The Free Funding Readiness Self-Assessment Tool All StartUps Should Take Advantage Of

PTI August 05, 2021 13:47 IST

Comprehensive investment readiness report that combines automated results with analysts’ insights
NEW DELHI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — QSAAT, Quick Startup Algorithm-based Assessment Tool, helps Startups determine for themselves, how prepared they are to approach investors for funding. Launched by MergerDomo, the online global, tech-based investment banking marketplace, QSAAT is the first-of-its-kind in the country and provides an unbiased assessment of various aspects of a startup business.


Understanding QSAAT


• A free, investment readiness check before one pitches to investors.
• Analysis of business model based on its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
• Personalised recommendations from an investor’s perspective.
• A detailed report that lists gaps and corresponding corrective measures.
Hormazd Charna, Founder and CEO, MergerDomo, says, “One of the biggest constraints that startups face is the lack of clarity on whether their business is ready to attract investments. That leaves a big gap between a founder’s perception of what investors are looking for and what investors actually seek. We are addressing this gap with the comprehensive assessment report backed by unbiased results from our algo-based tool.”


Steps to get a QSAAT report


• User can begin by registering as a startup on MergerDomo.com.
• Upon registration, answer a set of questions (based on the stage of startup), related to the registered company’s nature of business. All answers are entirely confidential and used solely for the purpose of self-assessment.
• The tool’s algorithm then generates a report with personalised recommendations based on an investor’s perspective.
• Following this, a MergerDomo analyst conducts a deep-dive to identify gaps and suggests corrective measures, or gives a thumbs-up for an investor meet.
The startup has the option of keeping the validated assessment report for its own internal use or using it to sign up for investor meetings. Startups can unlock opportunities to meet investors from a multitude of fields on the MergerDomo panel through an Expression of Interest (EOI), which is a pre-purchased credit at a nominal fee. Since the platform fosters confidentiality, all potential deals are initially shown without revealing the identity of interested parties, and are displayed after acceptance of EOI from the Investor.
There has been significant interest in QSAAT during the pre-launch phase. It has the potential to bring a radical change in the way startups seek funding and understand investor expectations.


About MergerDomo:


Launched in 2020, MergerDomo is a tech-based, deal sourcing platform for startups, corporations, investors, and financial and non-financial consultants. The company has around 1,000 members on its platform and aims to catalyse the growth of the startup ecosystem through a suite of solutions in fundraising, consulting, joint ventures, M&A, and technology sourcing. It provides members complete handholding during various growth phases.
MergerDomo engages with investors (angels, high net worth individuals, venture capitalists, private equity firms and family offices), investment bankers, and consultants in sectoral strategy, operations, marketing, turnaround management and digitisation, amongst others. The company is actively developing the startup ecosystem through partnerships with incubators and accelerators.
The current member base comprises 300+ startups, 90+ SMEs and corporations, 210+ investors, 200+ investment bankers and 60+ consultants covering various sectors.

Jayanth Sharma | CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF TOEHOLD TRAVEL AND PHOTOGRAPHY
Q : In this era of online startups and tech businesses, does there exist the possibility for traditional brick and mortar businesses to raise capital or is it that only businesses with a technology layer to scale up are attracting investors?

A : This is a common question that investors get asked a lot by aspiring entrepreneurs and there are a few different perspectives we have.

Firstly, businesses without a technology layer are going to find it almost impossible to attract investors -simply because technology is what brings scale and efficiency and in many situations access to customers. And venture investors are all looking for scale because that is what will give the exits that we require for our success.

That said, technology in a business does not make it a technology company.

Srikrishna Ramamoorthy | PARTNER, UNITUS SEED FUND

Businesses across traditional sectors like FMCGretail, education, healthcare, financial services, agriculture, transportation, logistics etc. will continue to need brick and mortar or offline elements to succeed and not just technology alone. And there continues to be VC investor interest in businesses in these spaces that are in techenabled andor tech-led and where there is innovation.

Does this mean traditional businesses with or without tech cannot raise capital? They can, but it is challenging.There aren’t that many investors interested and it will likely involve large amounts of initial capital vis-à-vis investing in a tech enabled play.

All that said, tech or brick and mortar, what remains key to success is a strong team, great execution and a product service that is solving a real problem.

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=DOUBTFIRE-01102017026058