Who are attending the forums?
The forums are attended by investors and persons with close access to capital for early stage investments, the companies presenting and the exclusive Seed Forum partners in each destinations.
Seed Forum is conducting core investor matchmaking.
The types of investors in the forums may be different in various destinations. Regularly the forums are attracting a combination of private investors, venture funds, corporate venture and corporate finance representatives. Most of the international forums have a focus on born global start-up companies, but some of the international forums have a clearer venture focus as for instance Seed Forum Stockholm, Seed Forum London and Seed Forum New York City. All local Seed Forums have a clear focus on private investors.
Typically the international forums in Northern Europe are core financial forums, and forums in the more emerging markets in East of Europe and in Asia are more concentrated on a combination of capital acquisition and internationalizations in to the market. The forums in the United States are a combination of financial forums and focus on internationalization in to the US for foreign companies.
The trend is that companies go international for capital much earlier than before and to combine the search for international capital with internationalization. The method of working through investor networks is a very powerful and efficient method for internationalization.
The number of investors attending the various forums are different depending on the size of the local investors community, the current stage of development of Seed Forum in a destinations and the current financial climate in a country.
Seed Forum does not distribute list of participants to the forums as the main aim is to create leads through networking.
What is the industry focus in Seed Forum?
Each Seed Forum has its specific industry focus depending on the destination. Most investor forums have a focus on not less than 4 industries.
Most forums has a focus on information technologies and renewable energies. Seed Forums in Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Singapore has a special focus on biotechnologies and life science. Seed Forums in Oslo, London and Moscow has a special focus on oil and offshore technologies. Seed forum in Oslo, Stockholm, London and Helsinki has a clear focus on telecom technologies. Seed Forum Copenhagen and Hamburg has a special focus on gaming concepts. Seed Forum in Oslo, London, Singapore and Moscow has a special focus on maritime technologies. Seed forum in Moscow, in Kyiv and in Shanghai has a special focus on concepts within fisheries. Seed Forum in Hamburg and in Singapore has a special focus on security technologies. Seed Forum in Copenhagen, London and Minneapolis has a special focus on medical technologies. Seed Forum in Tallinn, Riga, Moscow, Singapore, New York City and Silicon Valley has a special focus on internet concepts. Seed Forum in Silicon Valley and Singapore have a special focus on technologies to reduce global warming.
Seed Forums in emerging markets are typically more presenting non-technology companies with an international growth potential. Seed Forum Kyiv and Seed Forum Moscow are special forums in the respect that the forums are in very emerging markets but where the forums are also presenting breaking technologies inherited from the development of technologies within the previous military-industrial sector of the Soviet Union.
Seed Forum is constantly searching for companies with breaking technologies to present in our main venture destinations in London, Stockholm, New York City, Silicon Valley and Singapore.
What help can I get from Seed Forum?
Investors: Seed Forum provides an opportunity for investors to meet a qualified and trained investor ready deal-flow of companies presenting in the forums. The aim of the process is to reduce the risk on investment in early stage companies with presenting investor ready companies.
Companies: Seed Forum are providing training for born global companies which proves a major increase of competence within investor readiness. Seed Forum is also providing contact with investors in the forums. Most companies are additionally also experiencing a focus on internationalization and born globalism through participating in the international forums and also B2B contact form interacting with other entrepreneurs.
Nominators: Seed Forum provides an opportunity for key-persons within the innovation system to gain assist companies to get access to investors and increased competence of investor readiness by nominating companies. The process also proves to increate the general competence in the innovation system as many nominators are included as coaches in pitch trainings etc.
Partners: Seed Forum provides an opportunity for marketing of services to a selected network of companies, investors and nominators.
Seed Forum is a facilitator of the Seed forum process and does not provide any advice on investment nor marketing of investment proposals as we are not involved in brokerage or financial promotion. All leads from the Seed Forum Process must be followed up by the companies themselves and Seed Forum will not be able to assist nor advice on further contact with investors or other participants after the forums.
Which documents can I send to Seed Forum about my company ?
The Business Summary formula filled in by nominated companies is the only document which will be received and stored in the database of Seed Forum. All other documentation such as business plans, brochures, investment proposals etc. is securely deleted immediately if such is received by Seed Forum. It is the responsibility of the company to distribute the power point investor presentation and further documentation to the investors during and after the forum.
Each Seed Forum investor matchmaking forum is conducted according to the Seed Forum general disclaimer.
What are the results from the Seed Forum Process?
Seed Forum is constantly evaluating and developing parts of the Seed Forum process as a “best practice initiative” to gain the highest possible professional level of the process.
The evaluation of the Seed Forum process is based on questionnaires provided by Reliant Exams, and is mainly evaluating the number of investor leads that a company can acquire from participating in the process, increase of competence within investor readiness, focus on internationalization and B2B contacts. Seed Forum is a general method to acquire investor leads, and the main question for a company is therefore how many leads the process will create fur further contact and negotiations with investors. The average number of important investor leads (so-called A-leads) from all international and local Seed Forums for immediate follow-up in 2009 was 7 investor leads per company per forum. The quantity of investor leads may vary much in the various forums. As Seed Forum cannot legally influence on the further contact and negotiations with investors after the forum we are not evaluating the number of investment deals created from the process.
The national evaluation of the Seed Forum process in Norway in 2007 conducted by Innovation Norway (the Norwegian National Development Agency) concluded very positive results which has led to that the Seed Forum process in Norway is currently referred to as a national program within the Norwegian innovation system. Specific results from some local processes in Norway previously conducted internally by the Seed Forum Norway Foundation has shown that more than 91 % of the companies taking part in the process wants to participate again in another destination, and 97 % of the companies wants to recommend to take part in the process to other entrepreneurs.
Statistically the Seed Forum process in Norway has shown that about 50 % of the companies taking part firstly in a local process will take part in a the national forum in Oslo or in an international forum abroad within 1,5 year after the first participating in a local process.
There is an increasing trend that the presenting companies are re-running in further international Seed Forum destinations, and per January 2010 more than 50 % of the companies presenting in international Seed Forum have presented in more than one international Seed Forum. A few companies have even presented in more than 10 various Seed Forum detonations with participating in Seed Forum as the main method for their internationalization.
Seed forum has per January 2010 conducted in total 112 international Seed Forum investor forums in the various countries and more than 40 local Seed forum processes mainly in Norway.
