FAQs

Following the Company Presentations event, HBA members express their interest in the companies that presented by completing the Feedback Form. This is subsequently shared with the companies.

The interest expressed is to obtain further information and HBA members may offer their contact details, agreeing to be contacted and provide further information. There may be no interest from any of the HBA members, or there may be one or more HBA members that express an interest.

Companies are invited to follow up and arrange meetings with HBA members who asked for further information and provide such information and explore investment. The meetings can be held in person or by video, as preferred by one or all of the members who expressed an interest to obtain further information.  Coordinating these meetings is the responsibility of the entrepreneur.  The use of Doodle Poll or similar is recommended, as you do not want to irritate potential investors with extensive email trails trying to finalise a date.

Once a date has been finalised, companies who require a room for the meetings with members can book a room at HBS via Alex Baker, secretary to the HBA Ltd board. Alex can be contacted on a.j.baker@henley.ac.uk or 0118 378 8691.

Should these meetings prove successful then it is for the company and members to discuss the next steps and timetable. Entrepreneurs requiring independent advice, support and guidance should contact either their own adviser or a member of those professional service firms supporting HBA representatives of which entrepreneurs will meet during the Investment Readiness Workshop. Jurek Sikorski, Director of HBA, is also on hand to offer help and support.

In general, if interest is developed towards investment then the HBA member(s) will move ahead to conduct due diligence and the company will create a data room for the purpose. Following due diligence and if deemed appropriate, the company and the member(s) will progress to issuing a term sheet. If more than one HBA member wishes to participate in the investment, then they or the business founder may wish to invite a lead investor. The lead investor does not necessarily do more than just be the first to invest but might be nominated to lead on negotiation, represent the group and join the board.

Upon agreement of the term sheet, there will follow a process of drawing up and signing a shareholder agreement or a Deed of Adherence to an existing shareholder agreement. This process is down to the company and the investing HBA member(s) to organise, as is obtaining appropriate legal advice.  HBA recommends that companies seek appropriate legal, financial, IP and tax advice during the process of finalising any investment deal.

The Company will notify Jurek Sikorski on jurek.sikorski@henley.ac.uk of the closure pursuant to the agreed Entrepreneur Terms and Conditions and shall fulfil the provisions as set therein. Companies are alerted to the fact that a success fee of 5% is payable by entrepreneurs on funds raised from HBA members, as specifically provisioned in the Entrepreneur Terms and Conditions which entrepreneurs are required to sign upon being selected to present.

Also, during the post-closure step, HBA will work with the Company to develop a press release to be published on the HBA website (and the UKBAA website), which will also be released via the University of Reading’s social media and off-line media channels.

For clarification HBA Ltd, Henley Business School, Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship and the University of Reading do not provide investment advice or promote any investment opportunity and are not authorised by the FCA in this regard.

HBA selects those companies that meet the investment criteria as set out on our Investment Criteria page and where there is a fit between HBA members and the entrepreneur’s business idea.

The HBA investor will have significant experience in a variety of sectors and functional areas which will influence their interest in investing. Broadly speaking, HBA investors look for businesses that have a knowledgeable management team, a business idea that solves a real problem, significant advantages over competition, the ability to be scaled rapidly, an opportunity to achieve a high return on investment and a clear route to exit. More specifically, there must be a fit between HBA investors and your team and business idea.

For those entrepreneurs who are selected to present, tuition will be provided by HBA through the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship. This tuition will cover creating a ‘winning presentation’ and providing ‘top tips’ as part of the Investment Readiness Workshop, and the opportunity to rehearse during pitch practice sessions.

The entrepreneur should read all the information provided in on our Entrepreneur section of the website and also have a conversation with Jurek Sikorski at HBA before deciding to apply for funding at HBA. Should the entrepreneur decide to apply then you will need to submit an executive summary (or business plan) and follow the funding process as described in the Funding Process.

The application provides HBA members with what they need to know about the entrepreneur’s business and provide details of the opportunity being served, the value proposition, routes to market, competitive advantages, how the business would scale and a summary of the financial projections, risk assessment, funds sought and return offered.

Entrepreneurs are asked to submit with their application: a business plan, an investment deck, financial projections and a cap table and any other document which supports their application. The most important point to remember is to check that the application provides everything that will enable HBA members to assess how well the business meets the investment criteria and their interests.