Toolkit modules
The CoVentures toolkit can be divided into three broad areas (as below). The whole process is tailored around each company, and generally only a few tasks are needed at any time.
| Trading | Business structure | Management | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund raising | Creating new businesses | Launch director | Early |
| Trading partners | Incubation | R&D management | ↓ |
| Documentation | IPR protection | Web/IMS | ↓ |
| Sourcing production capacity | Pre-structuring | Turnaround management | ↓ |
| Introducing new products | Re-structuring | Asset management | Mature |
Trading Toolkits
The Trading Toolkits focus on growing the company’s ability to increase trading activities. These consist primarily of fund raising to enable commercialisation and introducing the company to hitherto inaccessible trading and commercial partners. CoV does not need FSA registration for fund raising as mentors only act for each company as non-executive directors.
As well as being able to introduce new products and source production capacity, CoVentures uses a comprehensive document templates library (Business Plans, Information Memorandum builder kits, R&D plans etc.). These enable each company to prepare a coherent and credible view of what it can achieve with resources in terms of future development and to communicate it effectively to potential investors and partners.
Business Structure Toolkits
As target companies are often incomplete, a range of Business Structure tools are needed, ranging from incubation support which keeps the administration burden down to restructuring an inappropriate financial structure.
The ability of CoVentures to create new businesses when it sees a market opportunity is an unusual feature. The process can be considered to be a deal flow creator in such cases. Furthermore, this can be done in conjunction with existing or new corporate relationships.
Preparing a company for investment (pre-structuring), re-structuring on behalf of investors/shareholders, providing support services to incubation/proof-of-concept companies and the setting up of an IP protection process also lie in this section of the toolkit.
Management Toolkits
The Management tools are based on the mentor roles being able to extend to interm level in companies being assisted. The launch director role for example is transitional but essential in steering new businesses ove unfamiliar territory. Building on CoVentures' existing and developing corporate relationships, it is possible to advise its companies on R&D contract management particularly with respect to the activities of the University such as Research & Knowledge Transfer (RKT), or even student projects. Furthermore, CoVentures is in a unique position to advise BSSP entities on how businesses can engage with Higher Education for R&D support in general, and drive value from the University of Exeter in particular. R&D aspects of early stage company are often intermittent and this area can be assisted with mentor/university support.
The ability of CoVentures process to propose, initiate and pursue merger and acquisition activity as well as finding and introducing director designate talent also falls into this sector. Again, the ability of the mentors to act in a non-executive director capacity is of great value here.
