It is no secret that there is a lot of money to be made and spent in the venture capital sector. In fact, it is estimated that the industry was worth about $150 billion in the year 2018. Getting attention from venture capital firms is practically a dream come true for entrepreneurs and is often thought of as the next step in the road to becoming the next big thing in their field.
At the same time, the support that new businesses need to thrive goes beyond just a cheque from a venture capital firm. It also involves support for business development, scaling, and market interception. Now, the newly formed Investment firm SprintVC is offering all this and more for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Among other things, the company has made news recently for having successfully raised US$300M from a consortium of international investors.
The Team Behind SprintVC
While the company itself is relatively new, SprintVC is backed by a team of investors and businessmen who have significant experience within the venture capital sector. A member of its team, Damir Cefo, worked for over 20 years as an IP litigator and transactional lawyer. A part of his practice was helping startup companies with their needs including seed financing, angel investments, series financing, etc. He also worked on several financial deals, including M&A and funds.
Another team member, Mr. Mario Medved, is a former executive at LG Electronics and seasoned decision-maker whose skill set is the one needed by young entrepreneurs. He has previously worked on joint ventures deals as well as angel investing in several start-ups.
Support Beyond Funding
SprintVC is true to its name and aims to offer its clients a “fast-track deployment”. This means that once onboarded to SprintVC, clients will have access to SprintVC’s arsenal sized cluster of manufacturers and satellite services. These will allow the companies to quickly and effectively enter their target market while receiving support from an experienced team.
This precision also translates to SprintVC’s methodology of choosing clients that they feel they can best serve and promote.
‘We have a narrow and clear scope regarding possible candidates even with an established product-market fit, we aim at high-technology companies with complementary needs towards our Lp’s factories and research centers catalyzing so business and technology growth for one another across an array of industries from AI, robotics, biogenetics, IoT and edge computing,” says Mario Medved, an executive at SprintVC.
The company identifies innovative companies with new technologies that merely need the right funding and support to break into their industry. Should the company believe that there is significant potential to scale up the founder’s idea/product, they step in and provide the necessary tools for the business. It must be noted that financial support is not the only thing that a new venture needs to succeed and this was reiterated by Medved.
“With our funds and seasoned partners, who have experience in sourcing, product development, sales, or marketing, we bring new technologies to the “light of the day”. Our main focus is Life Science and Consumer Goods,” he said.
Thus, the company will invest exclusively in startup companies that have needs for their LPs’ numerous manufacturing facilities in China. They are also on target to close $500M by the end of the year.
The firm’s management has expressed a specific interest in companies that have undervalued IP potential. Furthermore, those whose manufacturing needs are within China will be given preference.
The Niche-Focused Nature of New VC Firms
While SprintVC’s business model is certainly an innovative one, it shows a changing attitude towards venture capital in the 21st century, which is that it is becoming more niche-specific. It is no longer enough for a venture capital firm to support businesses they feel will be popular but businesses of a certain type.
There are venture capital firms that specifically serve different industries and in different geographical regions. It appears that SprintVC is taking this a step further by focusing on companies that have undervalued scaling potential and whose manufacturing needs to align with their resources in China. This new way of venture capital will likely end up benefiting not just the businesses themselves but the firms.
Startups are a very tricky thing to manage and the better resources a startup has, the better its chances of success. However, not all startups are created equal and what works for one will not work for the other. A firm might have scaling potential but its manufacturing needs might not align with SprintVC’s resources. By choosing their current business model, they are choosing to not simply throw money at a problem and hope it works out but only taking on clients whose business they feel they can effectively grow.
The end result of this is not only more successful investments but a healthy environment for entrepreneurs.
