Finding an investor is often just as difficult for many startups as finding a worthwhile investment for investors is. That's why founders Boris Hardi and Philipp Berger created Capmatcher, a platform designed to enable digitalized and curated matchmaking.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please briefly introduce yourself and your startup!
We are Capmatcher.com. Founded by business angel and investor Boris Hardi and venture developer Philipp Berger, both from beautiful Munich.
Boris: I am 42 years old, a trained businessman, husband, and father of three boys. I have over 20 years of experience in private equity and hedge fund investments. I have served on the board of directors, been a multiple founder, and have held executive positions in large financial firms, and last year successfully led a company to the stock market.
I met Philipp when I was looking for an employee with a finance background who also had experience in online marketing. During his studies, he had studied, among other things, the impact of venture capital in the US on the founding of new companies. It was a great fit. We've been working together ever since and have already launched several projects.
Philip: For me, after completing my studies at LMU last year, it was the perfect entry point, allowing me to combine my previous self-employment with my degree program. I was able to learn and apply more here than in probably any other company, partly because I was able to work in Boris's family office from day one.
In addition to providing strategic advice to Boris's portfolio companies, we successfully obtained BaFin registration for an innovative hybrid fund. This also marked the launch of Capmatcher. As part of his angel investments in young companies and startups, Boris was regularly inundated with pitch decks—we had less and less time to review each pitch deck, even though they were often exciting projects.
Benefits for startups and investors
Boris: Then we started developing a form to manage the flood of data. In other words, we digitized the entire process as much as possible. The startups mean well, but in most cases, very important information is missing—and if it is included, it's always in a different place, and you have to search for it. This effort is unnecessary. Therefore, I asked the startups to fill out the form before sending me a pitch deck.
Surprisingly, we received very positive feedback, saying it was very helpful to finally understand what's actually relevant for investors. They then frequently used the forms themselves for their friends and family rounds. After a year of stealth and numerous expert interviews with venture capital managers, business angels, and other investors, we developed the "capmatcher.exposé" as we use it today.
What sets us apart is that we've seen hundreds—even thousands—of pitch decks and have invested ourselves. The response from professional investors has therefore been very positive. However, not all investors have extensive deal experience and are overwhelmed by an unmanaged deal pipeline. They appreciate support just as much as the startups do. Capmatcher helps them by allowing them to screen only pre-qualified, curated, and suitable startups. Conversely, the startups don't have to deal with hundreds of rejections and can better focus on their core business.
2. But that has been around for a long time!
Yes and no—there are thousands of consultants who offer advice on specific aspects. For example, startup consultants in the area of public funding or other programs. There are brokers who charge high percentages for introducing investors, but even these investors only know a small part of the investor base or a small circle of investors. In this sense, many brokers work very heavily on the investor side and have little interest in consciously supporting startups and ensuring high valuations.
If investor intermediaries work for the startups and then receive, for example, 5 percent (or even more) of the investment amount for their services — let's say 15,000 euros for a 300,000 euro investment — then the investor doesn't like that, because not all of his 300,000 euros will flow to the company, and that is obviously not ideal.
There is no such thing as a pure introduction service that is data-driven, works with IT and human resources, and coaches every startup to create a perfect 2- to 3-pager. Certainly not one that knows thousands (7,000 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland alone) of investors, investments, verticals, stages, and preferred stakes.
“The feedback so far has been great” — UK and USA in sight
3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The current challenges are actually manageable. It's mostly IT or customers who can't believe we can work with such low fees. The current processes are unnecessarily cumbersome, and the digitalization of startup-investor matching is long overdue—it has to happen at some point.
The secret now lies in automating not all processes, but the right ones, while still mapping out key process steps interpersonally. The feedback so far has been excellent. This encourages us to continue and bring forward our plan to expand into the US and UK to the second quarter of 2019.
Corporate VCs in particular are showing interest
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
In just a few months, we've already served over 250 curated startups with over €200 million in capital needs. Capmatcher itself is already cash flow neutral. The feedback from startups has been overwhelming, and the first VCs—especially corporate VCs—are interested in collaborations. This makes business sense, because a curated deal pipeline significantly increases the likelihood of a successful investment while saving staff time and thus money.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Boris: I've been in Munich for almost seven years and am originally from the Sauerland region. I then worked in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, and now in Munich—I always say, "I made it." That's how I see it. The startup scene is great—you get to know everyone quickly. The universities are excellent. The climate, the geolocation, the airport, simply everything.
Philip: I've been living in Munich for about three years; I'm originally from the Stuttgart area. Besides the quality of life in Munich, I like that life here, despite being a big city, is never stressful, commutes are manageable, and I don't get any accusatory looks when I take a bike ride for lunch on weekdays. Munich is a very well-connected, international city; it lacks nothing.
Ambitious goals for 2019: “We have already won”
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
We can't "fail" because we don't take out loans or anything like that. We've already "won" because we offer added value to our startups and investors, and several exciting startup projects are already in very positive discussions with investors.
Becoming a unicorn is somewhat difficult as a service provider, but we have a goal: We want to serve 1,000 startups in Germany, 2,000 in the US, and 1,000 in the UK this year—that is, at least 4,000 startups seeking capital of approximately €3 billion. That's our goal. Our investors urgently need a window into the US to access good investments there, and our startups often want to expand into the US, and local investors can best help with that.
7. Fish on a stick or pork knuckle?
Boris: Grilled fish.
Philip: pork knuckle.
