Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fact sheet?

Spreds gives investors an easy way to evaluate equity investment opportunities through a standardised fact sheet that is shown on each campaign profile.
 
Spreds will ask project owners raising funds to answer the following questions with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to get a uniform and transparent way to evaluate and compare equity investment opportunities on the platform.


The fact sheet is also used to determine if the investment opportunity is proposed to the Tax Shelter Tracer investors. A minimum of 6 points, plus full compliance with the legal start-up Tax Shelter conditions for micro-companies, is required for the Tax Shelter Tracer to make an investment.
 
1 point is attributed for each positive answer to questions 1-12.
A half point is attributed for each positive answer to questions 13 and 14.


  1. The company has 2 active project owners. Active project owners are shareholders holding minimum 10% and working at least half time for the company. 
  2. The project owners(s) is/are seasoned. A seasoned project owner is someone who has relevant managerial sectoral experience (at C-level) and/or was a founder and/or implicated at C-level for more than 1 year in a company which: 
     - has realized a successful exit (meaning the sale of the company or of 100% of the shares for a price of x3 the invested amount)
     - exists for more than 5 years and is not in an alarm bell procedure nor in any type of judicial reorganisation or liquidation.
  3. The project owners(s) has(ve) invested —through a contribution in cash— a minimum of €15,000 in their company in exchange for shares or will do so at the latest at the closing.
  4. The company is advised by a professional start-up advisor (= an incubator, accelerator, studio or public institution). The advisor offers guidance and counseling. The start-up advisor should be the incubator, accelerator, studio or public institution itself. Not someone affiliated with an incubator, acceleration, studio or public institution. Attorneys, accountants, etc (i.e. paid consultants) are not included. Paid consultants who help set up the company and work with the entrepreneurs on strategy (for example sales strategy), must have a contract with the company for minimum 1 year and ideally 2 years, indicating a long-term accompaniment, to be included in the scope.
  5. The company is backed by a professional co-investor (not a founder/entrepreneur) who has invested at least €25,000 in the company or will do so at the closing. The co-investor: 
    - cannot be a 1st (child or parent) or 2nd (grandchild, grandparent or sibling) degree family member, spouse/significant other or employee of the company
    - invests directly in the company or through a dedicated compartment of Spreds Finance.
    - invests at the same conditions as Spreds Finance (same pre-money valuation), at the same moment as Spreds Finance, or has already given a convertible loan to the company and will convert the loan during the capital increase in which Spreds Finance would participate.
  6. An incubator, accelerator and/or studio has shares in the company or will have at the closing. The incubator/accelerator/studio must have shares in the company in return for a contribution in kind (e.g. participation in the program) and/or cash. 
  7. A professional investor, the co-investor and/or incubator will become member(s) or observer(s) to the board.
  8. The valuation of the company is within the following boundaries: 
     - lower than €1m; or
     - lower than 10x the company’s last year’s turnover.
  9. The valuation of the company is set by the co-investor, a start-up advisor (see above) or a professional investor who has given the company a convertible loan which will be converted in this round.
  10. The valuation of the company is set by an organisation specialized in evaluating companies of comparable size (i.e. a professional actor in the investment world).
  11. The company has done a prior fundraising in equity or convertible loans during which it convinced minimum 10 investors.
  12. The company has raised €10,000 during a private phase of this crowdfunding.
  13. The company is considered “compliant” on the climate transition maturity assessment tool of Tapio, completed by the company itself.
  14. The company emits less than 3,7 tons of CO2 per year, per employee, according to the Tapio assessment tool, completed by the company itself.