It is the founder and/or CEO who decides which Fortino skills are used to strengthen the growth strategy. But, at the end of the day, as Renaat Berckmoes, co-founding partner at Fortino Capital, explains: “We want to see B2B SaaS businesses expand and scale up rapidly. In essence, we do our best to support them and ‘hack’ time”.
Fortino offers comprehensive support in relation to HR, general management, sales leadership and product development, all of which are crucial for both starters and growers.
“Many businesses see investors as cash-providers who then settle into a track-side seat, with a glass of champagne”, says Renaat. “With every new step, the business must deliver a detailed report to this ‘spectator’. But that’s not how we work at Fortino Capital. We provide genuine added value: offer coaching on the field, recruit people and share our knowledge and contacts in the corporate world. Via our vast network of potential customers, several steps in the purchase chain can be skipped."
Are you interested in seeing more about our Sales support? Check out our Sales Bootcamp and Why ValueSelling is ideal for B2B SaaS.
"Investment money is not always the biggest issue for start-ups," says Filip Van Innis, Investment Director at Fortino Capital. "Today, a real war on talent is raging. The company that brings in the best talent increases its chances of success. Therefore, identifying and recruiting the right people is one of the first areas we focus on.”
Patrick Van Deven, Partner at Fortino Capital, explains: “Our unique approach involves listening, contributing expertise, challenging, and outlining new strategies which benefit the business as it stands at that point”.
When Fortino invests in a business, it brings in very practical, instant usable expertise. Their managers help start-ups to accelerate. They provide whatever is missing in the company.
Patrick offers a specific example: “We have noticed that founders tend to have little experience with the pricing effect and often only invoice once their software becomes effective. In this context, we challenge them to optimise their pricing strategy, increase subscription fees or simply invoice for the proof of concept, technical support during integration, and personnel training. Some can end up invoicing 1.5 times faster as a result!”
Fortino applies its own expertise and engages external specialists from its network to fulfil the company’s needs. “We allow the founders to benefit from our growing community of founders”, adds Patrick. “Entrepreneurs can really learn from one another, so we identify businesses that are facing similar challenges. They then exchange experiences with one another and other entrepreneurs who have already found relevant answers and solutions. We also unite our community around one topic in our Summits, during which experts share their knowledge on sales, marketing, product development…”
Starters and growers win more deals, conclude quicker agreements with their customers, and see the scope of their transactions expand. Teams that already had the talent and ambition in-house suddenly realise progress at more than twice the previous pace.
Start-ups that recruit top talent and learn from experts and peers grow faster than before. “Some may be happy to sign contracts worth a couple of hundred thousand euros every now and then but, with a few interventions, they will begin to regularly conclude bigger contracts.”
We teach start-ups how corporates and procurement departments work best," Renaat emphasises. "Because sometimes, start-ups negotiate contracts that look good on paper but which have only to be paid upon delivery. As a result, a contract of 1 million euros, for example, has only to be paid three years later. With the right approach, start-ups can conclude contracts that bring in money faster."
If you’re a Europe-based B2B SaaS company looking for advice and potential investment, we can help. Get in touch, and let’s get the conversation started.