The project, led by the Lithuanian Innovation Center, aims to design a service that supports startups in dealing with investors more effectively. For small and innovative businesses, growth can often be constrained by difficulties accessing suitable finance. Many interventions seek to address concerns about the limited supply of finance, leading to, for example, decisions to establish ‘hybrid’ venture capital schemes where public investments are used to draw private finance into the equity gap. However, effective policy solutions are also needed on the demand side, with evidence that the growth of innovative small businesses can be constrained by a reluctance to seek external finance or difficulties in developing opportunities to a stage that can readily attract outside funding.
The InReady project was prompted by the observation that many SME founders cannot deliver compelling pitches to potential investors. When seeking venture capital or participating in competitive funding processes – such as the EIC Accelerator – a convincing pitch can significantly impact the outcome. By providing founders with support in preparing a compelling pitch, the InReady tool aims to ensure that more funding is directed to start-ups with the best business ideas and the most significant potential for growing into successful businesses.