A.  Most of the work that Research Equity Group completes results in our client receiving funding from one source or another.  As such, the company charges a small deposit, and the balance as a success fee.

A:  There is no guarantee that you are entitled to a Government Grant without going through the submission process.  Research Equity Group offers an initial no obligation consultation.  As most of our billing is based on a success fee, we only proceed with clients we feel have a genuine chance of success.

A:  The process of getting a grant or even private capital is one that requires commitment by all your team, incuding your accountant and lawyer.  Delivering on a project requires discipline to ensure the milestones and expenditure match your application to ensure a smooth and rewarding product development process.

A: Research Equity Group works with our clients all the way through the process until the project is finished.  This is to ensure all the necessary paperwork and reporting is processed, and to judge if there are any other services we can provide.

A: Yes, each and every application will be assessed on its merits.  By successfully completing your first project, this will provide a sound track record which may be seen favourably by the Selection Committee.  Research Equity Group can work with you to determine your long term innovation strategy over one or multiple projects.

A.  The Investment Rules are shown (HERE). We suggest that you contact us for an appraisal. We find that many companies who will not initially qualify for funding from the funds can be helped to secure capital- either through Government grants and entitlements or other forms of investments.

A.  The funds are not currently seeking investment. Please feel free to contact us about some new funds we are establishing or to be contacted when we open further capital rounds.

A: We prefer not to disclose this information. We act to protect our investors at all times and do not make any disclosure about the size or makeup of our investments or our investors.

A: A charter has been drawn up that outlines our investment and management rules and business processes. This charter is based on similar documents used by banking and investment houses around the world and is designed to protect our investors and shareholders.

Access to the funds is governed by our Investment Board who verify and approve all investments that the Research Equity Group Management team recommend to the board. No funding can be released without the approval of both the company’s management team and the sign-off of the Investment Board.

A: Investors have purchased certain perpetual rights and these rights are transferable. It is a requirement of the company that any change in ownership in these rights is registered with the company within 21 days of the completion of the transfer of these rights.

There is provision in the company’s investment charter for buying back these rights only with the full consent of the current holder of the specific rights. There is no provision for forced buy-backs or retirement of rights.

A: Our basic principal is "stick to what you know". We currently have strong industry knowledge of the IT&T industries as well as the environmental and water management industries. We have worked with clients in the mining and mining services sector, construction, aquaculture, agriculture and a wide range of other industries. Our key focus is in innovation. It takes very specialised experience to successfully commercialise new products and technology and we specialise in identifying and investing in this experience.

A: There is no one single answer to this question. We are always looking for companies to invest in. Currently we have more capital to invest than we do opportunities to invest in. Finding the right company is very hard. Our Investment criteria help us identify solid long term investments. However, there are plenty of companies that we see who are going to be successful but do not have an income stream or a full management team in place. We see these companies as an opportunity.  We do spend time identifying "potential" investment companies and are happy to work with these companies to help them satisfy our investment criteria.

Quite often we work with companies like this to get them to the point where we can invest in them. We have worked with companies to arrange small amounts of private funding and to maximise the amount of Government assistance they receive. This helps young companies grow to the point where they have finished product and have started to earn a revenue stream. Once they have achieved this milestone then the funds can get involved. It is easier for us to assess these companies as we have built a relationship with them and really understand their business.

A: People! Good people can make an average product very sucessful. Bad people can ruin the best product imaginable. Without the right expertise at board and executive level there will be no success. We see too many companies with not enough financial skills or real understanding of their markets but still have three Directors in charge of “Business Strategy”.  We look for a good mixture of youthful passion and business maturity and we look for proven, relevant, recent experience.

We know getting the right people is hard. We work with potential investment companies to build the necessary experience on their board. We are fortunate to be able to recommend expert business coaches, Governance advisors and have a group of experienced Non Executive Directors that we can recommend. We truly believe that people make the critical difference.

A: NO! We don’t like Powerpoint and we are not fond of “management speak”. We do not charge for our time and we do not pretend to know all the answers. We have plenty of experience and we are happy to work with a company to get it to the point where we can invest in it but we do not charge for that service.

A: The only time we make money is either as a profit from investments or as a small percentage of actual money that we raise from the Government or private sources. Individually we do sometimes act as commercial advisors, non-executive directors or Alternative directors, and we normally charge a small fee for this, as is standard commercial practice.

A: The big question is do you qualify for the funds investment? If you do then you have access to capital at reasonable rates and from a low maintenance investor who is investing in your company based on your people, product and your own exit strategy. It is not our intention to dictate operational or exit strategies. We do not want to take control and we are not looking for new executive level jobs.

If you do not qualify now but could qualify within 12 months, we will build a relationship with you, raise some “early stage funding” for you and work with you to fulfil our stated criteria.

It is possible that we will commit to specific investment on a future date if certain quantifiable criteria are met.  This can provide a degree of commercial certainty and can assist you to grow your business.

A: We are looking to find profitable investments over the medium and long term. We are less focused on IRR or NPV than most investors. We do not have any predetermined rate of return, we do like to manage our risk carefully and our portfolio is designed to include investments that can compliment each other. As our investors are individuals as opposed to institutional investors, we have been given a more fluid mandate to assess each investment on its individual merits or on its value to our overall portfolio.

A: NO! We see ourselves as investors of choice. We seek to provide easy access to capital without behaving like Venture Capitalists. In general, we do not seek to introduce new shareholders agreements, we do not choose to force companies into preference share structures and we do not seek to gain majority or controlling holdings.

We do like to ensure that we have a large enough equity holding that our wishes are heard and that our advice is sought in making significant transactions. We believe that we add value to our investments in more than just the sourcing of capital. 

We do not have the capital reserves of a VC so we choose to differentiate ourselves by being easier to deal with, less demanding and less focused on exit strategies that do not coincide with the current ownership of the business.  We are smaller, more nimble and a lot less “corporate”. We see ourselves as being similar to Angel Investors in terms of our requirements as investors but pride ourselves on our expertise in our specific markets.

A: No. Angel Investors are generally high net worth individuals who invest their own money directly in businesses. Their own risk profile is very different to ours as they are investing their own funds and can afford to be more speculative. In general they do not actively restrict their investments to markets where they have specific expertise.

Although some of the money in the funds is owned by the directors of Research Equity Group, we do not see ourselves as investing “our money”.  This is a business is focused on making a profit from investing in areas where we have specific knowledge and abilities to lever that knowledge.

However, we feel that in terms of “ease of doing business” we are not dissimilar to Angel Investors and we certainly operate in the same market place.

Some of our investors are or have been Angel Investors. We provide a slightly less risky opportunity to invest in similar investments. Some Angel Investors like to invest with us as they see it as a way of reducing their overall portfolio risk. We do not restrict our investors from co-investing in companies in which we have invested. If our investment decisions can further assist our investors we are very happy help!

Further, some of our investors are keen to invest in companies that we are working with to bring them to the point where the funds will invest. They are interested in the very early stage investments and feel that if we are involved with these businesses then the overall level of risk (and cost of capital) to these businesses is reduced.