Startupbootcamp IoT

Getting Your Hardware Startup Ready for Investment - Watch the Webinar

messages@element14.com — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 17:13:00 GMT

Last Friday, element14 was delighted to invite Raph Crouan - Founder and Managing Director of Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices - to deliver a live webinar on the what, why, when and how of securing investment for your hardware startup.

Raph has dedicated his career to helping IoT and hardware startups to validate, build and scale their business models. Alongside his role at the head of Startupbootcamp IoT, he is also a Founding Board Member & Chair for SMEs in the Alliance for IoT Innovation (AIOTI) at the European Commission, a Founding Board Member of the French IoT Think Tank and an angel investor and adviser to a number of startups including Undagrid and Beasts of Balance. Prior to launching Startupbootcamp IoT, he worked for Apple as Head of TeleCom Business Development for SoHo and SME Markets in Europe, The Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA). He has scouted and reviewed over 600 IoT startups over the course of his career.

The webinar covered a range of topics, including:

Current investment trends for hardware and Internet of Things startups to be aware of.

What investors look for when investing in startups.
What startups need to demonstrate to investors in terms of progress, future potential and financials.
What materials and answers startups need to perfect before speaking to investors.
Q&A session with Webinar participants

If you weren't able to attend the live Webinar, you can now view it in full on the element14 You Tube channel.

Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices is a three-month accelerator program open to IoT startups from all over the world. Successful applicants will receive access to a global network of business mentors, hardware professionals, professionals, corporate partners, potential customers and investors, in addition to an intensive schedule of workshops, one-to-one sessions and events. A communal working space with a fast prototyping lab and £15,000 expenses is also provided. The next event takes place in London from October 2017. Applications are open until 31st July 2017 from the Startupbootcamp IoT website.

Lessons from an IoT & Hardware Accelerator: Things Startups Need to Know

messages@element14.com — Mon, 26 Jun 2017 13:09:50 GMT

Last year, in partnership with Premier Farnell, we launched Startupbootcamp IoT – a growth program for entrepreneurs which aims to make the journey of building a connected hardware startup clearer, shorter, and more successful. Since then we have run our first 3-month program, opened applications to our next one which begins in October, and seen a pattern in the main issues facing ‘internet of things’ and hardware startups today. We’ve learned a lot about what entrepreneurs need in order to grow their business, and the following blog post acts as a summary of this… Ten things that we feel hardware startups need to consider when developing a connected device:

1. Establish your brand and ‘why’ early on, and make sure it runs through everything you do as a company (Why do we exist? What do we do? How do we do it? etc.). This isn’t just for marketing purposes. It will help you design your company, your product, and most importantly the category you’re in. Write this all down in one document so that there is no ambiguity amongst your team and you have a reference point for every piece of communication you create or action you take.

2. Category design is crucial for hardware startups. How are you ‘different’ from others ? Note: it’s not always about being ‘better’. What is your customer’s ‘aha’ moment when they realise they need your product? What does your customer’s journey look like when they go from a place where they realise there’s a problem, to knowing you’re the solution? You need to really understand this so you can create a point of view that defines a new category. Build your category up, then sell your product and dominate the category.

3. When assembling the first prototype of your device try and keep production close to your team, both geographically and with hiring. You’ll need to retain a lot of control over it and that is difficult to do when the development is taking place in a different country, particularly across time zones. Try and keep the process in-house too, on-boarding a good CTO as a co-founder if needed.

4. Think carefully before manufacturing your product in China. Below are some (of the many!) things to take into account:

Going for the lowest price is usually at the expense of quality and in the long term you’ll be worse off.
It is vital to establish a systematic approach in the communication with manufacturers. Cultural differences make effective communication very difficult.
If you have an important IP component in your product then approach Chinese manufacturers with caution and have measures in place to ensure there is no misunderstanding between you and them. As a start: pick your factory carefully, file the IP in China, and explicitly state ownership of the product and tooling.
Account for the delays that the Chinese New Year – which takes place in the middle of January – can cause.

5. Focus on product essentials, not ‘nice to haves’. Despite how much has been written about talking to potential customers before going into development, it’s an area still widely overlooked by hardware startups. There is a temptation to over-develop a device, adding features to it that really aren’t needed or wanted. Doing this causes headaches for both your marketing team and customers, and rarely creates products that are 10 times better than your competitors.

6. A hardware startup’s manufacturing timeline and go-to-market strategy need to be synched. Things go slower than you expect so be conservative with customer promises and financial runway. For example, if you’re working on a consumer device and want to be on shelves at Christmas, any retail deal should be done by Spring with production finalised by Autumn.

7. However brilliant your device, things do not sell themselves. You will have to market ferociously and continuously. Get comfortable with that. The same logic applies to searching for, and securing, investment. For investors you are the product.

8. Securing investment for a hardware company is the ultimate catch 22. You need to show traction, yet you can’t show traction until you have the money to develop the product. There are of course ways around this from an MVP / customer development point of view, but it’s also worth exploring pilots with corporate partners. Such partnerships can generate early revenue and traction.

9. Unless the IP is exceptional, your piece of hardware is rarely your USP. The entire solution is what matters, and it’s also what protects you from copycat devices. The data, analytics, and use of the device via an interface or machine learning is what creates real value. This is what investors will be looking at. Yes they’ll like seeing your prototype in an initial meeting to give them something tangible to look at and feel, but the real value comes in everything behind the hardware.

10. Know what showcases your company best. Pitch decks, one-pagers, company overviews… There are plenty of guides out there on what their structure should be and what they should include. Read them, make sure you have included the essentials, and then do whatever you think presents your company best. If a standard one-pager isn’t in keeping with the brand you’ve established then find your alternative. People, investors included, like different. Be comfortable giving it to them.

Armed with these lessons we’ve now opened applications to our next program which begins in London this October. We’ll be focusing on supporting startups that are using IoT in high-impact areas such as the environment, sustainability and society in general. Find out more, or apply, HERE.

The Road to Demo Day - Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices

messages@element14.com — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 16:43:00 GMT

In the third and final of our updates from the Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices class of 2016/2017, we meet the participating startups shortly after 'Demo Day', in which they had the opportunity to pitch in front of over 400 potential investors, corporate partners, mentors and members of the press.

With the program now winding down, the Startups had the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and discuss the next steps as they prepare to take their products onto the market.

The application period for the next Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices opens on 24th April 2017. Check out the official website for more information.