Startup Talk: Where Startup Funding Originated In 2014
by January 15, 2015 9:39 am 144 views
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MONEY TREE: WHERE STARTUP FUNDING ORIGINATED IN 2014 – Entrepreneur magazine breaks down where startup funding came from in 2014 and who it helped. In an easy-to-read infographic, the information from the National Venture Capital Association suggests that self-funded startups still remain the most popular accounting for 82% of funding.
Crowdfunding, which exploded in 2014, has become a $5.1 billion industry, according to the venture capital group. However, that only accounts for about 3% of startup funding. Read more here.
1 MILLION CUPS: MERGER MATCH FOUNDERS DISCUSS CONCEPT – Alese Stroud and Bridget Farris, founders of a startup company called Merger Match shared their 30+ years of experience with fellow entrepreneurs at 1 Million Cups, a networking and educational forum held at the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Merger Match grades potential acquisitions using a proprietary predictive organizational assessment tool. Its goal is to improve long-term success of merged companies through the use of better data. The company is still in its formative stages, but there are lessons for any startup business to learn from the two business veterans. Read their advice at this link.
ROD FORD-BACKED INVESTMENT GROUP HOPES TO HELP EARLY STAGE MID-SOUTH STARTUPS: For startup enterprises, there are typically three critical financing junctures as they launch, grow and accelerate: formation capital, seed funding, and growth investment.
XCelerate Capital – founded and managed by nGage Labs Rod Ford – has formed a new private seed stage venture fund focused on what many say is the toughest level for a new company to jumpstart financing.
XCelerate said the new private seed stage venture fund is focused specifically on investing and assisting founders of early stage technology companies. The firm will center its investments on Mid-South startups that “have transcended the idea stage and have already developed innovative first-generation products or services with a potential for rapid growth.”
Typically, an XCelerate investment will be around $250,000 into companies with 4 to 10 employees and revenues less than $500,000, the group said. Read much more here.
FORMER TRUCKING EXEC WES KEMP RETIRED TO TEACH CAPITALISM, NOT PLAY GOLF: Former ABF Freight President and CEO Wes Kemp isn’t spending his retirement years on the golf course. Instead, he’s worked to develop a course that acquaints students with the principles and ethics of free-market capitalism. Read a Q&A here with Kemp by Talk Business & Politics magazine editor Bill Paddack.