As inflation and the cost of goods rise in countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and India, investors are looking for new avenues to put their money to use.

As emerging market economies face a higher rate of inflation due to quantitative easing and increase in spending from the government with central banks and governments have pumped US$25 trillion into economies, the flow of money has raised concerns worldwide regarding the rising inflation.

With inflation rising steadily, it is getting difficult for investors to earn a yield on municipal bonds, securities or deposit certificates as the rising inflation leads to negative yield for investors.

However, yield farming, a new phenomenon in the blockchain industry, provides institutional investors with a new avenue to allocate resources.

Why institutional investors are exploring yield farming

Yield farming, also known as liquidity mining, is a method of earning money from digital assets by providing liquidity to a software protocol. In some ways, yield farming and staking are similar. However, there is a great deal of intricacy going on behind the scenes. It frequently collaborates with liquidity providers (LPs), who provide funds to liquidity pools.

Liquidity pools are essentially a smart contract with funds. LPs are compensated for supplying liquidity to the pool. This incentive might come from the underlying DeFi platform’s fees or another source. Some liquidity pools payout in a variety of coins.

These reward tokens can then be put into other liquidity pools to receive more prizes, and so on. You can see how highly complicated methods might evolve very fast in a decentralised environment. However, the essential concept is that a liquidity provider puts cash into a liquidity pool in exchange for incentives.

Yield farming is mainly done on Ethereum with ERC-20 tokens, and the rewards are generally also ERC-20 tokens. Cross-chain bridges and other such improvements, on the other hand, may one day allow DeFi apps to be blockchain agnostic.

Also Read: How Sustenir Group makes sustainable farming possible in the island nation

As a result, they might run on other blockchains that enable smart contract functionality.

To get high yields, yield farmers would often shift their finances around a lot between different techniques. As a result, DeFi platforms may provide additional financial incentives to attract more money to their platform.

Liquidity tends to attract additional liquidity, and therefore investors are exploring yield farming as an alternative to corporate bonds, securities and fixed deposits provided by banks.

How blockchain startups are disrupting the field of finance

Blockchain startups such as Impulseven are disrupting the field of finance by building a complete decentralised finance ecosystem that offers a range of features such as yield farming, lending, staking, trading all in one interface.

The organisation’s goal is to make DeFi technologies accessible to everyone by creating a platform with the highest level of transparency, reliability, and efficiency.

It is based on the Ethereum network and uses the ERC-20 Impulseven token to function. The protocol also facilitates money transactions by removing the need for expensive market intermediaries and third-party facilitators.

While banks are still vital, the expanding use of cryptocurrency, together with its underlying blockchain and smart contracts, gives users the ability to perform trustless transactions, making old methods an option rather than a forced choice.

DeFi systems like Impulseven embody the advantages of blockchain and shared ledger technology.

Consequently, trustless solutions are becoming more popular for completing even the most complex transactions without the necessity of intermediaries or the risk of being held hostage by a third-party organisation.

The risks of using a third party in transactions are not limited to traditional finance; in the crypto business, decentralised marketplaces and trading networks have grown significantly in Asia.

Also Read: How blockchain-powered fintech services can improve financial inclusion

We will see more institutional investors exploring yield farming protocols as an alternative source of asset allocation in 2021 as the risk of inflation takes over the Asian market as central banks and the government try to stabilise the economies.

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It is exciting to see more and more people dabbling in angel investing these days. The initial seed funding that you get from an angel could make all the difference so that you can get your idea off the ground.

With more and more news covering startups around the world, professionals like doctors, engineers, and lawyers can be found asking questions to founders seeking fundings during the monthly pitching sessions hosted by angel investment clubs.

They are seeking to invest their hard-earned savings in your venture in hope of cashing out if your company ends up being a future unicorn. But there are a number of trade-offs you must consider before taking an angel investor’s money.

Pro: Higher risk tolerance

An angel is usually an established entrepreneur or a professional that has the necessary risk appetite to put in cash in a new venture.

