Equity Business Breakfast
First-hand experience - with a cup of coffee
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The purpose of the Equity Breakfast professional event series was to present, through practical experience, the processes and key milestones that could support participants in effective preparation, investor search, successful capital raising, company sale, or exit. This time, we invited founders and owners who had either recently closed a venture capital or M&A transaction, or had sold their company / exited years earlier. Our Guest Speakers shared their own experiences, insights, and lessons learned, enriched with personal stories and concrete examples related to their transactions or post-exit journeys, offering a much more nuanced picture to fellow entrepreneurs planning or preparing for a deal. Participants were able to ask their related questions at any time in an interactive format, receiving personalised answers to the issues and challenges that interested them.
Our esteemed guests
Covered topics
- The challenges of capital raising for manufacturing / hardware companies
- What to expect when investment happens in a co-investment structure? Pros and cons of syndicated (multi-investor) deals
- The essence and importance of a well-crafted M&A transaction story - who will find what interesting in our company, and to what extent?
- Life after exit - different motivations and possible paths forward
Agenda
Arrival, registration, welcome coffee, breakfast, networking
8:15 - 9:00
Opening remarks
Lenard Horgos - Partner, Absolvo
9:00 - 9:10
The challenges of raising capital as a manufacturing / hardware company
Experiences and lessons learned through the fundraising journey of Continest Technologies
Dániel Tegzes - Strategic Director, Continest Technologies
Continest, the manufacturer and distributor of uniquely developed foldable mobile containers, debuted in 2017 at the Sziget festivals, and soon afterwards their innovative containers were used at international events as well. In 2019 they established a new company and raised their first funding round for further product development and (contract) manufacturing. Then COVID hit, which “wiped out” their strategic target market – yet in 2020 they still delivered revenue exceeding HUF 820 million, which they then doubled in 2021. Meanwhile they were “forced” to build their own factory, and today they deliver containers to 18 countries worldwide. They recently closed their second, syndicated investment round of HUF 2.4 billion.
- Sudden strategy shift and continuous innovation
- How did investors react?
- Given the nature of venture capital, manufacturing is not typically its priority focus. What challenges must a manufacturing company face if it aims to grow with VC funding?
- Advantage or disadvantage to have multiple investors? What are the specifics of financing structured as co-investment?
9:10 - 9:35
You need a story – who will find your company interesting, why and to what extent?
Ildikó Balázsi – former owner and CEO, CEUMED
Károly Paczári – founder, CEO, CodersRank
- What is a transaction story, what is its role, and how should it be built?
- What concrete impact can a well-constructed transaction story have?
- What internal strategic elements and/or external factors should be examined?
CEUMED is a group active in the production, sales and marketing of OTC pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, successful also in international markets, operating its own offices and teams in six CEE countries. In addition to distributing the products of major pharmaceutical companies, they also succeeded in developing and selling their own products. The family-owned company was acquired in 2018 by Belgian Ceres Pharma, a global pharmaceutical player founded by the former owner of Omega Pharma.
CEUMED’s former owner shared the key elements of their transaction story.
CodersRank connects IT developers with those searching for such expertise through a unique global community platform, which maps developers’ digital footprints to assess their up-to-date skills and achievements in real time. Despite raising VC funding in 2019, the obvious market need, the technology addressing a critical gap, and a rapidly growing community (50,000+ developers, 1,400+ recruiters in 140+ countries), the company did not reach the point they hoped for. The dilemma emerged: is it worth continuing? Should we sell? But to whom?
We asked CodersRank’s CEO about their transaction story.
9:35 - 10:10
Coffe break
10:10 - 10:30
What should I do after selling my company – after an exit?
Balázs Scheidler – former co-founder and CEO/CTO, BalaBit IT Security
Endre Wagner – former co-founder and VP of Services, BalaBit IT Security
Péter Csillag – former co-founder and CEO, Starschema
Tamás Bencsik – former owner and CEO, Grape Solutions
Many owners planning a company sale ask what comes next after closing the transaction. What changes in an owner’s life after an exit, and what can one prepare for? Is it possible or necessary to plan ahead for what the next professional step will be? What strategic directions may emerge for those who wish to stay “close to the fire”?
Our invited guests are former founders/owners of major technology companies who completed their exits within the past 1–4 years; they shared their personal motivations, experiences, paths and dilemmas.
10:30 - 11:10
Q&A, networking
The participants had the opportunity to ask their questions personally and in private to our guests and experts during the networking session.
11:10 - 12:00
Organized in partnership with:
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We can help assessing your M&A, growth or exit opportunities and map out the path to your desired outcome.
