A great App idea might not necessarily need funding from an investor. Depending on the idea, you might be able to fund it using your savings or pay for it using one of our Flexi payment plans. But many App ideas can end up requiring substantial amounts of investment and cash flow. If your App idea happens to be one of these, then the process of finding investors for your App idea in Australia can leave you confused and unmotivated. But don’t fret, we are here to help.
In this article, we list the 10 most effective ways in which you can find App investors for your idea in Australia. Also, if you are wondering, here is a link to our article on how to calculate the App development cost for your App idea!
1. Referrals might be your best bet at finding App investors
“78% of B2B marketers say that referral programs generate good or excellent leads.” Forbes.com
If you are a first-time entrepreneur, then convincing a complete stranger to invest in your App idea will be extremely challenging; irrespective of how great your App idea is. This is why exploring and exhausting your contacts first and foremost is the best way to start your search for investors Australia wide. Approaching someone as a referral exponentially increases your chances of success.
Look for investors or successful business persons that your friends, family, colleagues, or teachers can introduce you to. When you do find an investor, be ready to impress them with your killer pitch, because even if they decide not to invest, they might just refer you further to someone who will.
2. Look for incubators & startup accelerators
The key difference between an incubator and a startup accelerator is that incubators help entrepreneurs build up their business from the ideation stage, while an accelerator helps startups that are already in business to progress to the next stage.
Take a look at the growth story of RefreshHQ. They took full advantage of the accelerator program at AngelCube, which has since been acquired by Slingshot.
There are many such companies that came out of labs focused on startup incubation. In fact, here are a few links to get you going on your mission to find investors for your app idea:
3. Explore the Venture Capital option for your app idea.
Australia has seen an explosion in the number of VC firms and the funds available to them. In spite of Covid, most of the VC firms in our list of the top 12 Venture Capital firms in Australia, have had record-breaking rounds of fundraising this year.
A lot like accelerators, VC firms invest in businesses, not ideas. Hence, you need an App that already works to have any shot at getting a VC firm interested. These are some of the top VC firms that focus on funding tech startups in Australia:
- Blackbird Ventures
- Telstra Ventures
- Square Peg
Talk to one of our experienced project managers to find out about our flexi payment plan option, which allows you to start building your app without a massive investment.
4. Come up with an innovative pitch for your app idea
Have you seen Shark Tank? Most (if not all) of the successful pitches showcase the pain point they are addressing for the customer. Often, they demonstrate this on the ‘Sharks’ themselves – surprising them, even.
The point is to give proof of concept for your app idea so that investors can see how it works and visualize the market for it. Once they are convinced that there is a clear product market fit for your idea, you are in with a huge chance! Hammer home the point by carrying out a real-world trial if you can.
5. Find App investors in your niche
Your app idea has a certain target group of customers, right? Find investors who have incubated startups that have become successful companies by serving those kinds of customers.
Look up these existing companies – your future competitors! – and dig into their history to see from where they got their early rounds of funding. Investors are fond of hedging their bets – they will appreciate it even more if your app idea has a certain edge over the existing companies, even if they might be funded by the same people you are pitching to.
6. Attend fundraising seminars & events
Every big city in the world has a startup ecosystem of its own. Australia has a growing community of entrepreneurs and investors, most of whom you can network with by attending investor and startup events.
Eventbrite is a great place to start looking for such events. Check out this list of events in the Sydney Eventbrite page. Meetup.com is also a great place to look for fundraising seminars and events.
Most meetups and events have been shifted to an online format. Use this to your advantage, because now you can participate in app idea funding discussions and get to know more people (the always-trendy “networking”) without even leaving the comfort of your home.
7. Approach local government offices that aid startups
This being Australia, there is plenty of support for starting businesses that help the economy grow.
For starters, see this panel discussion held virtually with a focus on post-Covid help for startups, app ideas and even established businesses:
One of the largest efforts to help startups comes from the federal government, with initiatives to accelerate commercialization, fostering female founders, and incubator support. If you are seeking app investors for your app idea and are not able to make much headway with private investors, this is the way.
8. Be clear about the kind of funding you need
Avoid the mistake of not knowing how much (and what kind of) money you need to get your app idea off the ground.
See this (non-exhaustive) list of funding options:
- Bootstrapping.
- Personal network.
- Angel investors.
- Venture capital (VC) investors.
- Private investors.
- Crowdfunding.
- Bank loans.
- App funding contests.
Now think about which kind of investor will grant you the money you need according to your business plan. This approach will reduce the chances of your efforts to find investors going to waste by focusing on the kind of investor most suited to your app idea and narrowing down your search.
9. Crowdfund your app idea
Boost your search for app investors by looking up online app crowdfunding platforms. Some of these platforms will want to vet your idea first, while others may ask you to present proof of concept or define investor bonuses.
Here is a list of some popular crowdfunding platforms in Australia and around the world:
So find crowdfunding platforms that are promoting entrepreneurs in your app’s industry or target market, and pitch your app idea to the “crowds”!
10. Trust the expertise of veterans
Finding investors is the hard part. Finding empathetic app investors is slightly harder, but rewarding.
That is why we reiterate – look for investors in your app who have previous experience in the same (or similar) field. Not only will they be more confident about your app idea (having overseen related success stories), they will also be able to educate you about your industry’s pitfalls, risks and best practices. Their advice benefits you as well as them, because your success reaps rewards for them, too. After all, investors are in the game for profits, not philanthropy.
Find the perfect investors for your app idea
Your app idea resulted from your mind; that automatically means there’s a little bit of you in the resultant product, service, software, shop, online store, website – whatever it is, it is uniquely YOU. If possible then you should not give up your idea for short-term cash rewards.
Our team of App developers at Elegant Media is the most experienced and the most successful app development team in Australia. Give us an obligation free call and talk to one of our Project Managers about your App idea. The project manager will be able to give you a detailed breakdown of the funds you will need and the time it will take to build and launch your app. We will also advise you on how and when you can expect to start earning money from your app idea.
