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Alpfactory Alps herbals from high-altitude micro-farms. Bizzmo'z People Apps. Brightec Incubated with alumni of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, this US night-luminescent photographic paper company works with retail chains, Disney, etc. Shares were placed at $0.25 and at $1.00 and later traded to $4.20 per share, valuing the company at USD 85m. Symbol BRTE. Cats & Dogs Incubated with alumni of Business School Lausanne, this pet-supplies retail chain became a national favorite known for its funky TV ads, comic truck-decor and pet-nut staff. MBO.
Many people see China only as a cheap manufacturing play and that's a mistake. And contrary to the clichés, it's actually easy to work with their world-class innovation and it's a very entrepreneurial environment. The main startups done in China were.... - Forlink Software Inc. (see below) - Venture Capital conference in Beijing with the Chinese Innovation Office. - E-Law China online legal database. - Wearable GPS receivers. - Mega-volume video storage devices. - Phonecard service for the many expat Chinese working in Russia. Curtisium Labs Incubated with alumni of Istanbul Technical University, technology for night-luminescent cement mixes, tiles, mosaics, sheeting, moldings, paints, cosmetics. Extra 2000 Incubated with alumni of Plovdiv University, dealership specialising in medical and bank vehicles. Set up the first professional ambulance company in Bulgaria. MBO. Forlink Software Incubated with alumni of Tsinghua University and Chengdu University who had helped set up Yahoo Japan, this Beijing software company was the first online retailer of software in the Chinese provinces, a portal and search pioneer. Later became a programmer of systems and billing software for telecoms, ISPs, government departments. It supplies and manages online trading exchanges for commodities. Forlink was a driver of the digital revolution in China and was the first Chinese internet company to IPO in the US, the first to do a San Francisco launch with real- time Beijing/Frankfurt internet videolink, and the first search engine in China. Shares were placed at $1.00 in an IPO simultaneous with China's WTO membership, and traded to $25.00 per share. Symbol FLSW. Group 7 Engineering Incubated with alumni of Bergamo University, this company manufactured carbon, aramid, metallic and ceramic composites for Airbus, Douglas, Boeing, Fokker, and defence groups. Factory produced under FAA/AI inspection certificates. Technology leader in these fields: a. Non-metallic galley and toilet bulkheads for civil aircraft, resistant to fragmentation and metal-piercing munitions. b. Explosion-resistant vehicle floors. Ceramic-faced composite armor for tanks and vehicles. c. Riot-police helmets resistant to metal-piercing munitions. Anti-ballistic upgrades for helmets and vests used in most NATO PASGT equipment, even today. d. Robotic hyperbaric water-jet cutters and specialty steel tools for processing of aramid composites to aeronautical precision standards. e. Machinery for shredding and recycling aramid flock for asbestos replacement in brake and clutch linings. f. ULW structures for mini-drones, UFOs, rescue sleds, sports, land-art... The business was spun off to sub-contractors. Haas Neveux Incubated with alumni of Geneva University, this company started the trend for reviving historical Swiss prestige watch brands. Via a US holding structure it raised its first round of finance from watch distributors in the Emirates, and a second round from watch industry veterans associated with watch auctioneer Antiquorum. Management conflicts led to the watch business being spun off and bought by the Swiss manufacturing operation of Korean conglomerate Samsung. The holding company shell then took over e-Law China (a Beijing online database of Chinese laws and law firms) and later Century Milestone S&T Co. (a Chengdu producer of video storage for TV footage) and a pager/phonecard company operating in Russia. These projects were spun off to Chinese interests. The holding company examined potential takeover candidates including forests and sports-grounds in Latin America, mine tailings clean-up projects in USA and Canada, a tunnel and light-rail project in Colorado, etc. In 2003 it was bought by a Beijing real estate developer and became Sino Real Property Development Corp. The new owners have not maintained a public market in the shares. Shares were originally placed at $0.50 and later traded to $2.00 per share, valuing the company at USD 40m. Symbol SRPJ. Kolorfusion International Incubated with inventors from Oyonnax, France 'Plastics Vallée', this Denver and Shanghai surface-decor process company works with camo, sports equipment, building materials and hardware, etc. Shares were placed at $0.50 and $1.00 and later traded to $1.80 per share, valuing the company at USD 36m. Symbol KOLR. Lexon Technologies Eurasia Geo-positioning software company - representation for eastern Europe and Asia. Lexon subsequently entered new field. MacMike Incubated with members of what was known as Gorbals University, a mentoring center for violent youngsters in Glasgow's then