Guidance on how to produce a tailored one-page investment summary for "SMEs transforming food production: series A investor partnership"

Disclaimer: The advice below on how to produce a one-page investment summary has been produced by the KTN at of the request of Innovate UK as guide to those submitting to the Series A Investor Partnership Programme. It is presented strictly as guidance only, and is drawn from KTN’s long experience supporting companies. Use of this advice does not guarantee securing grant funding and/or investment. It is your responsibility to determine what information to include when representing your company and communicating with investors. We hope you will find this guide helpful, but ultimately it remains your responsibility to know best how to sell your company and your idea.

As part of the application process for the SMEs transforming food production: series A investor partnership Programme, you will be asked to prepare a one-page investment summary. Below you will find high level guidance as well as some tips to consider while making your one-page investment summary.

When starting to prepare for investment, there are a number of documents you should have access to already which will be useful when preparing your one-page investment summary. These are usually:

• Investment Pitch
• Business Plan
• Supporting Documentation e.g. milestones, contracts and financials

The one-page investment summary is the handout version of your investment pitch. The summary should be a stand-alone document which can pique the interest of potential investors. This specific one-page investment summary should also highlight the grant alignment being sought through the Series A competition, but the majority of the focus should be on the company investment strategy overall.

Before you begin developing your investment summary—take a minute to step back from thinking about your company and try to imagine you are an investor. You may be interested in ‘giving something back’ and seeing great ideas come to fruition, but ultimately you want to see a return on your investment, and you want to have confidence in the people that you will be investing in.

What to ideally include in your one-page investment summary

1. Grab attention

• What’s the challenge or opportunity that you are addressing? An easy to understand but compelling statement at the top will immediately build momentum

2. Focus on solution

• How do you solve the challenge or take advantage of the opportunity?
• Where is it in the development process?
• Is the solution protected or protectable? (i.e. by patent, or other legal means. An investor will want comfort that it will be hard for competitors to use your idea)
• What is your strategy for protecting your solution or your market position?

3. Business Model

• How will you make (or plan to make) money now or in the near future?
• Are there other potential revenue sources?
• If you are pre-revenue, how have you arrived at this model and price point?

4. Market

• What is the size of the market you are targeting?
• Is that market growing and by how much?
• What percentage share of that market could you realistically capture, how and over what timescale?

5. Competitors

• Who are your main competitors? It is risky to claim that there are none: if there are no direct competitors, who else is near in the market? This answer demonstrates your awareness.
• How will you attract customers to your solution or product, which might be a change from their current solution?

6. Traction

• Who have you already approached or got on board?
• Are there any barriers to entry?
• Have you made any sales, done a trial or carried out market analysis?
• Is your supply chain in place?

7. Team

• Why you? Team is key! Confidence in the team will give confidence that unforeseen problems can be overcome
• Include details of the core team and what skills and experience they bring
• Investors are looking to see that both technical and business expertise are represented
• Are there any gaps in the team? will these be filled with the investment and what is your plan for doing so?
• Mention non-executive Directors, advisors, supporters – it’s all about building credibility

8. Financial forecast

• What are your projected figures for 3 – 5 years in terms of turnover and profit/loss?
• Detail any grants secured or applied for and show how these could leverage additional value for the investors

9. Investment Ask

• How much money do you need?
• This should be tailored to identify an R&D project requirement which is eligible for the Series A Investor Partnership application and potential grant support through the programme
• What will you spend it on and over what timescale?
• What key milestones will be reached as a result of the investment?

10. Exit Strategy

In an investment pitch, exit strategy relates to how and when the investors may make a return on their investment. How will investors make their money?

• Who will buy the company?
• How long will it be before you are in a position to exit?
• What is the expected return on investment (ROI)?

You may want to include a statement in the header/footer which indicates the date and the intended use of your one-page investment summary so if someone looks at it at a later date it is clear the information is outdated. For example: “This is a one-page investment summary tailored for the Transforming Food Production Series A Partnership Programme competition and is only valid for this”.

Key things to consider

• It should NOT be just a product pitch—your product is only one element of your business plan
• Keep it simple—avoid jargon and abbreviations
• Make it look good—this is your chance to stand out from the crowd
• Know your audience—be prepared to tailor your content appropriately
• Quantify & justify—Provide numbers and evidence where possible to back up your claims
• Remember to include your contact details!
• Please be aware that your one-pager may end up in the public domain if it is shared with investors and take this into account when deciding which information to include. Please contact support@innovateuk.ukri.org if you have any further questions about how your one-pager may be used as part of the competition process.