Building Value and Enjoying the Tech Entrepreneur Journey

Techcelerate is supporting a workshop organised by August Equity, Sunfish Advisory and Invictus Strategy Associates from London on 9th July 2019 in Manchester. The event will focus on how to build a more valuable technology business, bring in the right investors, develop your organic growth capabilities, undertake M&A and achieve a successful exit in the future.

 

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I asked Mickey Patel, Partner at August Equity, why Manchester and why now?

“The Manchester market has continued to evolve and attracts high quality businesses and people that can compete on a global scale. We have succeeded with past and present investments such as Wax Digital and are actively looking to invest in tech software and services businesses within the next 12 months. With the help of our local network including Techcelerate this helps us achieve our ambition.”

 

August Equity

August Equity invests in service-oriented companies in high-growth sectors of the UK mid-market including healthcare, education, business services and technology. Fast-changing sectors offer clear drivers for growth such as changing demographics, market changes, new regulations and legislation, social trends and technological developments. These dynamics give businesses vital opportunities to grow and to sustain that growth in the long-term.

August Equity typically works with family-owned, founder-managed businesses. It backs people with great vision, a powerful drive to build their business and a genuinely innovative idea that offers the market something new. The process of deciding whether to invest in a potential industry or business involves deep analysis and assessment mapping industries, markets and sub-sectors, and investigating peers and competitors from all angles. As a result, by the time August Equity talks to a vendor about a potential investment, it can deliver a well-informed, creative, considered proposal.

 

Post Event Analysis

The event was well attended and the level of participation was high. I was pleased with the number of Techcelerate Members who used the event to learn and increase their knowledge. Among them being yboo and Malinko.

Campbell Williams, CEO of SunFish summarised the event very well:

“It was fantastic to see 30 tech company owners, MDs and CEOs in one room in Manchester. We had start-ups, scale-ups and well-established companies all represented, showing the strength of the ecosystem in the north-west. The quality of content was tremendous, with 7 high quality speakers and panellists, which has been reflected in some great feedback from the delegates.”

 

 

My own analysis is that the Private Equity model is a good fit for Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) based tech companies. During those early years where you reinvest every £ you make back into the business, Venture Capital is the way forward. If you run a business which generates over £1 million EBITDA, August Equity should be firmly in your shopping basket.