EquityMatch.co: Bridging the Gap between Entrepreneurs and Investors in Asia

'Pitch Events by EquityMatch' is an event that introduces revolutionary startups and gives them the platform to present their business to high-potential investors. Those who are interested to pitch and learn more can join with EquityMatch.co every Tuesday and Thursday via LinkedIn and YouTube. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) May 02, 2023 - EquityMatch.co has responded to numerous requests by launching the inaugural episode of Pitch Events (PEs) for Asia. This online series features six promising candidates from across the region who will present their potential ventures on the EquityMatch.co platform. The Pitch Events (PE) offer a unique opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative ideas to seasoned investors and knowledge-seekers. To witness the insightful pitches and groundbreaking plans, interested individuals can become members of EquityMatch.co or tune in every first Tuesday of every month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. SGT via LinkedIn or YouTube.

Max Sulpizi, the founder of EquityMatch.co and Managing Partner of HSMI-Corporate Advisory, served as our host. Besides his role as CEO, he has established a global reputation as a venture capitalist, business owner, and merchant banker. Throughout his career, he has provided counsel to companies in the infrastructure, fashion, real estate, and technology sectors, advising on transactions worth over €100 million and successfully raising more than €50 million in funding efforts.

Max, welcomed attendees and introduced Girish Shivani, a special guest with 25+ years of experience in Early-Stage Venture Capital Investing, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, and Analytics. Girish joined Max in asking critical questions to gain deeper insights into the venture goals of our participants.

The ball was set in motion by Ajit Vahadane, Founder of Appreciating Solutions Pvt Ltd, who is currently seeking investment in a pre-seed round. Along with his family, Ajit is a full-time social worker.

According to Ajit, his experience has laid the foundation for his venture, BloodyFast. The aim of this mobile app is to deliver blood donations for critical patients in a quick and safe method. The mission is to transform every smartphone globally into a potent life-saving device that can aid people during dangerous situations. Ajit noted that India ranks highest in categories like blood and organ shortages, road accidents, assaults against women, and natural disasters. He aims to tackle these issues by creating a multi-functional app that aids in emergencies. In terms of the app, there were 10 000 downloads and 2300 registered people. In terms of revenue, BloodyFast App will be charging its users ₹300 annually, BloodyFast App was a finalist in both Shark Tank India and Shark's Fund USA and has been certified in Google User Experience (UX) Design. Ajit emphasized their goal to “As a full-time social worker, we want to change the personal safety of the world”. He discussed the app's customer acquisition strategy with Girish to provide more insights.

Next up was Gopakumar Thekkedath, CTO and Co-Founder of SecurWeave Research Labs, who is seeking investment in a seed round. He has a strong background in cyber security.

SecurWeave's zero-trust hardware-enforced security platform safeguards business-critical systems against advanced malware attacks, which conventional security solutions cannot handle. “Looking at the security landscape of today it’s very evident that the complexity and sophistication of malware attacks have grown exponentially” explained Gopakumar. SMEs are bearing the brunt of over 50% of attacks, including ransomware and financial malware that are easily available on open-source repositories on the dark web. The audience was informed that cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. SecurWeave’s Configurable Hardware Enforced Safety and Security (CHESS) platform has been created to satisfy the safety needs of the evolving digital industry. The company strives to create all-inclusive security platforms for the ever-evolving digital world, with a suite of services and current traction of around $300,000. Girish delved into product details, team structure, and customer acquisition.

Next up was Aveen Dokala, Founder of FarmKrate, seeking investment in a pre-seed round. With five years of experience working with farmers in India and other countries, Aveen presented his pitch.

FarmKrate is a platform that connects farmers directly with merchants, eliminating the need for intermediaries. With a focus on the agriculture industry, the company operates in two main areas: procurement and an agro-based technology app for farmers to sell their produce. “It's like Amazon for farmers. There is no app for this to date", Aveen emphasized. FarmKrate aimed to address issues such as poor-quality seeds, inadequate resources, and marketing challenges faced by farmers. Their business model involves both B2C and B2B operations, with D2C being their revenue model. The agro-market is accelerating at a CAGR of over 8%. Currently, FarmKrate is clocking ₹4.8 million yearly. It has been operational for a year with 7000 plus farmers cultivating over 12,000 acres of agricultural lands, as well as engaging in honey and exotic fruits collection. After an insightful discussion with panellist Girish, Aveen moved on to the fourth pitch and discussed how he manages quality control.
Boby UI, with 12 years of experience in travel development, pitched next as the founder of PEERGIYUK. He is seeking investment in a pre-seed round.

