FAQ'S - Global Development Advisors

FAQ

Commonly Asked Questions

Investment readiness in startup communities refers to the strategic process of preparing and equipping early-stage businesses to attract and secure investments from various sources. It involves a comprehensive approach addressing financial, legal, governance, business strategy, sustainability, and impact factors.

What is the difference between Acceleration and Investment Readiness?

Acceleration and Investment Readiness are distinct startup phases, each with a unique purpose. Acceleration centers on fast-tracking growth by refining the business model, product, and market strategy.

In contrast, Investment Readiness strategically positions a startup to attract external funding, involving fine-tuning financials, scalability, market positioning, team structure, etc. Although there may be overlap, recognizing the unique goals of each phase is essential for effectively supporting startups at different stages.

Why Democratizing Access to Consulting Services:

Just as corporations have ready access to professional consulting services to surmount their business challenges and foster growth, we believe startups in Central America deserve and require the same privileges.

By offering tailored consulting services, entrepreneurs gain the necessary skills, knowledge, structures, and support to navigate the complex landscape of attracting investors. The goal is to provide a framework of organizational effectiveness that focuses on the core levers of investment readiness that must be aligned.

Our Soft Due Diligence

Performing due diligence is a crucial step in the investment journey. However, startups often encounter this process for the first time when meeting investors, lacking knowledge about its implications and requirements.

Soft due diligence, a less formal and exhaustive examination than formal due diligence, equips startups with the necessary knowledge and tools to confidently navigate the investment process.

Why do we use Artificial Intelligence for investments in Central America?

We use artificial intelligence (AI), neurolinguistic programming (NLP), and deep learning (DL) to identify and evaluate the level of investment readiness for investment opportunities in Central America. Our platform automates and streamlines due diligence in the investment process, offering high-quality information and superior insights at high speed for startups and potential investors. Our solution analyzes the startups’ investment readiness level through due diligence, which requires gathering intelligence from companies and the market to perform a comparative analysis of the company to the investment criteria of various active investors in the region.

Why including Impact and Sustainability:

We are dedicated to cultivating businesses with a strategic emphasis on impact, supporting startups to develop robust impact plans designed to meet impact investors’ criteria. Research consistently underscores the positive correlation between socially and environmentally responsible business practices and long-term financial success

Why Investors’ Early Involvement is Crucial:

In our pursuit of fostering successful startups, we advocate for the practice of “Investment Before the Investment.” The traditional models involve investors engaging at the end of the journey during demo days; this approach misses a crucial opportunity.

Because investors can play a pivotal role in shaping startups to meet investment criteria effectively, we bring them as an integral part of our Investment Readiness program. It increases the likelihood of securing investments and provides an invaluable education opportunity to gain firsthand insights into startups’ real challenges, fostering a deeper understanding of the ecosystem’s intricacies.

Grant-funded Consulting Assistance:

To alleviate the financial strain associated with acquiring consulting expertise to address investment barriers, our Investment Readiness Program takes a proactive approach. We offer to cover the associated costs that will contribute to removing the barriers that prevent startups from accessing investments. We underscore our commitment to fostering an environment where financial barriers do not impede progress.

Accelerators as Partners:

We envision accelerators as valuable strategic partners in our mission. By collaborating with accelerators, we aim to tap into a pipeline of fast-tracked startups that, despite their acceleration, face challenges in securing investments.

Success Fee:

Understanding the importance of charging startups for our services can optimize the participation of motivated entrepreneurs, attract the right candidates for the program, and increase engagement.
However, we also understand the constraints this might represent for startups at the beginning of their journey. Therefore, we have established a model that requires a success fee once the investment is realized. We have defined a scale- based approach that reflects a fair and proportional fee structure. We will use the success fee as a “capital raised” impact metric.
This model encourages a shared commitment to achieving successful investment outcomes and ensures that our interests are aligned with the growth and prosperity of the startups we work with. The model is also strategically designed to motivate and encourage our internal teams to work diligently and creatively toward meeting the set goals.

FAQ

Commonly Asked Questions

Global Development Advisors is a registered 501c3 specializing in business and economic development consulting for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) in Central America.

Phone

(202) 316-5614

Follow

Quick Links