Venture capital scene could boost Bermuda - Royal Gazette

Jessie Moniz Hardy

Published Nov 25, 2019 at 8:00 am (Updated Nov 24, 2019 at 7:15 pm)

Island potential: Tugce Ergul, co-founder of Angel Labs, a Silicon Valley-based global investment firm, wants to see a venture capitalist scene flourish in Bermuda
(Photograph by Jessie Moniz Hardy)
Island potential: Tugce Ergul, co-founder of Angel Labs, a Silicon Valley-based global investment firm, wants to see a venture capitalist scene flourish in Bermuda (Photograph by Jessie Moniz Hardy)

Two years ago Malta wasn’t on the tech world map; today it is one of the prime spots in Europe.

It did so by attracting venture capital funds who then invested in foreign start-ups, according to Tugce Ergul, co-founder of Angel Labs, a Silicon Valley based global investment firm.

Now she thinks Bermuda could achieve the same success level as Malta, or better.

But first there are a few changes she’d like to see — better tech education in all of Bermuda’s schools, not just the private ones; and improvement of Bermuda’s tech image.

“Bermuda is known for everything from beautiful beaches and tourism to insurance and reinsurance, but it’s branding in the tech world is weak,” Ms Ergul said. “I see a lot of similarities between Malta and Bermuda. Outside of the fact that they are two island countries, there is also their proximity to major hubs. From Bermuda you can take a two-hour flight to so many tech hubs. Jurisdiction, legislation and tax incentive-wise they are very similar.”

Ms Ergul was on the island for a dual purpose last week, to speak at Pow (Her), the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s women’s day conference held at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, and also to pique interest in establishing a venture capital scene in Bermuda.

While here, she spoke to key stakeholders such as Wayne Furbert, Minister for the Cabinet Office, the BEDC, the Bermuda Business Development Agency, Ignite Bermuda and others.

She first learnt about Bermuda when she met BEDC executive director, Erica Smith, five years ago. Now her hope is to come back in the first half of 2020, bringing with her top-tier Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

She wants them to sit down with local investors and would-be investors in Bermuda.

“We will talk about the concept of corporate venture capital that doesn’t exist on the island yet,” she said. “There are all these big corporations with big balance sheets that don’t invest in these areas yet. That is the goal.”

She has been in venture capital for ten years, and has been a national and international consultant and speaker on economic development, angel and venture financing for numerous countries and non-profit organisations including the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She has worked closely with countries such as Malaysia, South Korea, Mexico, Vietnam, Turkey and Argentina. She is also the chapter lead of Girls in Tech Italy, an international organisation focused on the empowerment, engagement and education of women in tech.

She said there are a lot of investment organisations or corporations around the world that don’t have access to a strong deal flow.

“Maybe locally they don’t have a good pipeline of tech deals,” she said. “We act as their venture partners. We present them in Silicon Valley. We act as investment scouts for them. We do due diligence with them. We act as full on venture capital partners on their behalf in Silicon Valley. I think our work in Bermuda could be both.

“I know that Bermuda wants to attract a lot of foreign investment, but for the Bermudian investments to be relevant, they also need to have some sort of presence in Silicon Valley. I think it will be a two-way thing.

“We want to make Bermuda more present on the map of tech hubs. I know that the Government has a very strong focus on fintech. We want to help with that in the Valley. But we also want to work on bringing fellow venture capitalists from the Valley to Bermuda, do investor ecosystem programmes with them and that will be partnership with the BEDC, BDA and private players that want to get involved.”

Ms Ergul said there wasn’t much of a venture capital scene in Bermuda because there hadn’t been a strong tech eco system in Bermuda. That made it hard for wealthy individuals involved in traditional areas like real estate, infrastructure, for example, to get involved with venture capital when they don’t see any good investment opportunities in the field.

“Because there is no capital, there aren’t that many individuals who want to take the entrepreneurial leap,” she said. “They are both looking at each other and are stuck in their own ways. I think the Government is right now working on two ends of the spectrum.”

She said the Bermuda Government should play along with private industry and not try to do everything themselves. She said countries where governments try to do it all themselves, tend to fail.

“Public private partnership is very important,” she said. “Maybe when they attract these foreign private venture capital funds they can act as matching funds.”

Ms Ergul said there should be incentives to make sure that the companies that set up here have a real presence, not just a bank account and a post office box.

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