„Venture capital“ has become an everyday term in recent years and we are currently experiencing a boom phase in start-ups. The startup euphoria and the need for venture capitalists are also increasing in Eastern Europe. Starta wants to invest in Eastern European start-ups and aim for exits to major investors in the USA.
What is Starta’s goal?
The idea behind Starta’s „Accelerator 16/17“ project is to invest primarily in the early stages of start-up companies in Eastern Europe. Many start-ups still have problems obtaining sufficient venture capital in important phases if they do not have an appropriate network of VCs. Therefore, Starta invests smaller sums and supports the founders with its own programs to build up their company.
If the company grows strongly, then an exit to other VC’s should take place, since these usually have start-ups in later phases in view. Starta would like to build a bridge between Eastern Europe and the USA, because there is a much larger stock of venture capital in the latter region.
The Eastern European region could be a useful region for this project, since the VC culture, as it exists in the US, for example, is less pronounced here. Ultimately, the Early Stage Accelarator ensures that the start-ups are built up through financial injections and mentoring and that an exit in the USA is subsequently promoted.
How does the Starta ICO work?
Starta would like to raise capital for the project through the ICO and issue its own tokens in cooperation with Cross Coin. The Singapore-based partner Cross Coin will then acquire a 33 percent stake in Starta Accelerator 16/17 LLC. Those who participate in the ICO will receive the Cross Coin Tokens. The pro rata winnings will then be distributed to the token owners via the partner Cross Coin.
The Starta Accelerator 16/17 holds 21 „post product“ startups, i.e. young companies whose idea has already left the conception phase. Exact details on the individual start-ups are explained relatively openly by Starta in the corresponding whitepaper of the project (see below).
Up to 1.5 million US dollars will flow directly into the 16/17 fund, and any additional amounts will be invested in Starta’s future accelerator programs.
The Starta Blockchain
The relation to the Starta blockchain is rather small – this project does not focus on the technical sophistication of the blockchain technology, but rather on a new type of funding, which is carried out with this ICO. The tokens are used exclusively to carry out the buy-back programme digitally as simply and as cheaply as possible. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but this ICO is a comparatively less technical project.
The team
The team seems to be very experienced at first sight: The members promise years of experience in leading positions and in the VC sector. If you get up close and personal with Roy Weissman, you will indeed find a verifiable record track – with small flaws:
Roy Weissman
Weissman is Vice President Business Development at Octopus, an American media agency. The company’s website greets with the face of Weissman. According to Weissman, the company has already worked with partners such as Amazon.
At Starta, Weissman has been acting as Sales and Business Development Advisor since August 2016.
He mentors the „Protokol App“ project, a tech startup. This had received a funding of approx. 130,000 US dollars from Starta. Although this did not take place until January 2017, the project website, which is currently not accessible, appears less professional.
Weismann is also Vice President of Sales at SendPulse, a startup for professional email marketing that makes use of artificial intelligence (AI). In fact, Sendpulse’s services are already relatively well known. Although Weissman’s work at SendPulse is predominantly sales, it is likely to be at least a proof of his affinity with tech start-ups.
Investment Summary