Today: Arjen Strijker, the founder of Fundsup, talks about his “access to capital” service Fundsup and the importance of thinking digital-first to enhance the Dutch startup ecosystem.
For seven years, Arjen Strijker demystified venture capital and accelerated the startup funding process for 7 years, via a conference called Capital On Stage Throughout Europe and the USA, but also in South East Asia and Israel. He started Capital On Stage because he needed funding his our own company and thought “What’s better than having these guys pitch us!?”
It worked.
More than 400 top-tier VC’s dared to pitch themselves on their stage. Some investor pitches were awful, some were enlightening, but they all caused transparency. But although successful, the small number of real matches between investor and founder that came out of that gave Arjen the feeling that the matchmaking process needed heavy improvement. He soon realized that the matching of investor and startup had to first take place digitally, instead of analog.
The search resulted in Fundsup: an online matchmaking platform that matches angel investors and startup founders looking for investment, based on algorithms… “There are thousands of wealthy people who want and can (and did already) invest capital, but they often use ‘needle in haystack methods’ when looking for suitable startups to invest in. As a result, the number of great matches remains low which still produces a huge leak in the production of innovation in The Netherlands “, Strijker explains.
Fundsup focuses on finding the right investment opportunities for an early stage investor, experienced or newbie. Entrepreneurs in need of smart capital create an extensive company profile on the online platform. Investors can indicate their investment criteria by means of filters. When a new startup “deal” is published that meets their criteria, the investor receives a push notification in the Fundsup app. If the investor is indeed interested, (s)he can swipe up to contact the entrepreneur via the instant-chat function.
Early stage funding
Fundsup is Strijker’s way of channeling more direct informal investment money into innovation in the Netherlands. This is needed because figures show time and time again that the Netherlands is lagging behind in invested “angel” capital (not just government capital) in the early stage of the startup cycle. As a result, it is still difficult for startups to obtain smart capital at an early stage. Does Strijker have an explanation for this? “High net-worth individuals in the Netherlands often still avoid early-stage investing, as they don’t find the right startup that matches purpose / all of their investment criteria. Mostly, the niche business in which the investor is considered a veteran/expert/leader is the best pick by far and considered “smart capital”.
Another common reason is that informal investors invested in a startup already. While it wasn’t a true match made in heaven, they invested anyway as the opportunity came recommended by their network. ‘I have invested in the past, but it didn’t work out because I didn’t really understand their business’ is a very common bias to not quickly reinvest again in a startup, even if you do in-depth understand their business and your network and knowledge (not just your money) can be a decisive factor for the startup’s success. Because they don’t find the right match that is right for, they tend to keep their money in their pocket. But we need to keep that capital flowing again, otherwise, we will fall further and further behind in comparison with other countries.”
Dutch ecosystem
Talking about that, how does Arjen see the state of the Dutch startup ecosystem? Are we still on route to become — as the government wants — the best in Europe? Strijker: “The Netherlands is so many stripes ahead of the rest. We have the best living conditions here, people get a smile on their face when they talk with Dutch people, our culture, honesty, and directness is widely appreciated. But if we really want to become number 1 in Europe in terms of producing and exporting innovation, a few things have to be changed.”
Especially our silo thinking annoys him. “Our government funds 60%-70% of all investments made in the early stage. However, all (semi)government programs are incredibly siloed, not at all covering The Netherlands as a whole, even though we are a very small country. If you seek (first-time or followup) funding to grow your startup and you live in the south, there’s very little chance you’d get your investment from investors who live in the north. If you’re an investor in the north you attend events and you have your network nearly exclusively in the north, there’s very little chance you find and invest in a startup that’s based in the south, even though you would consider it and you’d be considered a perfect “smart capital”, as you are in the very same niche as the startup that’s raising funding It’s funny. We live in a digital era, but sometimes it still feels like the 2oth century here.”
Strijker is a strong supporter of having one national digital counter where startups and investors can ask all their questions and are matched with each other. At a European level, too, a similar one-stop-shop can be created. “There is much to gain if we join forces and share knowledge, at least at the national level, leaving the silo thinking inside the country behind us. The first layer of matching should be digital not analog anymore.”
And we must dare to invest again, he concludes. “The problem with early-stage investing is that there is far too little system in it. There are enough wealthy people here with the knowledge and resources to help young entrepreneurs, but they often do not yet know how to invest and in whom. If Fundsup and other organizations can help them with that, we will make a huge leap forward, also on a national level…”
