we invest in you!
Here comes our criteria!
we invest in you!
Here comes our criteria!
"We make our decisions based on three big core questions," Guillermo Forteza, investment manager of Baloise' Mobility Unit, begins his reflections. "How convincing is the business itself? Meaning solid. Also, does it fit our strategy? And lastly, are deal terms attractive?"
Baloise has decided to invest in mobility, beyond its traditional core business. How will we get from A to B in future? Safe, simple, sustainable. "We promote ideas that offer solutions in the field of mobility and try to connect the dots between our portfolio companies to form an ecosystem, both between the ventures, and between the ventures and Baloise," Guillermo says. "It's also about keeping the whole network in mind. How does everyone in the system benefit from each other?"
«We look for uniqueness, for differentiation from other products, for something that can’t be easily replicated by others.»
"The answer to this question involves several aspects," Guillermo explains. "First, we look at the team. The best idea in the world needs a great team who implements it. Hence we will check, what skills do they bring along? How balanced are those in the team? Also, we need to ask: How deep is the teams understanding of what they do, of their product and the market? Have they actually discovered a niche and therefore a promising opportunity to grow accordingly? We look for uniqueness, for differentiation from other products, for something that can’t be easily replicated by others."
Baloise strategy is to think beyond its core business and to develop an ecosystem in the field of mobility. One in which customers benefit from several services from a single source. One in which partners, investors, startups, Baloise assets and new ideas complement, strengthen and support each other. "This is about questions like: Where do we see synergies? What can Baloise do for the startups? And vice versa!" Guillermo describes.
"Some of our portfolio companies are in very early stages of their business. They go through similar processes, will share and increase knowledge. Baloise offers resources and know-how, also data and a customer base that ideally grows itself with the help of the business of the mobility startups. Ultimately, it's about joint growth. Organically, in the system."
«Baloise offers resources and know-how, also data and a customer base that ideally grows itself with the help of the business of the mobility startups.»
"When it comes to deal terms, we have defined criteria on which we base our investment decisions. As a strategic -and active- investor, we have some targets to hit when it comes to ownership in our portfolio companies. In the end it’s all about balancing our interests with those of the startup and our co-investors., which They might have different investment objectives than we do, so we need and to see if there is a match.
In addition to the financial, this also includes the issue of responsibility. We as shareholders or full owners of startups want to achieve our goals. What profits do we anticipate? How much growth can we actually expect? Do we believe in a fly-wheel effect that will result in more networking and more customers on all sides? Is there a sustainable demand foreseen with the product? Also, an effective advantage when selling it? Could it possibly even take a leading position in the market? In the end, it's all about business and valuing the startup. For the benefit of all."