All investment activities today are carried out online using a computer or mobile electronic gadgets. Trading software developers compete with each other to offer new technological solutions. In such circumstances, the choice of investment platform is especially important.
An example of an investment platform terminal.
What are they and why are they needed?
Investment platforms are online platforms where startups and investors meet.
Therefore, we can say that investment platforms are needed for investing in different sectors of the economy. This could be, for example, food production or a cafe. In addition, the administration of investment platforms provides information on where it is better to invest, which industry is capable of growing soon.
In general, they make life easier for ordinary investors in every possible way. It’s hard to imagine investing in the modern world without investment platforms.
Project selection rules
To make a successful investment, you need to choose the right project. It is also recommended to consult a specialist.
Rules for choosing an investment project:
- study information about HYIPs on the Internet and select paying projects that bring real profit;
- read reviews from real investors about projects;
- look at the information about the hype on the official website - the data should be viewable for all interested parties; if access to the information is closed, this may mean that the platform administrator is a fraudster;
- Please read the minimum investment amount and withdrawal conditions.
If you choose the right project, Internet investments will generate profits a few weeks after the investment.
Requirements for trading platforms
There are quite a lot of requirements for investment platforms, but they can be divided into important and secondary. I'll start with the important ones:
- Without round-the-clock monitoring of quotes, an investment platform makes no sense.
- There must be a function that allows you to track global economic news in real time.
- Convenient management of accounts and transactions on investment platforms.
- Presence of a demo account. This will allow you to create a convenient investment strategy.
- The site should be able to build a chart to analyze the current state of the market.
These are the most significant requirements for investment platforms. Now about the side effects:
- The platform must have a clear interface so that the user does not get lost in it and can easily find the necessary sections.
- Multiplatform is desirable. For example, mobile applications for Android and iOS.
- The presence of the opportunity to trade not only on Forex, but also on the stock markets.
- Free installation or low cost.
Principles of contribution
Principles of participation in investment projects:
- the investor himself is responsible for the deposits;
- you need to understand that such a deposit is characterized by increased risks, so it is recommended to invest in an amount the loss of which will not cause significant damage to the budget;
- you should focus on reviews from real investors, and not on advertising;
- to diversify risks, money is invested not in one HYIP, but in several projects, which guarantees profit even if one of the platforms is closed;
- profits should be withdrawn regularly and not accumulated in the system;
- You cannot disclose your system login and password to third parties to avoid theft of funds.
Review of the best trading platforms for trading
ATAS is rightfully considered one of the best sites for trading on the stock exchange. This is a platform for professional trading, so its price is rather high - 69 euros per month. ATAS is famous for its most accurate indicators that fully reflect the situation on the Forex market. Experienced traders often use it as an analytical tool.
Good platform and Mirror Trader. Its main purpose is to show where other traders invest most often. Based on this, you can decide for yourself where to invest your money.
The third platform is QUIK. It’s not for nothing that this terminal is considered one of the best. Its functionality is very wide - convenient charts, a trouble-free chat for communication with the administration and the selected broker, as well as the ability to have two accounts at the same time; customizable interface and the ability to set parameters for automatic trading.
The fourth is TRANSAQ. Some traders seriously consider this platform to be the best of all existing ones.
And they have reasons for this:
- Entering not only the domestic market, but also foreign ones.
- There are two unrelated sections: “Administrator” and “Trader”. In the first, you can contact a broker to discuss important issues, and in the second, you can trade.
- There is a special module designed to train new traders.
Where can a business get money other than banks: platforms for finding investments
Yes, to open your own business you need money, and this is where the problems begin. The bank may simply refuse to receive a loan. And even if the application is approved, the bank will take a rather large percentage. It is to solve this problem that investment platforms have been created.
Those who need outside investment make presentations, explain how their business will work, and point out growth prospects. All this is intended to persuade potential business angels on investment platforms to choose their project. And businessmen can receive investment deposits to open and develop their business.
