How to get investors for your mobile app startups?
The mobile app market is lucrative, and anyone with an innovative app idea wants a piece of it. But wait, is an idea enough? No way! Significant funds are required to develop a highly scalable and unique mobile app. Market research, product development, marketing activities, and other stages of app development necessitate financial investments.
However, raising funds for your app is no easy task. As a result, you'll need to find investors for your company. So, before you pitch your business idea or app concept to investors, do some preliminary research. Investors will undoubtedly invest if your idea appears to be revolutionary.
Apart from that, presenting an MVP with minimal features will allow investors to test and use your product in real-time. Investors will see that you are serious about your product and will be more likely to invest in it as a result.
Investor Types
The market provides a number of funding options. Depending on your app idea, the amount of funding required, and the stage you're at, you'll need to look for investors in different places and pitch your ideas in different ways.
So, without further ado, let's take a look at the various types of investors you might encounter.
Family and friends: Family and friends are usually the easiest to persuade that your app idea is worthwhile. However, in most cases, your personal connections can only sponsor a startup at the outset. You can use that money to conduct market research and create a prototype to show other potential investors. To do more, you must consider other options.
Co-founders: The second option is to invite friends or family members to join you as co-founders. When someone believes your idea has enough potential, they are more likely to invest in your project. If you have enough trust in them, you can also find people outside your network to co-found your business.
App contests: There are numerous fundraising app contests that take place around the world. While extremely competitive, these app contests provide entrepreneurs with the opportunity to present their idea to investors and persuade them to fund your project.
Crowdfunding: It is a type of fundraising app or site in which people work together to raise money through the internet and other networks. You will need to invest time, effort, and possibly money in marketing to have a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Angel investors and venture capitalists: If you want to invest heavily in your mobile startup, you should look for angel investors and venture capitalists. These organizations usually offer a large sum of money.
While most angel investors in app development are individuals, venture capitalists are typically corporations. To pique the interest of investors in your app, you must make a compelling case for why your idea is worth investing in.
Steps to gaining the trust of investors in mobile app development
Having only a basic app idea will not help you because investors want to know that you have given this idea serious consideration. They want to see that you have researched your competitors and that your product has market potential.
The following are the key steps to gaining the trust of investors and raising funds for your creative idea:
Validate your concept
Finding a good idea can be a difficult task. You must generate ideas that will make a difference and address customers' concerns. You can begin by focusing on your area of interest or passion. Once you've come up with an intriguing app concept, the next step is to validate it to ensure that it's viable. Investors are unwilling to fund a pre-existing app idea.
So, conduct extensive market research and determine the competitive landscape of your app's market. Make certain that your app idea is not a carbon copy of another company's offering. You can also consult an app development company to determine the viability of your idea.
Locate an appropriate market
It is critical to understand the market's competitive landscape. You must conduct extensive research on applications in your industry to determine what innovative features they are providing to users and how you can stay ahead of them.
Determine the market size
When you study the competitive environment, you will get an idea of the size of the market you can expect. You must define the target audience and market share so that you can present real figures of the potential opportunities and risks to your potential mobile app stakeholders.
Select a trustworthy app development partner.
Hiring a reputable app development partner can assist you in making your vision a reality. Choose a company that has completed similar projects and delivered comparable products in the past.
A mobile app development company has a team of expert developers, UI/UX designers, and market specialists who provide competent advice while always keeping your vision in mind.
The company also offers the most recent industry expertise and access to cutting-edge technology. It aids in the development of an app with cutting-edge features and functionalities that will undoubtedly impress investors. So, if you want your product to receive app funding from investors, teaming up with a reputable development partner is the way to go.
Understand the fundamentals of investing
To be persuasive and gain the trust of your potential investors, you should understand the fundamentals of running a startup and raising funds. This will help you understand the different types of capital available and the various investment stages.
Develop a revenue strategy
Apart from learning the fundamentals of investing, you should also work on your revenue generation strategy. The straightforward strategy presented to investors will encourage them to fund your mobile app development more enthusiastically. So, if you're still wondering how to monetize an app idea, it's critical to research the various monetization strategies and be prepared to answer clarifying questions about them.