trashed inner city, this business exported Shetland sweater rejects from Scotland to Spain's fashionista boutiques. Return trip with hip Andalusian bell-bottoms and heeled gypsy boots sold to UK pop groups and Carnaby Street outlets. Later added reject Harris Tweed fabrics, sold with hacking-jacket pattern via riding clubs and provincial tailors in Spain. North Wool Incubated with mountain communities, this hand-knitting co-operative in the Pyrenees made chic Aran-style écru ribbed sweaters sold via yacht clubs, and earthy hand-spun plant-dyed styles for hippies sold via craft markets. The 'Aran' name was a word-play on the Irish island of Aran and the Pyrenean valley of Aran. Incubated with HR specialists from the UK, this company advised multinationals on performance review methodology, job and salary assessments, with US and European benchmarking. MBO. Pricer Sollentuna, Sweden maker of wireless digital price-labels for supermarkets. Installed at retail chains including Metro, Leclerc, Carrefour, etc. they allow prices to be changed via satellite from another continent. Allows real-time feedback protocols relative to inventory, buyer-flow, etc. Structured and placed pre-IPO convertible debenture with investors who exited when Pricer listed its shares in its Stockholm IPO. Puntapolo Corporation Incubated with alumni of Royal Agricultural College Cirencester and polo people in Argentina, this company organized stud, stabling and renting of polo ponies in Europe, managed players and instructors. Activities were spun off in MBO after death of the two founders. The build-out aim of the company was to manage events and supply the logistics, then to launch a new game called "Rolo". The Rolo story shows how problems, turned on their heads, are sources of new startups. Pony clubs in Europe have the problem that most girls ride until late-teens and boys only until early teens. This defective business model, where you have a captive clientele for years which then just disappears, led to a brainstorming with some horse people in Scotland and a new fun horseback game called "Rolo" was born. Aimed at the sponsor-loved teenage male demographic, using a huge round inflated ball (150 cm diameter), the game is played like soccer so everyone knows the rules. Actually it had already been invented in the 1800s by Cavalry Regiments in India but was never much developed. Most versions (in US and NZ) have the horse pushing the ball, but in Rolo the riders kick the ball, which makes it a much faster game with a real dynamic. The kids loved it. Rolo has other advantages - the big ball means you can play on rough fields or beaches or desert or snow or frozen lakes, you can ride any quality of horse (or giraffe/camel/bike or on foot), there are no mysterious polo rules and it can be played in urban or rural locations. We tested the game and found it really developed riding skills, so we founded a club in Edinburgh to establish historical precedence. As a glamor home-venue and stud, we started to buy the dormant Punta del Este Polo Club on the wild Uruguayan coast between sport-crazy Argentina and Brazil. The first Rolo games were played in UK, Spain, UAE, Pakistan, Uruguay and the US. But unfortunately Rolo's time had not yet come - our partners in Punta got caught up in a political scandal and the partners in the UK and Argentina died. The UK business continued for years as a "country polo" operation. But some day, probably in 2010, Rolo could roll again. Renaissance Golf (Fila Golf USA) This Utah golf products company, which operated the Fila sport/fashion brand's US golf license, was well-known for its Latitude product-line of clubs, bags and clothes. It was spun off not long after the IPO. Symbol FGLF. Young Venture Associates Incubated with students of Business School Lausanne, this teenpreneur company was launched in 1990 to fund and mentor other youth startups. All its staff was transferred to its first startup (Cats & Dogs). The corporate structure was used temporarily by a number of other entrepreneurs and finally put into receivership. |
- Since 1979, Harrop Co. has advised incubators including Eurasian Holdings, Venture
Zone, Teknocapital Finance and Young Ventures, building startups with a cumulated market
capitalization of around $1b. Exits have included IPOs, MBOs and spin-offs.
It often takes 5-10 years to develop a start-up to break-even or exit. Sometimes faster
exits can be done via IPO or trade sales if the founders accept big dilution to attract a rock-
star board and investment syndicate. It's thrilling to participate in startups and see them grow,
but it needs endurance and total tolerance for setbacks. Many don't work.
share prices recorded during exit periods that were sufficiently long and liquid to allow public
shareholders to sell their shares if they wished to do so. The capitalization comes from the
companies that went public via IPOs and does not include non-public exits via MBOs, spin-
offs and trade-sales priced by private transaction.
Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Some businesses were pre-
web and have no website link.
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| Extra 2000 |
| E-Law |
