(scroll down to see Investor FAQ)

For Entrepreneurs:

Getting Started:

How can Venture Bonsai help me raise money?
Venture Bonsai was created to be the home base of your pitch to investors! Our service allows you to build traction, gain trust, and run a funding round yourself. Venture Bonsai users also have access to our free, high quality standardized documentation. Read more in our whitepaper, The Entrepreneur’s first look at Venture Bonsai.

What do you mean by crowd-investing?
Crowd-investing refers to raising a small amount of money from many investors in return for equity of a company. For example, a company could raise 300.000 euros from 50 investors, so that each investor invests in average 6.000 euros. Venture Bonsai acts as marketplace that enables and facilitates the investment process to be done efficiently, and offers a self-service facilities for entrepreneurs and investors.

How do I add my company to Venture Bonsai?
After receiving your confirmation email from VentureBonsai.com, log onto Venture Bonsai and start building your personal profile (make sure you have the “entrepreneur” box checked). Then, after giving yourself a tour of the service, click the “Add your company” link on the Dashboard to build your profile!

From which countries are companies allowed to run a financing round?
Due to legal regulations, currently companies located in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and the UK can already use Venture Bonsai. In certain situations, companies from the U.S. can also receive funding. We are working hard to expand to more countries, and the order on which other countries will be opened is based on interest from entrepreneurs. If you have any questions or requests, please email info@venturebonsai.com

Preparing for the Round:

I want to fund my company with VC’s and Angels. How do I make that happen?
Your company’s Venture Bonsai profile is the home base of your pitch! Use our service to stay in contact with VC’s, answer questions, provide updates, and demonstrate your product. We have free legal documents for you to use, however you can also easily bring in your own or use a VC’s to run the round.

I want to fund my company with friends and family. How can Venture Bonsai help?
Venture Bonsai is a great tool to bring together people in order to close a deal. Our services offer a secure way to get funded, while also giving your investors the peace of mind that their money will be returned if you do not meet your threshold. A great selling point is that your friends and family receive direct shares in your company, so they can participate in your success.

I want to crowdfund my company! What do I need to know?
Running a crowdfunding round naturally requires a lot of attention from a lot of smaller investors. Direct your crowd to your Venture Bonsai profile by promoting your funding round yourself, and then using the “invite to Venture Bonsai” button. Currently our minimum investment per investor is 5 000€ .

How do I prepare for a financing round?
Building relationships with investors takes time, so you should provide company updates as soon and as often as possible. When preparing for a financing round you can use our tools and calculator to determine the amount of shares you are offering, their price, and so on. This part of the process also requires taking care of your business plane and legal documents. You can see step-by-step instructions in the “Prepare for investment round” section on your Company Profile page.

Where do I find your free legal documents?
Venture Bonsai Legal Framework includes all the legal documents to run a share issue, including a high-quality Shareholders’ Agreement. Our current set of documents are for Europe only, and you can read about them here. To gain access to all of our documents, please email support@venturebonsai.com

Running the Round:

What is the minimum amount of money I can raise on Venture Bonsai?
Typical financing rounds are between 50.000 and one million euros. Generally, the lower limit is around 20.000 euros.

Who can see my investment information?
The public side of your company’s profile is open to all Venture Bonsai users. The funding round information you fill in after clickine “Prepare for a funding round” is only open to the people you personally accept.

How long does the funding round last?
You choose the ending date when you prepare for the funding round.

Who can invest in my funding round?
Currently nearly anyone living in the EU can invest in your company.

After the Round:

When do I receive my funding?
The round closing activities your company must take are the same as any other method of getting funding. For example, paperwork must be verified and your board must officially decide that the funding round is over. Generally speaking, you can start putting your money to good use within a week of the round closing!

Does Venture Bonsai provide any benefits to my company after the funding round is closed?
Yes. Venture Bonsai offers a communication platform for entrepreneurs to keep in touch with their new shareholders. Good communication may offer additional value to the entrepreneur in the form of market research or customer leads, for example. This enables the entrepreneur to use the “crowd”, which potentially consists of people in various countries wishing to help you based on their ownership, which is a great opportunity.

 

 

For Investors:

Pre-Investment:

How do I evaluate a company?
Review the company’s material and take part in the Social Due Diligence by questioning the founders of the company in the Q&A area. Also do your own external research, and consult your lawyer or investment professional before making any large financial decisions.

What do I receive in return of my investment?
You receive direct shares in the company.

How do I see a company’s funding round details?
Find a company with an open round and click “Request to Join Round”. If the company is not actively in a funding round, feel free to send a private message or ask a question in the Q&A section of the company’s page.

What is the process of an investment on Venture Bonsai?
After committing to an investment on the Investment Round page, you will receive an email with instructions concerning how to digitally sign the required paperwork, as well instructions how to transfer your investment to the Escrow account. There, the money will sit until the funding round either reaches its time limit, or maximum amount of funding has been reached. If the funding round is successful, your investment will be transfered over to the entrepreneur and you will receive your notification of the subscription of shares. If the round is not successful, all money is returned back to the investors. Read about this topic in more depth here.

Investing:

How do I invest in a company on Venture Bonsai?
To invest in a company, find a company with an open investment round and click “Request to Join Round”. Here you have access to the private Investment Round page, and can review the company’s private investment documents. When you are ready to invest, you can then click the “invest” button on the Investment Round page, where you will electronically sign the required documents and receive instructions where to transfer your money.

What is the minimum amount I can invest?
Typically the minimum is 5000 euros.

What happens if the funding round does not reach its target?
If the funding round does not reach its target, all money is transfered back to the investors.

Where do I find the Shareholders’ agreement, Term sheet, etc.?

After the entrepreneur accepts your request to join the round, you can find these documents, as well as other confidential documents and information in the private Investment Room.

Have any other questions? Feel free to email us at info@venturebonsai.com