Create the MVP
The first version of a product with a basic set of features is known as the MVP. It is a quick and inexpensive way to help investors understand how your app works. Before approaching app startup investors, you can use an MVP to determine whether your app has the potential to succeed.
Furthermore, MVP gives your potential investors a tangible product that they can see and use in real time. Nothing makes an investor happier than a business that is already profitable and whose owners have invested time and money into it.
An MVP provides a great deal of flexibility, allowing you to keep tweaking until you get the best response. You can contact us for a successful MVP development. Our expert team will assist you in developing an MVP that will appeal to mobile app investors.
We recently assisted JobGet in developing an application that facilitates the job search process for blue-collar workers. From comprehending the client's vision to MVP development, our team of experts assisted them in raising funds for their one-of-a-kind application. To date, JobGet has received $2.1 million in funding and has placed over 150,000 job seekers.
What are the stages of funding for mobile apps?
Let's talk about the different stages of startup funding now that we've seen how to get investors for an app.
Pre-seed funding: Pre-seed funding is available when your app is still just a concept and nothing substantial has been done. This is an informal round because the majority of funding comes from friends and family or your own money. Funds raised at this stage are typically used to form a founding team, develop prototypes or MVPs, conduct research and data collection, and gain some early traction.
Stage of development: It is the second stage of funding, with the emphasis on your company's initial growth. Your mobile app startup is still in the seed stage, and you're working on improving the product. You're looking for funding to conduct additional research, begin testing the product-market fit, and hire a workforce. Angel investors, early-stage venture capitalists, and startup incubators are typically the first to respond at this stage.
Series A: Reaching this stage of investment means you're on the right track. At this point, you've established market-product compatibility and clearly defined your brand's goal. You begin to concentrate on the expansion of your business and product. The optimization of your business, marketability, and scalability of your mobile app should be your primary focus. Series-A investors typically include venture capital firms, "super" angel investors, and family offices.
Series B, C, D, and so on: Reaching series B and beyond indicates that your product has gained user acceptance. This stage focuses on improving your product and adding new features to attract more users. People are aware of your services because your brand has a good reputation. You must now transition your app from the mobile app startup funding stage to the mid-size business stage. Funds raised at this stage are used for business acquisitions, going public, partnerships, improving branding levels, and engaging with new markets while constantly developing and upgrading products.
Now that we've seen how to get funding for an app, let's look at how much funding an app startup requires.
How much money do you need to start your app?
There is no set amount of funding needed for an app startup. The precise figure will be determined by your app idea, the app's complexity, the team, and other factors. A simple MVP with few features, for example, can range between $15,000 and $50,000. A more complicated cross-platform app with APIs, on the other hand, can range from $50,000 to $200,000.
But don't worry, we've already discussed your startup's funding options. However, before approaching app investors, work with your full-cycle app development company to determine the estimated cost of developing your app, as well as its functionalities and primary purpose. Without a budget in place, you risk making a financial miscalculation that could cost you your dream.
If you receive insufficient funding, you will be unable to begin the app development process. If you receive more funds than you require, you may end up giving away your owner's share or even your entire company to mobile app investors.
What should you do once your app has been funded?
What happens after you receive funds from investors? Your work does not end here. Your app requires ongoing development and maintenance. As you grow, continue to improve your app and solicit feedback from users and app investors. As you progress through the startup funding stages, your company will receive funds that can be used to add innovative features to the app, improve the design, and scale the business.
Furthermore, with the introduction of new technologies and OS updates, your app will undoubtedly need to evolve on a regular basis. As a result, you must hire a capable startup app development company to ensure that your app runs smoothly for a long time.
Conclusion
Most mobile app startups fail due to a lack of funding, as finding investors can be difficult at times. However, taking the right approaches and executing strategies on time will help you find the right investors for your product. You must demonstrate your concept and be prepared to sell your app concept to market movers and shakers, as they only invest in the best ideas. Remember that app development is a continuous process, not a one-time event. To keep your users interested, you should update your app with new features and updates on a regular basis.
Need assistance creating a bug-free MVP that will help you attract investors for your app? Don't look any further. Omninos, a leading app development partner, has helped numerous global brands achieve their digital transformation objectives. Based on MVP development, the company has assisted multiple startups in obtaining significant funding. Contact us to ensure the future of your app.