What is a seed/early stage venture fund?
Avansis Ventures is a ground floor opportunity fund. We primarily work with entrepreneurs who have a track record of previous successes to launch new ventures in our specific market niches. We provide the management guidance, industry contacts, marketing savvy, operations oversight and structure to help them bring their ideas to fruition and their companies to the place that they can secure investments from the Tier A venture funds we partner with.

What do venture capitalists invest in?
People, Technology and Markets. Venture capitalists ideally invest in great people focused on building businesses in big markets with a proprietary advantage.

How does Avansis Ventures make its funding decisions?
We analyze all potential projects on the basis of risk. Some of these risk factors are management team, market, technology, and financing required.

We look closely at your management team and individual, as well as collective capabilities. We consider how you work together, how you innovate, handle changing market conditions, technical glitches and adapt to challenges and surprises. We look closely at your team’s prior track records of success in relevant industries.

We also analyze the market you are seeking to enter. Because the technology landscapes in which we invest are highly focused, we understand they tend to change quickly. Do you know the strengths and weaknesses of any and all potential competitors? We look for the endurable competitive advantage, such as unique differentiators that make whole new markets and the potential for substantial, realistic, ongoing profitability.

We look at how your technology meets or exceeds market requirements. We consider all the technical issues of the current iteration and the need for rapid and deployable changes in the future. We look for proprietary and unique market differentiators such as patent-pending technologies, however we consider patents not to be a singular advantage. We examine potential gross margins and look for an enduring revenue model.

We also evaluate the potential financial risks and the financing environment. To achieve these numbers, we review three-year (3) financial projections that incorporate all capital requirements such as future development costs, working capital, staffing considerations, marketing viability, etc. We review the full range of financing that may be incorporated, such as debt, multiple funding rounds, vendor funding, or strategic partner funding.

What is the goal of an Executive Summary?
To gain our interest and open the doors for a follow-up meeting. You must deliver a strong, compelling message from the first words on the page. Your executive summary should be no longer than three typed pages. We need to know how much money you require to break even and achieve profitability. Answer the relevant who, what, why, when, and where questions. Who do you sell what to and why will they buy it? Do you have current customers? Please refer to the section of this website, "Tell Us About Your Idea".

What is the typical review process?
After reviewing your Executive Summary and determining that there is interest in furthering discussions, we will ask to see the full business plan and meet with the management team. Depending on the outcome of this meeting, we may proceed to due diligence discussions.

If your plan does not fit our investment criteria, we will tell you right away.

How many Venture firms should I talk to?
Do your legwork to help you decide. Use the Internet to research which venture firms invest in companies like yours. Do not "shop" your business plan or send it unsolicited to a host of firms with the hopes of securing meetings. In general, a referral from a known source gets your Executive Summary and Business Plan immediate attention.