How to build your “lion’s den” with small amounts

Investing in innovative young companies out of personal interest or with the hope of achieving larger profits later on previously only available to wealthy people. The minimum investment in angel clubs is often around CHF 10,000, and significantly higher amounts are required to invest in a venture fund.

Today, thanks to crowd platforms, some investment opportunities are available to everyone, even with much smaller amounts. Thanks to new technology, you can immediately resell your shares digitally in the future, without having to wait for your start-up to eventually go public.

Here are some tips and tools for your crowd investing.

Getting involved with others in projects, real estate, businesses or borrowing money is an ongoing, growing trend. Support according to the Luzern University of Applied Sciences and Arts Crowdfunding Monitor 2022 about 250,000 people in Switzerland a crowdfunding campaign. On 28 platforms, approx. brokered 781 million francs. The fields of crowdlending (+35%) and crowdinvesting (+29%) in particular have grown strongly.

This is evident from various studies and advice from experts 80% of start-ups do not survive the first three years. The most common reasons for failure are a lack of demand for the product, problems in the team and often because the young company has run out of money.

If you want to invest in startups, you should review the documents in detail and only invest amounts you are already losing.
Some points to watch out for:

An investment in a start-up can be heartfelt, and if the company is successful, it can also be a very worthwhile investment, but it also comes with associated risks and often long-term capital commitments.

You can reduce the risk if you B. know the product or team personally. Alarm bells should be ringing in your mind if eg B. the wages of the team are high or the growth is generated at a very high price. In short, the sooner you get involved in a start-up, the greater your chances of winning, but also the risk that the company will not survive in the long run. Experienced angel investors therefore usually invest in several companies.

Interesting new crowd solutions have recently come onto the market in Switzerland. Some examples without claim to completeness or recommendation here as a suggestion:

If you like something more established or a wider selection, you will find 37 platforms including an overview of the corresponding rates in Crowdmonitor Switzerland. Platforms like Swisspeers, Localhelden or Lend have been around for several years, with the right networks and experience.

For those who prefer to exchange ideas with others, stand up different angel networks available, some examples: sictic.ch, businessangels.ch, angelinvestmentnetwork.ch, startangels.ch and those who value diversity can take a look at the new Swiss Fintech Ladies and VC4Diversity.

In addition to the choice of your start-ups, the choice of the platform is also crucial, here are some tips:

Crowd investing is not suitable for your pension funds, but the new marketplaces in particular offer new, interesting opportunities to experiment with small amounts that are also tradable. If you want to support your favorite start-up or just want an extra alternative to the usual stocks and funds, crowdfunding can provide space for alternatives.

how do you see it? Do you dare to experiment? 😉