What’s Hot and What’s Not in
Global Start-up Trends
Mike Holt
mholt@get2volume.com
Turning technology into cash
Topics
 Hot Industries for Start-ups
 Financing trends
 Key Success Factors for today’s entrepreneurs
2
Background on Mike Holt
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CEO of Singapore microelectronics incubator Get2Volume (Singapore
National Research Foundation funding)
Investor and Entrepreneur for high tech/semiconductor start-ups
MBA, MSEE/BSEE (University of California, Irvine)
Start up CEO of 2 VC-backed start-ups
M/A, fund raising, product management, marketing
Semiconductor experience: GM for Texas Instruments $200M storage
semiconductor business, Silicon Systems, ..
Vice President, Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association
Get2Volume Incubation and Leadership
Singapore semiconductor incubation: South East Asia advantage
Incubatee Companies: Semiconductor/Microelectronics
ELECTRONICS
• Wireless
• Systems
SEMICONDUCTOR
• Fabless
• EDA
• IP
Energy
Efficiency
• LED
 Experienced team: Singapore, Silicon Valley
 Start up incubation center in Singapore
 Co-funding with Singapore National Research Foundation
 Co investment with Venture Capital network (CA, Aus,
Singapore)
 Deep connections with the right decision makers enabling
growth, sales, acquisition, funding
Singapore Electronics Impact on the World
Where We Focus
• B2B Core Technology Companies
• Microelectronics, embedded software
and semiconductor as key enablers
Communications
& Data
Games
& Entertainment
Security
& Payment
Automotive
& Mobility
Health
& Biomedics
Infrastructure
& Energy Efficiency
5
Some Get2Volume Companies
Sold to Mentor Graphics
Companies
6
Startup Trends
 Tech companies are global from day 1
 Startups need GLOBAL capabilities capital and connections
 Incubation
7
Hot Industries for Start-ups
 We do what we know and where we can create unfair advantage
for our companies
 B2B, Enterprise
 Chasing "hot" trends in a startup typically fails.
 Some exciting industries:
 Digital Health Care (ConnectedHealth)
 Energy management (gridComm and Semitech)
 Mobil first solutions: commerce, secure payment,
(Tabsquare and Sprooki)
8
What’s Hot?
9
Funding Trends
Trends (and as normal)
 Angel funding exceeds VC
 Incubation and acceleration
funding
 Series A “Crunch”
 10
Good Companies Get Funded.
Hard to get funding if ….
a) Your team lacks a track record.
b) Your product execution is not competitive with other
products investors are seeing.
c) You lack product traction.
d) The market you’re addressing is not big or “important”
enough.
e) You’re fishing in a recently poisoned pond (e.g., the deal
space pioneered by Groupon).
f) Your valuation doesn’t match reality.
g) Your burn is unjustified, scary, or lacks discipline.
h) You lack clients.
 11
Many More Seed Deals … Series A Unchanged
 12
Result: Series A Gap
 13
Key Success Factors for today’s entrepreneurs
 Success factors are not different
 Understand what you mean by risk: Entrepreneurs are risk
adverse
 Global capabilities: From day one
 Don’t go it alone: enrollment
 Follow your passion. Startup journey will be tough - make sure
you are doing what you are committed to and passionate for.
 Don't wait to customers, buyers
 14
Do You Have
Any Questions?
Mike Holt
mholt@get2volume.com