Venture Selection

Selecting which startups to include in a given portfolio is a decision that is informed by considerations from three different perspectives. These are 1) as a standalone startup; 2) Portfolio Management; and 3) matched with our own competence.

Startup Considerations

Genesys aims to invest in very early stage startups that either represent a breakthrough in an established sector, or are in high growth emerging sectors.

There is no bias towards any particular technology sector, applications market or geographical region. In all cases, the primary selection criterion is economic returns, with secondary considerations of social and environmental impact and value.

With this context, we review scores for each startup from 1) the initial application stages; and 2) the Routes to Value outputs created during the Basecamp process. These include a number of sub criteria that are included in the table below.

Business Area	Investment Requirements
Employment	Potential to create and sustain significant direct and indirect employment (i.e. in the supply chain)
Commerce	Global applications Low switching and/or education costs Distinctive competitive space	Synergy with other companies in our investment portfolio
Competence	The necessary competences have been identified and we can obtain them
Finance	High growth	High volume, high margin, or both
Governance	Business processes in place	Procedures documented
Market	Large and growing markets Customers known	Competition identified
Organisation	Passionate, committed entrepreneurs Open to professional management	A growth mind-set Willingness to sell equity
Product/ Process	Proprietary versus commodity	Uniqueness
Technology	Defined, defendable intellectual property Disruptive versus incremental	Platform technology
Defensible Market Positioning	Intangible Assets / Switching Costs / Network Effects / Cost Advantage / Efficient Scale

Portfolio Considerations

Using a proprietary portfolio optimisation model developed specifically for Genesys, the portfolio of startups is managed to ensure a balance that ranges from complex and far from market, through to less complex and closer to market. We also limit concentration in any one stage, technology, or sector.

Our Competence Considerations:

For very early stage startups, the ability to ‘make’ a venture work is largely reliant on the ability to quickly do business with a network of new customers. Therefore the quality and reach of the Genesys network, and the ability to understand how set up demand generation for a startup, are part of the consideration for investment selection.