They know that investing in an early stage venture is highly risky so many of them invest with a mindset that not all of their investment will turn out a winner. But, what’s the catch?

Con: An angel may have higher expectations

The downside of an angel’s higher tolerance for risk also means that they may expect a lot more from you. Like venture capitals, angels are also investing to earn significant returns, either when your company is sold or listed on a stock market in an initial public offering. What does this mean then?

If there is a huge amount of capital invested, angels may want to see an “exit” or  “payoff” down the line. As a founder, you will be under constant pressure to generate growth for your startup.

Also Read: How do angel investors source opportunities?

To mitigate this, sit down with the potential angel and have an honest chat with him or her so that you are both aligned in terms of expectations.

Unfortunately, many first time entrepreneurs get too excited when an angel wants to give them money. So they may end up taking the cash without considering other non-financial reasons that may be attached to the investment.

Pro: Investment is not a loan

When you are just starting out, you may be bootstrapping with your limited savings. A founder may even take up a personal loan from the bank to finance your initial business journey. The bank will expect you to repay the loan whether or not you’d end up successful in your new venture.

But what if it’s an angel?

An angel investor usually approaches an investment with a different mindset. They’ll offer you the cash to get your venture started. In exchange for the cash invested, they’ll get a piece of ownership in your company by owning shares as an equity interest.

If your business takes off, then you both will get financial rewards. If your company goes bust, an angel investor won’t expect you to refund the capital invested. But, what’s the downside?

Con: Equity is expensive

Equity is the most expensive form of financing.

Getting money into your company by selling equity (eg, shares) is the most expensive of finance in the long run especially if you are a new business.

Also Read: Hey angel investors and startups, here are legal templates you can use

Let’s say you’ve agreed to give away 10 per cent of the equity in your company to an angel in return for an investment, you’ve given away a portion of your future net earnings which is also your ownership.

The percentage of the stake that the angel gets usually depends on how much they are putting in your company.

When it comes to giving out equity, you should sit down carefully and understand the implications of giving away equity to an investor.

If you get an offer from an angel, sit down and carefully understand the equity and percentage that you are giving away to such an angel so that it won’t eat up your own chances of getting a good exit down the line.

Pro: Increase chances of success

An angel may have some domain expertise in a technical or professional area. Startups backed by angels tend to remain in business longer and have better exit potentials with better growth prospects.

An angel can serve dual functions. First, a valuable capital provider c to run your business.

Secondly, an angel can also value in terms of giving you strategic advice and business development like opening doors to future customers, clients and other investors in his network.

Con: You may not be in control

Unlike a venture capitalist that usually invests other people’s money, an angel invests his hard-earned cash in your venture. To manage his downside risks, he may have a strong interest in how his money is used by your company.

In other words, if you’re hoping that the angel will take a passive approach after investing in your company, you may be disappointed. Chances are an angel may want to play an active role in the decision-making process (eg: business directions and strategies, deciding on key hires, pricing models).

Even if you may have control over the board, the angel may need you to give detailed disclosures and reasonings behind your decisions through an onerous reporting regime.

So before you want to accept an angel’s money, have an upfront discussion with him so that you are on the same page as to what role he wants to play in your business and how it should be run.

Get a good startup lawyer to draft a shareholders agreement so that it is “watertight” covering the angel’s rights and obligations in the company.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Hunters Race on Unsplash

The post The pros and cons of signing on an angel investor for your startup appeared first on e27.

Karl Shallowhorn helps people with substance abuse and addiction problems.

Today, we talked about how stress from entrepreneurship may make some people more prone to developing addictions.

– Sean reveals his own secret
– How to identify if an indulgence has become an addiction
– How to ask for help
– How to avoid getting addicted
– How to develop a support network
– How to talk to someone you believe may be addicted

If you don’t see the player above, click on the link below to listen directly!

Acast

Apple

Spotify

Stitcher

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This article was first published on We Live To Build.

Image Credit: Michal Czyz on Unsplash

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