Siim Lepisk

7 keys to start-up funding

In 2012, Swedbank, Tallinn Technical University and Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol founded Prototron fund to support building the first prototypes that could get client feedback to conquer the World. We help talented entrepreneurs to get their product to market, by granting our alumni with money and 6 months of business development services in Tehnopol Startup Incubator.

We build success stories

Since 2012, we have: ●  Gathered 500+ ideas ●  Had 7 rounds of funding ●  Given out 180 000+ EUR for 15 teams. 100% success rate of funded start-ups. Our alumni have generated 700 000+ EUR revenue and raised 2 000 000+ EUR capital

We’ve already shown great results

We focus on

*For ICT projects we support systems with complex algorithms

ICT*

Electronics

Mechatronics

Greentech

●  Idea’s technological novelty ●  Team’s strong competence ●  Prototype’s market capability ●  International growth ambition ●  Thoughtful business concept

Funding criterion

Additional points given for detailed prototype description, building timeline, budget, sketches/drafts.

Some success stories

11 640 EUR

World’s smallest portable weather station

2012

11 242 EUR

Sea monitoring buoys (0.5M revenue)

2013 9 900 EUR

Language learning platform

(raised 1M EUR)

2013

3 100 EUR

Smart queue management system

2012 9 560 EUR

3D printing protection system

2012

10 534 EUR

Battery pack and control system

2012

7 000 EUR

Connecting car systems to your mobile phone

2013

50-100 ideas collected via www.prototron.ee pre-evaluation committee selects top 20 ideas

and provides feedback to all teams

Tehnopol coaching for top 20 teams

Best 9-10 teams pitching to expert

committee

Expert committee funds

2-3 teams

We finance 2-3 rounds /year

Proven expert committee behind successful funding choices

Jaanus Tamm, Defendec

Yrjö Ojasaar, EstBAN

Andrus Oks, SmartCap

Priit Alamäe, Nortal

Jaak Raie, Tehnopol

Robert Kitt, Swedbank

Siemon Smid, TUT

Margus Uudam, EstVCA

Giving out grants at

Media Event

• Contract with Prototron and Tehnopol Startup Incubator

• Grant payment (full or partial)

6 months incubation at

Startup Incubator

• Business model validation for target markets

• 1:1 coaching •  IP, legal and UX

advice • Startup Academy • Help for raising

angel/VC capital • Furnished office

and meeting spaces

• Events, expert panels, training, business missions

• Media communications

Progress report to expert

committee

• New competences?

• Product development?

• Client feedback? • Business model? • Lessons learned? • Next steps?

Alumni incubation in

Tehnopol

• Additional incubation in Tehnopol • Product

development • Raising capital • Expansion

• Alumni club events • Media

communications

We help to grow funded businesses

1.  Team 2.  Product 3.  Market 4.  How to earn money 5.  Timing 6.  Advantage 7.  Proven first steps

Key elements of getting funded

●  At least 2 roles covered: business + tech ●  What have achieved so far? ●  Have worked together? ●  Commitment? ●  Passion on the topic?

1. Team

Team: rather good example ABC – MBA, thesis defended on the subject, currently working at XXX Ltd as a Business Development Manager. XYZ – MSc in Business Information Technology, currently working at RBS as a developer. Team has worked together full time at RBS since 2010 and on the product since 2012.

Prismattery – battery package and battery control system to manage range anxiety in electric vehicles

10 534 EUR

Battery pack and control system

2012

●  Clear value proposal ●  Concise ●  Can be visualized ●  Validated by third party

You can’t always have the right answer: the business model could quickly change in pivoting process, if the ‘market’ requires other kind of product/service

2. Product description

Product description: to be improved Easy to use, shared and collaborative environment for project teams for efficiently planning, controlling and monitoring project work at the field. ●  Too vague ●  Where’s your value?

Product description: good examples Deekit is developing a multi-platform app to help managers in growing IT companies to increase their productivity of meetings by enhancing the visual communication between teams and individuals with a real-time team collaboration whiteboard

•  Precise value proposal – what/who/how

Browserbite is an automatic cross browser testing tool to check your website on 45+ mobile devices and browsers

9 900 EUR

Language learning platform

(raised 1M EUR)

2013

Who are your clients? Segmentation – only one segment or many segments? ●  Human, corporates, public sector ●  Age ●  Gender ●  Income (higher / lower) ●  Where they live (Estonia, Europe, Asia) ●  Education level ●  ….

3. Market description

“The addressable market needs to be large enough that the company can grow to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars and then beyond after exit”

- DFJ Esprit

7 000 EUR

Connecting car systems to your mobile phone

2013 High Mobility – solving hyperlocal connectivity for natural context between people, locations and the automobile

●  Who really needs it? ●  What feedback have you got?

●  Value proposition? ●  What’s improved after your product/service? ●  Are you able to generate more revenue to your clients

(preferred) or improve efficiencies? ●  Where do you sell? ●  Who is the buyer? ●  How exactly does the end customer’s money end up

in your bank account? ●  How do you sell?

4. How to earn money?

3 093 EUR

Save ladies’ feet on high heels

2014

●  Why is your product important today? ●  Are customers ready to pay for your product? ●  How can you prove that? ●  What are the future trends in industry?

5. Timing: actuality of the idea

9 560 EUR

3D printing protection system

2012

●  Why you, not 100 others? ●  How is your idea different from the competitors product/

service?

●  How do you protect intellectual property? ●  How will you scale? ●  Is your team exceptionally experienced in that?

6. Strategic advantage

Flydog – sea monitoring bwoys for collecting marine data

11 242 EUR

Sea monitoring buoys (0.5M revenue)

2013

●  Show progress ●  Validated assumptions ●  Anyone willing to pay? ●  LOI – Letter of Intent from clients/vendors

7. Proven first steps

11 640 EUR

World’s smallest portable weather station

2012 Shaka – world’s smallest portable weather/wind station for smartphones

8 463 EUR

Environmentally friendly algae filter

2014

Organic Filters

Organic Filters – using algae for cleaner biogas

Become a part of success apply at www.prototron.ee

Siim Lepisk, siim@prototron.ee