"Imaging having your own tour guide and all features in your hands" Explained Boby. PEERGIYUK (a scalable app) is aiming to be a one-stop solution for all travel needs. inadequate planning of tour schedules, itineraries, overlooking important travel essentials, and managing foreign currency are some of the problems, travellers constantly face. PEERGIYUK's goal is to offer a 'Travel Bible' that can address those concerns. Boby shared survey results from Indonesia, providing greater insight to the viewers. The total addressable market is around $855 billion, but PEERGIYUK's target market is $100 million. Boby outlined the funding roadmap, team expansion, and revenue streams, which include membership subscription fees, corporate package sales, advertising, tour collaborations, and ticket sale commissions. Girish questioned Boby on how PEERGIYUK plans to stand out in the crowded travel market. Boby plans to organize a local marketing exhibition and work with travel influencers to promote the app and cater to user needs.

Dewi Pratiwijaya presented next, seeking pre-seed round investment for her company BARLI (Barter Life). She began by explaining the problem she aims to solve.

Dewi explained how she couldn’t find a solid and sustainable solution to recycling old clothes. It inspired Dewi to look at a solution, which is now called BARLI(Barter Life), which is a startup that empowers second-hand clothes as a new lifestyle and resource through circular economics. After sharing some visuals on the prototypes Dewi added, “Many people just want to stay in their house, and someone picks their waste”. BARLI operates on 3 operational models. Pick Up, which offers pick-up services across Indonesia, collects people’s textile waste. Then Re-sale focuses on reselling decent clothing items after they have to go through an anti-bacterial laundry process. Finally, there’s Recycle, which focuses on including textile waste through a process to create a different texture substance that is used for producing furniture, BARLI has achieved significant milestones by adopting this process, such as saving over 508 KG of textile waste, reselling more than 182 clothes, and much more. BARLI's revenue model includes charging $2.72 per box (1-10kg) of textile waste collected through their Pick-Up service. Excluding furniture sales, the projected annual profit for BARLI is $20,160. The company's mission to reduce textile waste is a commendable step towards a more eco-friendly business approach.

Steve Bidinger pitched last, he is no stranger to PE. Steve is the Founder and CEO of SKAI and has over 30 years of experience in the global cosmetic field. He is currently seeking investment in a pre-seed round.

He began by explaining “Our main focus is clean sustainable Beauty”. SKAI is a D2C beauty brand that focuses on clean beauty, sustainability, and salon-quality products at home. The company has de-risked the venture and launched it recently in Japan. SKAI has partnered with farms in Italy, that have decades of experience in producing organic farming. With their help, SKAI will be producing and marketing organic/vegan-certified products, while also providing bioplastic packaging made from sugarcane. Steve explained that SKAI has a well-defined strategy for achieving its financial goals. Steve further shared SKAI’s ambitious financial plans which include growing from zero to $ 60 million in 5 years, using multiple markets and products. After explaining how SKAI tested customer acquisition through various methods, including crowdfunding, paid ads, influencer and affiliate marketing, SNS, mail magazine, and events, Steve mentioned that SKAI was even nominated for a sustainable cosmetic award at one of the events. Following a brief discussion with Girish, they proceeded to the final section of the event.

While the pitching concluded, Max had one final question for all the pitchers before wrapping up. “Why should an investor invest in your venture and your team?”

Ajit started off the session by sharing that, the BloodyFast app is a one-of-a-kind app, with social worker support, that has a vast potential market in India and beyond. Achieving only a fraction of the market share would yield significant profits.

Gopakumar stated that SecureWeave is a comprehensive platform that addresses industry-wide threats in the increasingly software-defined sector.

Aveen replied “The agriculture sector is growing, I started with ₹18,000 and I made a business of ₹9 million, so we are growing and those that investing with us will surely grow along with us”

Next Boby stated that as a passionate entrepreneur, he has identified a high demand for a unique travel app in Indonesia. The app aims to address common travel problems and has limitless potential for growth in the market.

Dewi responded that their venture falls in line with upcoming environmental and economical regulations and there’s great potential as the competition is very less in the country. Dewi concluded by adding that they also have support from the Indonesian Government.

Steve concluded the session by emphasizing that SKAI's products are of excellent quality and manufactured to the highest standards. He also highlighted that their business model focuses on clean and sustainable beauty, which is highly scalable and capital efficient.

EquityMatch.co provides marketing and promotion options to participants and connects them directly with investors through available courses. Check out www.equitymatch.co and their social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for upcoming sessions and events.

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