor. Is it a joke - a sort of Uber for home delivery of groceries! However, knowing the level of competition in this niche, I did not invest in any of them.
Over the past year, I have looked at about 1.5 thousand startups (I do not encourage others to do the same, since this kind of research takes a lot of time), but such a large-scale study gives a deep understanding of trends. You gradually begin to understand that at the moment, most startups are actually launching similar projects only in different industries. And the mistakes of young teams are also typical. When you invest in one project, it seems unique to you, but if your experience in the field of investments is much greater, you understand that this is not so. By studying similar projects, you can save your team from various mistakes and avoid mistakes.
The main thing for a novice investor is not to be gambling. The first successes of a startup are always intoxicating, and the investor must have a cool head on his shoulders.
And the last. The more I look at startups, the more I understand that the success of a start-up business depends more on the team than on the product. You can have a unique product that is in demand on the market, but without a strong team you can’t make money on it. Other times, the product doesn't seem all that special, but a strong team works wonders.
If you want to invest or attract investments in your project through StartTrack, then you can register and apply on the official website of the site.
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