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Uncertain Times

The Covid-19 crisis and ensuing economic fallout has been a source of enormous concern to entrepreneurs. Normally in the world of start-ups, concerns about cash burn rates and revenue forecasts dominate. Now in the current reality of Covid-19, founders are focusing on a more urgent task: survival.

Dublin BIC is currently working with many of Ireland’s most ambitious entrepreneurs, and for the vast majority the big areas of concern are uncertainty of sales pipeline, cash flow drying up, and diminished fundraising prospects in the short-term.

In light of these issues, what is the advice for the typical start-up? First of all, try not to panic. If you have developed a sound business idea with a proven concept, then you should view this as a short-term interruption to your plans. We would advise against forcing yourself into short-term actions that may be detrimental for your longer-term success.

There is much talk about pivoting to grasp short-term opportunities, and this will work for some, but it’s not the answer for all. For some start-ups, it’s about battening down the hatches and spending time planning on how you will re-emerge when the time is right.

Fundraising in a Crisis

While the process may be slower, investments are still completing, so our advice is to continue to engage in the process. Take inspiration from the likes of SilverCloud Health and Buymie who have raised funding in recent times. Dublin BIC continues to work with start-ups and scale-ups, helping them prepare to take on investment, secure HPSU approval and crucially to get in front of active investors.

In Association with

Success Stories

As Dublin BIC continues to work with entrepreneurs through the pandemic, we are heartened by the success of companies that have received support from Dublin BIC through the years, both in terms of fundraising and in developing innovations to address issues arising from the health crisis.

• SilverCloud Health, a Dublin BIC Ventures company that following its €14.7m investment round announced in March  responded to Covid by making its programmes to deal with stress, anxiety, low mood and depression available for free to over 150 million people worldwide, and has since seen its business thrive.

• Wellola, a participant in the Dublin BIC-managed Innovate programme, collaborated with the HSE to launch a very successful online portal that enables GP and healthcare providers to treat people remotely.

• Buymie, the on-demand grocery delivery app, has become the number one food-related app in Ireland. It has announced a raise of €5.8m, bringing its total capital raised this year to over €8m.

• Davra, a Dublin BIC Ventures company, played a key role in developing an early warning system which aims to detect symptoms of the coronavirus among frontline medical staff.

• Glofox, a Dublin BIC Investor-Ready company, has raised an additional €10m to add to its €23m Series A funding round. Glofox’s software provided gyms with the capability to live stream classes and offer on-demand content during lockdown.

• Dublin BIC Investor-Ready company MedModus is providing business intelligence services to hospitals and other healthcare organisations through a CareAnalytics platform.

Avail of the Supports

Making the right decisions now will affect how you emerge from this crisis. Dublin BIC is here to help. Contact us at startup@dublinbic.ie and we’ll arrange a meeting with one of our experienced start-up advisors at no cost to you, the entrepreneur.

• Learn more about Dublin BIC at www.dublinbic.ie