Alternative financing is positioning itself in the market as a highly interesting funding avenue for science-based projects, technological developments with industrial applications, and innovative projects. The appeal is reciprocal, as more and more investors are beginning to see technology and science as a breeding ground for good ideas.
Aware of this trend, we have invited several platforms to tell us about this new investment concept that is becoming increasingly established.
The Commitment of Private Investment to Science and Technology
On this occasion, our entrepreneurs have had the opportunity to meet Be able IKF, a private investment fund focused on seed-stage Industrial High Technology; Uninvest, a venture capital manager specializing in technology transfer from universities; and the KEIRETSU Forum, the world’s largest network of private investors.
The message has been aligned, the paradigm is changing, and private investment funds and venture capital have already focused on disruptive projects that, by their nature, require medium-term support but offer a potentially more attractive return. These projects perfectly complement the product portfolio of any traditional investor. While the potential handicap for these investors is the scientific-technological unfamiliarity with the presented novelty, the platforms have technical experts who evaluate and study the projection of each of the proposed ideas.
Sectors such as biotechnology, agri-food, nanotechnology, robotics, or the Internet of Things are prominent in the portfolio of projects supported by all platforms.
Beyond Investment Funds
As alternative financing encompasses more than the commitment made by private investment funds, during the event, the example of the acceleration program IMPACT Growth, oriented towards the ICT sector and based on Fiware technology, which offers non-refundable funding to its projects, was presented.
As a novelty, crowd-investing platforms were introduced, which in the last two years have increased not only in number but also in transaction volume. On this occasion, they were represented at the event by Fellow Funders, the alternative for start-ups in early stages or as a complement in any funding round.
