At the beginning of each new year, it is time to sum up and look back at the results achieved in the past 12 months, the objectives achieved and the possible areas for improvement in the following year.
For BizPlace, 2019 was undoubtedly a fundamental year, characterized by a significant growth in financial results and a consolidation of our presence in the Venture Capital market nationwide.
The first significant figure is the number of projects analyzed, the result of constant scouting by our team and our network of partners on national level: +1500 comapred to nearly 1000 in 2018.
The second fact that we want to share with those who, like you, have been by our side in the past few months, is the number of startups in 2019 equal to 80 vs 155 in 2018. The strategic choice to support fewer and fewer projects is the natural consequence of an increasingly stringent selection of projects and an increasing attention to the quality of the services provided, which require more and more time to be processed and deepened. The most evident consequences of this choice were the increase in the success rate relating to the fundraising of our customers (which reached over 18%) and in our turnover (+ 62%), in which the weight of success fees continues to grow .
In terms of fundraising, the startups that made use of our deal advisory services and / or planing of the financial and project documentation in 2019 gained over € 6M of investments. This number includes both equity and debt capital, as well as capital obtained through direct club deal investments, business angels and funds and through Equity Crowdfunding, certainly among the best performing channels of 2019.
Turning to the objectives for 2020, we can certainly mention the expansion of our network of business angels and family offices (activity started in 2019 through the mapping of over 600 new Venture Capital investors in Italy) and the development of new collaborations with industrial partners and Corporate to increase the opportunities of open innovation through our startups (three companies already work with BizPlace in this regard of an ongoing basis).
Finally, thanks. These numbers and these goals are not achieved by themselves, but thanks to the constant support and trust that we receive from our clients, investors, funds, crowdfunding platforms, accelerator and incubator partners and from many other operators of the Italian startup ecosystem. So thanks again!
May 2020 bring us all satisfactions, together we can go anywhere!
Federico Palmieri
