Summary: UPDATE (July 2011): This post is now outdated, as Grow VC has launched the free platform. UPDATE (9th of Aug 2010): This post now includes an audio explanation of what Grow VC is and how it works. We hope you utilize this when getting acquainted with our model – it’s not rocket science, but it does take some patience. Player located at the bottom of this post! – It’s now been 10 days since the launch of our community fund model and we have been following the market response very closely. Overall the feedback has been positive and supportive of what we are doing. So let me take this opportunity to personally thank all of you for your feedback and support. The past 20 months or so, since coming up with the core idea for Grow VC crowdfunding model, it’s been quite a big push to get to this point. First, building our great team and then starting to execute the Grow VC strategy, by designing the service with all of it’s details and then actually building it – while at the same time working through all legal matters and building our overall company structures internationally – I’m very proud of our team! But what’s really fun, is the fact that we are only getting started. To us, we are now in the “Minimum Viable Product” stage and are looking forward to innovating and building our service even further with all of you. In the past year or so, when we have talked about our core model with different people around the world – in person, we have learned that it takes some time to get the mind around all the details of our service. So I think now – 10 days after our community fund launch, is a good time to share more details about our service overall. Outline of business model Grow VC offers a platform for investors and entrepreneurs to find one another, by registering to the Grow VC community online. One can assume one or several of four roles in the community, the roles of an individual, a funder, an entrepreneur or an expert. Each role come with related features available inside the service, to manage start-up fund raising process, related activities, communications and/or portfolio of start-ups. The subscription based membership fee is based on the profile or role of your choice and additional parameters (how much capital you want to raise for your start-up or what your investing budget is). The community then facilitates the matching process. Members who pay subscription fee can assess, evaluate and comment start-ups and related details through transparent information in the community. Direct investments (angel investments) can also be made to start-ups with funder role. There is no fees in direct investments, since fees are only in subscriptions. Subscribed members are asked to suggest investment targets for the community fund out of the available start-ups in the community, for the value of 75 % of paid membership fee, e.g. 15 dollars if the membership fee is 20 dollars. This will serve as a viable peer-rating system, in order to ensure that everyone in the community has to evaluate start-ups also as any investor would. According to the start-ups success, the members will be rewarded based on the Grow VC rating system. This unique model of Grow VC, helps entrepreneurs to start looking at other start-ups like investor and therefore make it easier to understand what type of information funders are looking for and what it takes to find interesting start-ups. In return this will help entrepreneurs to improve their own start-ups profile to make it more complete, understandable and interesting for other funding members. At the same time this will in addition to paying for the full-features, each member also have an opportunity earn financial rewards for finding good investments for the community fund, regardless what happens with their other activities. Different roles in the community The person (free) The most basic form of registration, currently [...]
