The InvestinWA Showcase event : Was it useful?
Welcome Founders!
In case you missed it, the InvestinWA Showcase event was held on 24 Sept 25 at the Pan Pacific. InvestinWA is supported by the WA Department of Energy and Economic Diversification (DEED) and is powered by Entrepreneurs in Residence, led by Greg Reibe.
The Showcase was an interesting concept as it was effectively a reverse pitch, with a number of innovation/acceleration centres and investment platforms (eg FundWA, Perth Angels etc) present to pitch to the Startups and SMEs present. The innovation centres and investor platforms also had booths which provided the opportunity to discuss issues with the reps (a captive audience is always nice!).
With the context out of the way, let’s look at the key question….
Was the InvestinWA Showcase event useful?
Yes it was!
It must have taken some serious effort to get as many incubators, accelerators and investor platforms into this one event. However, from a new startups' - perspective, having all those elements in the one room, with reps that couldn’t get away 😉, was massively useful. The key learnings we took from the day were:
There’s a lot of options for Startups
There were a lot of incubators and investors in the event. Equally, I’m sure that there were just as many (probably more) that couldn’t make it or chose not to come. There is help available from incubator through accelerator and a plethora of investor options, which is great news.
But not every option is suitable
However, not every program is for everyone, some have restrictions on industry, product/service or even university choice. Don’t bother applying for programs or investments outside the program mandate, because you’re just wasting your time (and theirs!).
Startups need to be better prepared before contacting investors or putting pitches in (whether as part of an application or as an unsolicited pitch)
In my discussions with the investors at the event, there was a common message from investors that many of the Founder pitches were generally not “investor ready”. In addition, a number of investors commented that some Founders didn’t have the collaborative/accepting mindset that letting investors into their business requires if the investment is to be successful.
We’ve commented a number of times on the importance of being “investor ready”, mainly along the lines of ensuring credibility of both your product/service and also for you and the management of the business. The investor comments that Founders didn’t have the right mindset was a bit of a surprise.
The relationship/networking opportunity was massively beneficial
One of the key advantages of the event was the opportunity to meet and chat with key people outside of the pressure of having to pitch. Being able to establish a cordial relationship without that pressure is enormously valuable - remember that even if that investor isn’t right for you, they will probably know someone who is!
It was a really useful event and I, for one, hope that similar events are run regularly as it really helps to eliminate the “noise” that Startups need to wade through to find the right programs and investors for them. If there is a future event it would be great to have a booth covering the available grants from various State/Federal agencies as that was funding piece missing from this event.
It’s important that Founders support these events to ensure that they keep happening. The exhibitors I spoke to seemed to like and see value in the event so hopefully the turnout if it is run again will be even larger.
Until next time!