Interviewee: Andreas Panayi
Kinisis Ventures Fund I, Investment Advisory Committee Lead.
Tell us about your investment philosophy, and the types of startups and industries you typically invest in.
I am not sure if it’s a philosophy or a strategy, but we look at a several variables when we decide to initiate discussions with prospective portfolio companies. These variables become more focused, specific, and demanding as we dig deeper to evaluate if KV Fund is the right fit for a potential investment. Some of these variables are intangible such as team attitude and dynamics, or very practical, such as subject matter expertise and relevant experience. We also have our own checklist of variables that are influenced by our US experience and expectations, such as, ability to shift and pivot, compete and scale, differentiate and get “scrappy” when you need to, especially in large, demanding and unforgiving markets. Of course, we review business plans and dissect financial models, but in essence we look for “teams” with a core idea that can disrupt sectors and industries in the most competitive and crowded of economies such as the USA. We don’t have any strong focus on specific industries or types of startups – what we look for is the idea, the team that will make it a valuable company, our vision as to how we will help, and introductions we will make once they are ready to play ball in the major leagues.
What do you believe are the most important qualities for startups seeking funding?
These qualities, in no specific order, will at one point or another during the funding process be tested; clarity of vision, confidence and passion, self-awareness, subject matter knowledge, listening skills and leadership abilities. In my opinion, these are qualities that are tested not only through the funding period, but through the life of an entrepreneur.
What value do you believe you bring to your portfolio companies beyond just capital?
Our core team as well as our advisory teams are made up of hands-on, experienced international businesspeople, operating between Cyprus and the USA. Some of us bring the practical experience of building, creating value, and exiting companies, which is an invaluable benefit to our portfolio companies. Others bring access to professional expertise, such as finance and legal. All of us bring additional experiences and a vast business network in the USA that evolved over our team’s combined 300 years in the USA.
How does your firm contribute to the overall health and growth of the Cyprus startup ecosystem?
Only time will reveal what our contribution has been to the local start-up ecosystem. What we’ve set out to do is show to the unconverted, that CY can be a continuous source of world-class business ideas, generated and materialised by qualified people that can be trusted with private capital to grow their ideas into internationally competitive businesses. What we also hope we can continue to do is to stimulate more involvement and injection of capital from the private sector into innovation, technology and internationally disruptive entrepreneurialism in areas that are reducing the dependency on legacy sectors of the economy.
In terms of taking the Cyprus startup ecosystem to the next level, what change would you like to see taking place?
This is a loaded question, that needs its own interview… but here are a couple of thought – starters: The universities/academia needs to evolve with the times and let go of their grip on the IP and creative ideas generate by their “innovation” researchers, so investors will care enough to explore investing in teams that want to spin out.
Centres of Excellence – all 7 or 8 of them… I’ve lost count, and the government need to recognize the multiple redundancies they create. Every new Centre launched, further dilutes an already under resourced, small ecosystem. How many Centres do we need to launch before we realize the crossover of mandates and resources? Let’s focus on fixing, improving and properly leveraging what we have before we spin more Centres! Also, the entire start-up ecosystem has become dependent, addicted dare I say, on government grants, which has created a certain paralysis, and a lack of urgency, when it comes to commercializing their products and services. This dependency threatens to side-track a whole generation of entrepreneurs, unless private, market-driven capital is introduced to create the paradigm shift that the local ecosystem requires.
Accordingly, more private sector corporations should follow the lead of ASBIS and Fameline Group, that directly invest and also complement venture capitalists and other institutional investors that invest in start-up innovation.
Originally published in GOLD. To see original article click here.
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