The relations between entrepreneurs and investors are always subtle: entrepreneurs need capital to support their projects’ development, but have no way to start; investors have capital, but cannot find good projects. It’s easy for investors to form a circle, which is hard for entrepreneurs to enter. Even if they enter, it’s still hard for them to win the circle’s trust. The appearance of DOBE closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings made the strange but subtle relations transparent and direct.
Organized by DOBE Group’s Service Center for Innovation, DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings break traditional road show financing and build a one-to-one exclusive space between entrepreneur teams and investment institutions. They were not familiar with each other before they met. But the Closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings shorten the distance between entrepreneurs and investors and make it easier for them to “fall in love with” each other at first sight.
Blind date for financing?
“I received the invitation just half a month ago. But I’m ready.” An entrepreneur who came to attend the DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meeting and seek investment looked full of confidence.
Before the face-to-face meetings, the investment institutions and entrepreneur teams never met each other. But due to the “bridge of magpies” built by the meetings, the two sides can feel like old friends at the first meeting.
In the latest meeting, DOBE invited 7 famous investment institutions, including Legend Capital (an independent venture capital investment subsidiary under Lenovo Group) and COWIN Venture (the largest angel investment platform in China) and 7 star enterprises in DOBE Parks, such as K-Stone Network Technology and Yihui Casermation Technology, etc.
“In the past, entrepreneurs gave presentations on the platform while investment institutions listening to them. But closed-door meetings let everyone sit down to have exchanges. I have never attended a meeting of this kind before.” The person in charge of Legend Capital was willing to attend DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings, feeling this kind of way can make the communication more thorough and deeper.
“Compared with the venture projects provided by other investment and financing platforms, the projects selected by DOBE are of higher quality and more reliable,” COWIN Venture’s person in charge said, “this gives us sufficient time to know each other. The efficiency is very high.”
“Honeyshare” from DOBE E-manor of Daning is a creative note-taking tool. It helps users do two things: first, it turns Casermation fragments into structured knowledge; second, it shares knowledge with friends. In that Closed-door Investment and Financing Meeting, “Honeyshare” became a project that found the most favor in the investors’ eyes.
After having in-depth one-to-one communication with every investment institution, “Honeyshare” was approved of by the investment institutions. The investment institutions said they were optimistic about finishing the investment after having subsequent deep negotiations. At last, “Honeyshare” got 3 million Yuan of venture investment from Meridian Capital.
“Before this, we spent half a year contacting all kinds of investment institutions, but had no result. Here, we found a partner in two hours. This makes me feel very gratified.” Father of “Honeyshare” Xiao Yifan was very satisfied with the DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meeting.
At this DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meeting, depending on the venture project “Dr.drinks Capsule Coffee Machine”, Love Taste Technology also from DOBE E-manor of Daning successfully got the Pre-A Round Financing from Xu Xiaoping’s ZhenFund, angel investors Wang Huai and Zhu Yonghua, etc.
For Easy Financing, Go to DOBE
Before every Closed-door Investment and Financing Meeting, DOBE sends invitations to the entrepreneur teams in its Parks and has preliminary screening among multiple venture projects. The 10 projects in the latest closed-door meeting were selected from over 70 venture projects.
DOBE sends the selected venture projects’ materials to investment institutions, so that the investment institutions can have an idea before meeting the entrepreneur teams. This can prevent investment institutions from having different valuations and questions about the entrepreneur teams in “road show” pattern. This advanced way makes both sides able to have purposeful communication when they meet.
The entrepreneur teams also can get the investment institutions’ Casermation and feedback. In this way, they can make preparations with clear purposes before actually having communication and shoot the arrow at the target.
To entrepreneur teams, they don’t have to face multiple investors at the same time. The investors don’t have to directly face the entrepreneurs’ presentations without any knowledge about them,
In DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings, entrepreneurs and investors have one-to-one exchanges and communication in a private space for 8 minutes. The “blind date” style greatly enhances efficiency while ensuring communication, and leads to cooperation intention in the end.
“For a long time, DOBE believes that helping cultural and creative enterprises of potentials to grow rapidly is the biggest contribution to the society. Thus we pay much attention to the all-round needs of small and medium-sized creative enterprises.” DOBE Group’s CEO Wan Lijiang introduced, “DOBE Closed-door Investment and Financing Meetings are for the exchange and connection between the investment resources outside the Parks and the financing needs in the Parks, in order to help the Parks’ enterprises develop.” So far, DOBE Group has successfully held 6 closed-door investment and financing meetings, and raised 150 million USD for 23 entrepreneur teams.
In addition, DOBE is one of the founding units of Shanghai Creative (Design) Industry Investment Fund Alliance. With a capital scale of 26.9 billion Yuan, the Alliance mainly focuses on and supports project investment in creative (design) industry. DOBE also helps cultural and creative companies to apply for loans on credit, and builds professional expert teams with famous domestic investment institutions, to provide outstanding small and medium-sized cultural & creative enterprises of potentials with investment and financing consulting service, as well as private financing support, to support cultural and creative industry’s development in an all-round way.