LFP169 – A Serial Entrepreneur’s Guide To Fund-Raising w/Peter Keenan CEO Apexx Global

Capital-raising is an absolutely core-skill for entrepreneurs and their growing businesses – and every tech business de facto needs to grow (margins low and intense competition). Peter Keenan, CEO and co-founder of merchants-payments provider Apexx Global, has raised capital in a total of five companies and thus talks to us from a position of considerable […]

Capital-raising is an absolutely core-skill for entrepreneurs and their growing businesses – and every tech business de facto needs to grow (margins low and intense competition).

Peter Keenan, CEO and co-founder of merchants-payments provider Apexx Global, has raised capital in a total of five companies and thus talks to us from a position of considerable personal experience.

Most capital raisings most of the time for most companies are challenging processes. Thus all can benefit from hearing experiences and case studies – whether one has never done it, or whether one has done it many times.

Topics discussed include:

Arsenal football club
Irish school ball games
Peter’s career journey and breadth of business experience
Peter’s experience of many differently-funded businesses
there is not one route of raising funds – it varies between different types of business
how it works from day 1 – sweat equity and dividing the company ownership between founders
the perversity of employee equity schemes in fast-growing companies
Case Study re founding Apexx and how it worked out in the early days including initial raise
early market feedback before raising from initial investors
initial investors are backing the people as well as a initially market-validated plan
the importance of key milestones in getting to the next raise and creating confidence
super-important – how on earth to approach the question of what price to sell x% of the company in such early days??
Case Study thereof
“naughty Angels” – caveat founder
the importance to experienced Angels and VCs of the founders having enough skin in the game – even in later rounds
this is vital especially in times of pain and difficulty – need founders lashed to the mast
how to avoid being fleeced in early days – how Peter solves that challenge
how to value your company when it’s super-young
the importance in NewCos and also the biggest Cos in the world of “valuation” meets “marketplace” – this process key
the importance of “leading” the market to a valuation
how many potential funders does Peter approach in an early raise?
having got the initial marker you look for at least 100% growth in the valuation p.a. every year after that
“going in cold to Angels is very hard” 
the importance of using one’s network and warm introductions
the importance of finding Angels/funders who understand your sector – “get an Angel who really understands your sector and [if they are on-side] then you are off to the races”
lead Angels kicking tyres and their networks
the value of someone on your Board with capital-raising experience
the importance of employee share-schemes in retaining and incentivising key staff
how this relates to easing internal management/team decisions – “does it make the boat go faster?”
where to go as a noob if you have no idea about employee share schemes
non-tech businesses and their very different funding profiles/approaches
VC’s are only relevant to certain types of business
VC’s modus operendi and how that affects their investing strategy
strategic partners and the many complexities they bring – pros and cons
the law of unintended consequences
keeping the partner interested
getting traction can be fart harder within your mega partner – internal dynamics in MegaCo and how they generally operate
expectations/outcomes
governments as a source of funds – increasingly due to the huge increase in the State seen in 2020
pros and cons of State grants
EU grants
timescales can be very long
“Apexx Global – a payment gateway that connects large global e-commerce businesses [in 5 markets or more] into multiple payment acquirers”
independent of any acquirer, connected to over 100 acquirers around the world, route payments to the best acquirer thus reducing fees and increasing acceptance rates
“we can improve conversion rates by  about 5% and lower your costs by about 20%”
how their service works in practice
founded in 2016 and have 75 staff split between London and India

And much much more

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