Alternative funds, technology solutions and fast-growth start-ups recommendations by Obediah Ayton? Liddellsaid: “Monaco has for many years been an important place for me and The Private Investment Group. The UNITE event gave us the chance to bring together many of our partners again to bring together some of the most formidable and visionary minds of our time. I look forward to the eve of Expo 2020 on September 30, when UNITE Dubai will bring a show-stopping gala to the wonderful UAE.” Key figures in attendance at UNITE Monaco were James Caan CBE, famous for BBC Series Dragons Den as well as building one of Britain’s most successful funds, Christian Eidem who as well as leading Tesla in Scandinavia is a close advisor to Elon Musk, Mark Carleton a Director of Liberty Media the owners of Formula 1, Gérard Ohresser the CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Bank and many other global business figures.

Companies currently raising rounds of venture investment are inevitably learning some hard truths. Primarily, VC dollars aren’t as readily available as they were in previous years due to COVID, and for the companies that are receiving funding, they’re finding that the terms are becoming increasingly less palatable. The good news for startups looking for funding is that a new pathway for direct investment is emerging: the family/multi-family offices of wealthy individuals and families. Single-family offices (SFOs) were first pioneered by the Al Futtaim’s, Olayan’s, Mansour as a way to centralize the management of the family fortune. Multi-family offices (MFOs) work under the same concept, but typically work with several wealthy families instead of just one. These offices traditionally managed investments and handled administrative items, like accounting and tax planning, property management, payroll activities, succession planning and legal affairs.

All hubs are set in an identical structure – VentureRock SPICs, and follow the same formula to venture building – VentureRock OS®. “90% of all early-stage startups fail in the first 3 years. This is normal we wanted to change by changing how venture capital works in early-stage investing. The VentureRock OS® is how we organize not only capital but also strategists, problem solvers and industry-specific knowledge around our portfolio ventures”, says Xander van der Heijden, General Partner at VentureRock. The novel venture building system digitizes the investment supply-chain, from cap table to KPI reporting and legal agreements, to de-risk and unlock the free flow of capital throughout ventures’ lifecycle risks through real-time audited data. Further Venturerock OS® pioneers a 72-step methodology to systematically guide ventures from early-stage startups to fully compliant scale-ups. Director of Business Development at The Private Investment Group Obediah Ayton added “I am very happy to see Venturerock showing the way venture capital funds are now being deployed post covid here in the UAE. The portfolio companies within Venturerock are some of the most exciting and innovative we have seen and I have no doubt they will be a welcome asset to both the public and private sector in the Middle East.”

Get to know Obediah Ayton and some of his thoughts? Obediah Ayton is a trust manager at Ayton Family Office Trust and a consultant at Tennor Holding B.V., a specialist in family office business, AI driven accounting services, finance and accounting. Obediah Ayton on what happens when a Family Office takes the VC model: Investment Firms: Family offices are increasingly part of syndicates for deals, and strong introductions can occasionally come to them from other institutional investment firms (private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds). Seek out the Largest Offices: Family offices don’t invest more than 5 to 10% of their net worth into venture capital; the differential goes to traditional private equity and hedge funds, direct stock and bond portfolios, and real estate. This implies that for entrepreneurs seeking funding, larger family offices ($2 to $10 billion in net worth) are better places to start the search relative to smaller, niche families who may be in wait for the “perfect deal” but usually follow other professional institutions. Family Office Summits (Run by Families, Not events companies): Time is money and deciding as to which events to spend your time on is as essential as any monetary transaction.

Alongside this monumental shift in wealth, we are witnessing a modernisation of family offices here in the UAE. Family offices are not only selecting business models that allow for more control and greater returns but are also expressing a heightened interest in “impact investing”. Typically, this means investing in small or medium-sized organisations that are purpose-led and have a focus on sustainable or ethical business practices. As the number of UAE family offices and the pool of wealth amassed by them increases and is passed on to a new generation, the way they conduct themselves is evolving rapidly, investing in innovative, creative and socially conscious ways. SMEs should take note of this enthusiasm and use it to their advantage.

Obediah Ayton on how to raise money from family offices: Biggest advice: – To let the Family Office understand that you’re interests are aligned with theirs. That you’re in this for the long term, not just a few transactions. Even if they’re great deals. Intelligence is a commodity. Integrity is not. To do: Listen. Add value at all times. Ask about their goals and objectives. Be authentic. Ask about what they are currently looking for. Do what you say you’re going to do. “Trusting is hard. Knowing whom to trust, even harder.”

Right now is a great time to build close relationships with Family Offices for future capital raises! A wave of capital raisings are coming but the pandemic-created crisis means a whole new set of rules for companies wanting to tap investors for cash. It is now critical to get in ahead of the wave a build relationships with private wealth. Family offices are notoriously discrete. So much so that one of the most common adages to describe the industry is “a submerged whale does not get harpooned.” With a tremendous amount of investable capital, these family offices are often looking for ways to diversify their investments.

Obediah Ayton on the new definition of a billionaire is not the net worth but in achieving change in a billion lives: We have seen family offices become much more engaged in discussions about sustainable and impact investing over the last 12 months. This is no longer seen as a ‘side project’ or preoccupation of the Next Gen, but a priority for the family as a whole. Many products are now recognised by family offices as fully-fledged investment tools that can generate good returns. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cryptocurrency, blockchain and even gaming have made their way onto the family office radar and into their budgets.