Deal flow refers to the totality of investment opportunities that are submitted to investors, business angels or venture capital firms for review and evaluation. It therefore describes the continuous stream of potential investments that are eligible for investment.
A strong deal flow is crucial for investors, as it increases the pool of high-quality investment opportunities and forms the basis for successful investment decisions.
Sources of deal flow may include:
- Start-up networks and incubators
- Accelerator programmes
- Venture capital funds
- Business angel networks
- Recommendations from your own network
- Pitch events and start-up competitions
Effective deal flow management helps with this:
- to identify promising start-ups at an early stage
- To systematically evaluate investment opportunities
- Identifying market and technology trends
- to diversify the portfolio in a targeted manner
- To reduce investment risks
Deal flow also plays an important role for start-ups. The more visible and well-connected a company is, the greater the likelihood that it will be noticed by relevant investors and included in their deal flow.
innoWerft helps founders to raise their profile within the start-up ecosystem, build relationships with investors and prepare professionally for funding rounds, in order to improve their chances of being successfully included in relevant deal flows.