Earlier this month founders of The Big Exchange attended the UCLAN business investment (investment readiness) program which is supported by the European Union, European Regional Development Fund. The meeting was attended by two other start-up apps based in Lancashire alongside Duncan Webb and Paul Gray from The Big Exchange. Hosting the meeting was a number of different qualified and track-proven individuals including Christopher Wynne who is the investment readiness manager in the RES – intellectual property & commercialisation unit at UCLAN. The meeting was also hosted by Robert Sheffrin who is the investment director in the RES – intellectual property & commercialisation unit at UCLAN. Also in attendance at the meeting was Darren Gowling who works in the innovation and enterprise department at UCLAN. Speaking alongside the other 3 was Peter Leather who is head of IP and commercialisation at UCLAN. Also at the meeting was Steven Foster, senior IP & commercialisation officer at UCLAN and Susan Falls the project administrator in the investment readiness program in the RES – grants & funding unit.
The meeting kicked off with the three start-ups giving a brief overview of their business and what they hope to achieve following this came discussions and lectures on the different types of investment, how to access investment, why companies fail to achieve investment and how the plan and strategy behind achieving and gaining investment are vital to selling your business to an investor and gaining the money required. A pre-revenue business is much harder to gain investment for than a business that already has market traction and better still already generating revenue. So in this case a solid plan, strategy, and justification behind needing the investment and how it will be allocated is needed. The 3/4 hour meeting came to a close after a lot of information regarding financing and funding options was shared with the 3 start-up businesses in the room. The next investment readiness program is set to take place on October 25th 2022 and this meeting will take a closer look at the Big Exchange business predictions, market analysis, competitor analysis, exit strategy, financial prediction, business revenue, marketing strategies, presentation deck and other important documents in order to ensure The Big Exchange founders are ready to secure investment should the opportunity arise.
Overall the meeting was very helpful and advantageous for the founders of The Big Exchange and after speaking with Duncan and Paul they are both very much looking forward to the next meeting with UCLAN investment readiness program.