Team day at Rainmaking
On January 27th the Rainmaking group gathered for a team day held at Martin Bjergegaard's appartment in Frederiksberg. We looked back at what had been achieved in 2009 and shared objectives for the coming year.
It was the first time I ever joined a Rainmaking meeting and it's safe to say this isn't your usual bunch of entrepreneurs and investors. We spent as much time discussing values, charity and protecting the unique Rainmaking culture as we did talking about deals, investments and startups.
2009 was a seminal year for Rainmaking with the exit of Godtsyn. This not only lays a solid financial foundation for the partnership but has raised the visibility which has in turn improved deal flow. At any one point Rainmaking is taking a close look at five to ten investments, internal startup projects or cooperation offers with other entrepreneurs. The current batch includes an online supermarket, a specialised chain of surgery clinics, a unique 3D mannequin solution, an innovative domestic transport provider, an online tutoring portal and several others. The list of existing projects includes Startupbootcamp which I didn't need to introduce; the whole team is aware of the potential it represents for Rainmaking in terms of financial upside, deal flow, and plain exposure.
Probably the other most significant milestone was the opening of the London office; the first of many which will expand Rainmaking's footprint and ability to launch startups rapidly on all major continents. The vision is to be able to plug ideas and proposals into the network for each office to determine the potential fit with the local market - without reinventing the wheel each time.
Equally important to the Rainmaking team is what was achieved in the charity and CSR area. When Martin, Morten B., Morten K. and Carsten formed their partnership in 2007 they signed a manifesto, which reflects their focus on the bigger picture. The part which resonates the best with me is "We want to be a part of the solution in this world, not a part of the problem." Of course at at the end of the day what counts is action not words. And in this area Rainmaking delivered by raising 600.000 DKK (which were multiplied by 4 by the EU) for a project in Bangladesh (picture). In 2010 one of Martin's priorities is to get BetterNow.org off the ground. BetterNow is a web-based video channel enabling donors to contribute to specific projects with full visibility and transparency. Watch this space, this could seriously impact the world.
Plenty on the plate, from continued execution for the existing startups to successfully launching some major initiatives. But come what may, Rainmaking intends to be a part of the solution, not of the problem and I'm thrilled to be in on the adventure.
/Alex Farcet
Rainmaking in the UK
In the light of the very positive progress in Rainmaking throughout the last 12 months, we have decided to expand to the UK. For this reason, we are now looking for a Business Developer in London - see the job description here:
http://www.rainmaking.dk/media/18597/business%20developer%20with%20partner%20potential.pdf
We are already active in the British market due to our engagement in CyclePods (www.cyclepods.co.uk) that sells eco-friendly, design bicycle racks to customers such as Sky, BBC, IKEA, Sainsbury, and The Guardian among others.
Furthermore, we have a number of interesting points of contacts and projects, which are to be looked more in to.
Our goal is to create a full-grown London-office within a few years with 3-5 local partners and 20-30 employees in order to launch new concepts to the large British market. However, to begin with, we are starting fairly slowly with a single Business Developer having his/her working space situated in an entrepreneurial office space. In this way, we can create a couple of start-ups with positive cash flows which will lay the ground for further expansion.
Do you have any good ideas or contacts in London, which we should know of?