Leave your ego at the door - the benefits of co-investing

It’s still early-days for tech for good investment. Although the field is growing quickly, the relationships between different players are evolving as investors work out their niches and specialisms. From the point of view of founders, things are gradually getting better but it can be confusing to navigate.

At BGV we think this makes it an important time to work together and help founders get the right investment for them. It’s why we’ve always been keen to know about other funds and angel investors so that we can help signpost founders to those where there could be a good fit.

We’re also keen to co-invest with other angels and funds. We try to make sure we share things we’ve learned along the way and learn from others at the same time. Of course there’s competition and everyone wants the best deals and returns but I think people coming into the tech for good sector are sometimes surprised about how open and ‘nice’ we are to our competitors. We’ve even played a hand in helping other people set up as competitors to BGV, but we don’t see it that way. Ultimately we want to see many more investors in tech for good as that will help us to achieve our aims.

We agree with Roberta Bosurgi the new CEO of the EVPA who has called on those across the space to “leave the ego outside the door” and collaborate to “build a bigger voice”. She puts it very well when she says, “No organisation is able to tackle the problems that we as a society have created – on the planet, on our health, on our society – alone.”

With that in mind we’ve created a LinkedIn group for angels, fund managers and LPs to share ideas and best practices about tech for good investing. You can join here.

This piece was first published in the October issue of our monthly investor newsletter – ‘The Practical Optimist.’ Sign-up here to receive the latest thinking on tech for good and curated resources from the world of impact straight to your inbox.