How we work with business proposals

Out of more than 400 business proposals presented each year, DSI invests in up to 15 new companies. DSI evaluates all proposals in several iterations in order to decide on the few selected investments.

Please note that the following is intended to give a general impression of how DSI works with business proposals. However the process may differ depending on the case.

The entire process should last from 1-3 months and is primarily dependent on the quality (not the quantity) of material provided. The more precise you are on important information like market, competitors, your solution, your team, financials, etc. the more likely we are to continue the assessment.

To learn more about the information needed you can download these items:

Submission of business proposal

First step is to evaluate whether your proposal is (or could be) in accordance with our investment criteria. This is often done via mail and phone. Primarily this involves assessing:

Whether the proposal has sufficient financial potential
Whether the proposal is within DSI's investment focus: ICT, Life Science and Cleantech & Materials.
Whether the proposal can be protected by patents or other barriers of entry

We try to answer your initial contact within 7 working days.

First meeting

The first meeting is with the purpose of learning more about your business proposal. Together we will explore whether there is a potential for continuing the dialogue, what additional information is needed and which steps should be taken for this to be realized.

Internal evaluation

Your proposal will be discussed internally to evaluate its potential and under what conditions it would be relevant for DSI to participate. At this part of the evaluation, we sometimes contact our expert network to verify risks and opportunities. Involvement of external experts is only done after your acceptance.

Verification and adjustment

We evaluate your proposal more intensively as well as the factors needed for the business to become successful. The process is focused on technology, markets, budgets, team and legal matters.

This part of the process is time-consuming, and it is expected that you participate in securing the needed information. Often we engage field experts to clarify how strong your value proposition is in the marketplace.

The process will lead to a common understanding of the company's initial strategy written down in a business plan. This includes specifying milestones for what the company is expected to accomplish as part of the investment.

Term sheet

DSI will provide a brief proposal of the investment in a term sheet. The term sheet will include a description of:

The size of the expected investment
Financial and legal terms
Company ownership structure
Milestone payment tranches (technological, market-related, organizational)

Internal presentation and approval

Before final commitment to an investment the business plan and your team is usually presented to the relevant people in DSI.

Based on the term sheet an investment recommendation is submitted to the DSI partner team, who has the decisive word in all investments.

Completion of agreement

If the partner team approves the recommendation, the final details of the agreement need to be settled and the documents need to be prepared and signed. DSI has an in-house lawyer who can draft all documents in order to be as cost effective as possible.