Do investors in the US invest in international companies?


2

I am based in the US, but I would like to start an ISP in a different country.
Would it be reasonable to find investors in the US? Or do I have to find investors in the target country?

International Investors

asked Apr 29 '12 at 14:18
Blank
Ayub
133 points
Get up to $750K in working capital to finance your business: Clarify Capital Business Loans

4 Answers


1

It's harder, but not impossible. We're a Canadian business and took in investment from US investors.

The more important question is whether the business is worth investing in. Build a solid business, and you should be able to find the investment.

answered Apr 29 '12 at 23:46
Blank
Joseph Fung
1,542 points

1

International investment in someone else's business is a rare occurence because of a number of factors, such as:

  • Knowledge of the industry in the foreign country
  • All standard risks associated with foreign investment (political, economic, social, fraud, exchange rates, etc)
  • The resources necessary to manage the investment (staff, time for travel, etc)

Some investors outright refuse to deal with any of these problems, but the open-minded ones have at least one foreign investment already. You can make that one of your research criteria to make sure your requests for meetings don't fall on deaf ears. However, do keep in mind that it will take a lot of time to find such an investor.

answered Apr 30 '12 at 09:50
Blank
Dnbrv
1,963 points

0

It would probably be harder to gain investment, as even if you and the business are in the US, the operation is overseas. You need to account for political risks, currency fluctuations, tax regulations, etc, etc, all of which make it harder to justify the investment.

answered Apr 29 '12 at 17:35
Blank
Steve Jones
3,239 points

-1

Mostly they shy away for a very simply reason - should the company become successful, the investor would want to take it away from the founder and throw him out, and it's going to be much harder to do to a foreign entity. The usual contractual tricks the investors use and that are fatal to the founder, they make use of the US laws, and these may not work in a different jurisdiction.

On the other hand, it is a safety measure - avoid investors from the same country when you register business. They may know tricks, they may have connections with authorities and courts. You better skip them and look for somebody on the other side of the fence.

answered Aug 28 '12 at 19:28
Blank
Visitor From Down The Street
92 points
  • -1 This answer is just plain wrong. – Susan Jones 12 years ago
  • Sure it is wrong. I love it how people on this site strategically deny accepting the hard truth of the world around. Keep on. – Visitor From Down The Street 12 years ago
  • Sorry, I probably didn't put that the most tactful way possible. If this has been your experience, then that would have been difficult and I am sorry you had to experience it. I don't think it is the experience of the majority of people though and I wouldn't want a newbie to take one person's experience as a hard and fast rule of what to do when they may have a very different experience in the same situation. – Susan Jones 12 years ago

Your Answer

  • Bold
  • Italic
  • • Bullets
  • 1. Numbers
  • Quote
Not the answer you're looking for? Ask your own question or browse other questions in these topics:

International Investors