Category: Notes for Entrepreneurs

Looking for entrepreneurship advice? André Pienaar, entrepreneur and founder of the specialist technology investment group C5, shares his advice here.

The world renowned good governance and anti-corruption authority, Lord David Gold has joined our judging panel at this year’s Shield in the Cloud innovation challenge

Lord David Gold to join the prestigious panel of judges for C5’s Shield in the Cloud innovation challenge

The entry deadline for this year’s global, anti-corruption challenge has been extended to Friday 1st March 2019

Winners will be revealed at a gala dinner on the 20th March 2019

London, 26 February 2019 – C5, the specialist venture capital firm focused on investing in cybersecurity, cloud and artificial intelligence, has announced that Lord David Gold, world renowned litigator and former partner of Herbert Smith, will be joining the panel of judges for C5’s annual Shield in the Cloud global anti-corruption innovation challenge.

Running for a second year, Shield in the Cloud attracts the best and brightest minds working to innovate the fight against corruption. The competition is open to start-ups, non-profits and governments, and the deadline for entries has now been extended to Thursday, 28th February.

Lord David Gold began his career at the leading international firm, Herbert Smith, where he joined the litigation practice in 1975. He later became Head of Litigation and later Senior Partner.  During this time, he oversaw the firm’s international expansion in emerging markets, including the Middle East, South East Asia and Russia. During his extensive career he has advised on some notable cases, including recovering assets world-wide from Spanish fraudster Jose-Maria Ruiz Mateos, former owner of Rumasa SA.  Since leaving Herbert Smith, Lord Gold has set up a consultancy and monitored BAE Systems for the US Department of Justice and advised Rolls Royce on various ethics and governance issues, helping the company obtain a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with the UK, US and Brazilian authorities in January 2017.

He joins a prestigious panel of judges with expertise across the cybersecurity, technology, government banking and investment community. The panel includes Derek Maltz, the former Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA); Jay Collins, Vice Chairman Corporate and Investment Banking at Citi; Lucinda Low, Partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Kurt Scherer, Chief of Staff at C5 and Andre Pienaar, Founder of C5.  The panel is tasked with identifying the most innovative start-ups, non-profits and governments who are using technology for global anti-corruption compliance issues. The winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Washington D.C. on 20 March 2019.

Lord David Gold said “Corruption is an issue that affects companies, individuals and countries at both the international and national level. On a global level, we are seeing more countries creating new and increasingly sophisticated anti-bribery and corruption legislations, including aggressive enforcement initiatives by government regulators. We are also witnessing various enforcement agencies joining forces to help fight against corruption and the various strains that international law has on these efforts. Technology will be invaluable in the fight to combat global, political and corporate corruption, and competitions such as C5’s Shield in the Cloud are helping companies and organisations to create innovative solutions. I am honoured to be part of the judging panel, and I am looking forward to reviewing all the entrant’s solutions.”

Andre Pienaar, Founder of C5 Capital said “It is an honour to have Lord David Gold join our judging panel. He brings with him a wealth of legal and business expertise in the global fight against corruption and will provide invaluable insights to all our entrants.”

Due to popular demand, the nominations for the Awards will close on 1st March and applications can be made here.

For press enquiries contact:

Emily Jones and Sheena Munsami at C5Capital@hudsonsandler.com 

About C5

C5 Capital Limited (C5) is a specialist venture capital firm focused on investing in cybersecurity, cloud and artificial intelligence. C5 has offices in Washington, London, Munich, Luxembourg and Manama.

www.c5capital.com

C5 Accelerate is a London, Washington D.C. and Bahrain based technology investment firm. Its mission is to accelerate best of breed startups through its two accelerators, and to build a portfolio of early stage investments.

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Family Capital – A Valuable Source of Innovation and Finance for Startups

At C5 we have the privilege of partnering with 17 extraordinary families across the US, Europe and the Gulf. Earlier in my career I had the privilege of working with families building exceptional global businesses in Kroll, Fleming Family and Partners (FF & P), Kinnevik, Cranemere and Grosvenor that were formative influences on me as a professional and entrepreneur.

Family capital is a source of finance that is often overlooked by startup founders. Startups often consider their own family and friends, angel investors and venture capital, but forget about family offices. This may be because entrepreneurs do not know how to access them or really understand how family capital is differentiated from other sources of capital and therefore the implications for their business’s growth.

Family-owned businesses make a significant contribution to economic growth. They create the majority of new jobs, not only in Europe, but also in the US. According to a study by the Vermont Business School, in the US alone there are 5.5 million family-owned business which make up 57 percent of GDP. The Harvard Business Review has also found that family-owned businesses can be more enduring than other forms of ownership, including public corporations.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, markets which continue to be underserved by the traditional venture capital model, family capital has a particularly important role to play to help scale startups. There are distinct advantages to startup founders using family capital to grow their businesses. Chief among these is the longer-term view that families can take. Their investment approach can span generations, which is necessary when building a business. This longer investment horizon can provide greater advantages than a traditional venture capital firm’s fixed-term investment.

Successful families also have ownership of large operating businesses in which startups can test their new products and services and a global network of contacts. In negotiating the investment into your startup there is often more scope to craft the terms of investment on the basis of a partnership since family capital is not tied to the restrictions and fixed terms of venture capital.

Another strong argument for family capital is that, working with families creates a much richer tapestry in building your own business. There is often a family memory of prior experiences and hard lessons learnt in the family that can be passed across to give startup founders, who are new to the challenges of ownership, better perspective. This is particularly important when those founders begin to create new wealth for their own families, which needs to be preserved to create a generational boon.

The notion of a business as a trust to pass from one generation to the next can often drive innovation in family-owned businesses. Some families like the Stenbecks in Sweden have an exceptional track record of innovation over generations in their businesses. Other families use their networks and convening power to build a venture capital ecosystem in their own countries. A good example is Guglielmo Marzotto, who is nurturing the nascent venture capital sector in Italy. Other prominent figures, such as the Crown Prince of Bahrain, are leading the digital transformation of their country with a forward-looking, cloud-first policy. Families have often used their wealth to innovate for the public good. The 6th Duke of Westminster, for example, who has created the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) which innovates in technology for the repair of injured people in Britain and looks to meet the productivity and defence challenges of this century.

Most importantly the great family owned business of today show what enduring and impactful results entrepreneurs can achieve by resilience and commitment over generations, changing countries, regions and peoples’ lives for the better.

At C5 our family’s investors are innovating security to create a safer world for everyone.