New Vision Fund 3 announced their EUR 150K investment in MYX – a platform that generates highly accurate digital representations of physical assets, called “digital twins”, overlaying them with AI-powered analytics. Total funding in the round is EUR 350K. The major part of NV3’s ticket is secured by the Fund of Funds. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, support local and international business development, as well as grow the company’s team.
“Operating large-scale physical asset networks is becoming an increasingly complex task while costs are escalating. MYX solves this problem by automating and digitalising the oversight, management and maintenance activities of the respective assets, saving a significant amount of time and money to companies. The digital twin market is growing rapidly and the founders of the company have all ingredients in place to grab a sizeable chunk and position MYX among the notable players in the industry. The company’s use cases are numerous”, said Yordan Zarev, Partner at NV3.
Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov advised the founders of tech start-up MYX AD. The team was led by Partner Stephan Kyutchukov and included Associate Peter Angov.
An Interview With, Stephan Kyutchukov, Partner at DGKV
What challenges can start-ups face when trying to secure funds?
Maybe the main challenge is developing a viable business proposition. First, start-ups need to link an innovative technological idea with a potentially useful commercial implementation. Then, this needs to be developed into a viable business model. Start-up founders need to avail of a business development specialist who, working with them and understanding the novelty of the product, would define their business proposition. As start-up founders are usually not able to pay for the service, they must be prepared to pay in equity to their business adviser and thus make them their partners in growing the business. If done with measure, with mutual trust and in good faith on both sides, this forms a sound foundation of a viable partnership. Such a partnership can capably address any technical and business challenge on the way to success. The first business challenge is to convince early-stage investors to put funds into just an idea. Once past that step, a start-up is usually on its way to success.
What legal aspects are start-ups often unaware of during this process?
About any legal aspect is a challenge. Start-up founders usually know nothing of the elementary legal infrastructure of setting up a business as an entity: corporate forms, corporate procedures, corporate finance techniques, corporate governance, minority protection, exit strategy. Going a step further, any form of business activity, especially in the tech sector, is extremely sensitive to intellectual property protection, confidentiality, exclusivity, non-compete arrangements, day-to-day commercial contracts with clients and suppliers. To put a provisional end to this infinite list, I would mention setting up an employment framework, compliance with social security, tax laws, and personal data protection.
How do you ensure all runs smoothly?
A law firm like ours must find the formula of succeeding to put a lot of legal work into the setting up of a start-up, at a negligible price (start-ups do not have money for legal fees). One needs to look onto this as an investment in the future and work with numerous start-ups. At least some of these “subsidised” clients will one day grow into large-scale paying clients. Unreserved and competent legal support in the early stages will not be forgotten when things grow big.
