The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government-sponsored venture capital fund is preparing six start-up prospects for approval at its June 13 Board meeting, as it switches its focus “away from New Providence”.

Edward Rolle, a corporate restructuring specialist at Baker Tilly Gomez, the accounting firm that acts as the Bahamas Entrepreneurial Venture Fund’s administrator, told Tribune Business yesterday that it had received “quite a bit” of the $1.5 million in financing it was awaiting from the Government.

Disclosing that the Fund had provided equity financing to three start-ups already this year, taking the total number it has assisted to 60, Mr Rolle said it was also shifting away from debt funding to behave like “a real venture capital fund”.

The Baker Tilly Gomez accountant said the equity positions taken in 2013 to-date ranged in value from $50,000 to the maximum $200,000, but some prospects - which had been seeking up to $600,000-$700,000 in capital - were “way out of our range”.

While the Fund had yet to receive the full $1.5 million it had been expecting from the Government, Mr Rolle said the amount received to-date for 2013 had “really put us in good standing”.

“The Fund is really getting up and running early in 2013 to fund small businesses,” Mr Rolle said. “We have about 10 in the pipeline, but some are out of our scope in the amount being requested of us.

“We can only go up to $200,000 in equity, and $100,000 on debt financing. We’ve had some huge businesses looking for $600,000-$700,000, which is way out of our scope.”

He hinted that the Fund was looking to increase its equity and debt financing limits, so it could assist more Bahamian small businesses and entrepreneurs.

It had already provided equity financing, ranging from $50,000 to $200,000, to three “incubators” since January 2013, Mr Rolle added.

“We’re trying to focus now on equity positions only, like a real venture fund,” he said, “getting away from debt financing.

“That’s more beneficial to a start-up, as they do not have to worry about debt payments or return of the funds in five years. We do ask for a Board seat, to ensure the start-up behaves as a business.”

While some may be excluded, the supply of potential start-ups approaching the Fund remains plentiful.

“We should have some of them passed in the next two weeks. We’re preparing six of them to go before the Board on June 13,” Mr Rolle told Tribune Business.

Three of these were planning to make products from “natural resources”, he added, although he declined to go into specifics.

Another was targeted at something “lacking in the Bahamas”, and would be “jumped on by businessmen”.

“I don’t see any reason why it would not be unanimously approved on June 13,” Mr Rolle added.

He told Tribune Business that the Fund was also in the process of switching from a predominantly New Providence focus to locate viable start-up proposals in Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.

“We’re really focusing on all islands, moving away from New Providence to give them small business advice,” Mr Rolle said.

“Grand Bahama will be our first stop, and we’re trying to finalise it with the Minister there, Dr Michael Darville, to do some roadshows, meet with entrepreneurs.

“Some have already started applying before we’ve got there. We will go to Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma to see if we can get some good business opportunities there. Once we can drive small business houses in the Family Islands, we cause people to stop migrating to Nassau.”

Mr Rolle said the Fund would remain “an integral part” of the Bahamas’ small business financing and support structure, fitting in with the reforms that will create the Small and Medium-Sized Business Development Agency (SMEDA).