Crowdinvesting sites
Such sites are intended for investment, although the idea itself is controversial. What is crowdinvesting? A certain entrepreneur wants to open his own business or expand an existing one. He publishes a post on such an investment platform, where he describes everything in detail, and potential investors already decide whether it is worth investing in this business or not.
And the fact is that it is quite difficult to resist, since if the entrepreneur succeeds, investors will receive a part of the profit. If not, the money will simply be returned. But in reality everything is much more complicated.
It’s just that most often on crowdinvesting sites you can find announcements like “I haven’t come up with anything yet, but you give me money, and I’ll figure out what to use it for.” That is, it’s easy to lose money there because of such individuals who do not imagine any business projects, overestimate their strength and, as a result, completely burn out.
Examples of investment platforms of this kind can be found on the Internet. The most popular of them:
- City of Money (https://townmoney.ru/investors/).
- StarTrack (https://starttrack.ru/).
- Potok (https://investor.potok.digital/).
- Venture Club (https://ventureclub.co/).
- Simex (https://simex.global/ru/projects).
Crowdfunding sites
This type of investment platform is very similar in concept to crowdinvesting platforms, but there are many differences between them.
First, in crowdfunding one invests not in any business, but in the creation of a product. Books, movies, games and the like. At the end, the investor receives no profit in the form of money. The most he can count on is receiving a limited edition of the product or early access to it. Therefore, calling it an investment is not entirely correct. Rather, it is a donation.
One of the most popular crowdfunding platforms is KickStarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/).
However, there are others, among which we can highlight the main competitor of KickStarter - Indiegogo (https://www.indiegogo.com/) and the Russian investment platform Planeta (https://planeta.ru/)
P2P lending
Also known as peer-to-peer lending. How does this happen? A certain entrepreneur takes out a loan not from a bank, but from an investor through special websites, the purpose of which is to find and match such a couple. Of course, the entrepreneur will have to return the money with interest to the investor after some time.
What is a regular bank? It is an intermediary between a person and the Central Bank, setting interest. That is, when applying for a loan, money goes through the following path: Central Bank -> commercial bank -> person. Now, if in this chain we replace the Central Bank with an investor, and the bank with a website, then this will be P2P lending. Moreover, in peer-to-peer lending, more lenient conditions are often established.
Among the many sites for P2P lending, we can highlight Loanberry (www.loanberry.ru) and Zaymigo (https://invest.zaymigo.com/invest_fix)
Websites and forums
Among all the sites for investors, one can highlight napartner.ru. In it, everyone can find what they want: a startuper - an investor, and an investor - a startuper. Moreover, it’s quite easy to choose, because the site tells the whole history of the startup from its very inception.
Another site related to investment platforms is investors.partners, where you can find a reliable investor both for a startup and for expanding an existing business, almost free of charge. The site team will help with this.
Help from the state
The state is trying in every possible way to help investment platforms, which is not surprising. After all, most often investments go to the growth of small businesses, which are very important for maintaining a competitive environment and growing the country’s economy.
Thus, the Skolkovo state corporation has practically created its own fund, which finances projects at any stage of its development.
However, for an application to be considered, you must:
- correspondence between the ideas of the fund and the businessman;
- leader and scientific director;
- an idea that has a chance to make waves throughout the world.
If the project meets the requirements, the businessman will soon be contacted and explained what needs to be improved and what needs to be left.
Investors, in order to get into the Skolkova investment platform, need to prove their worth as a business angel and have money.
Business incubators and accelerators
It will be quite difficult for a start-up business to make its way to the top. This is why incubators and accelerators exist.
Incubators are designed to develop start-up businesses. They provide them with money, premises, equipment, and then wait for the business to take off. Then the entrepreneur will need to return the funds spent.
Accelerators are investment platforms that engage in intensive business development.
Among the incubators and accelerators operating in Russia today are:
- https://www.idealmachine.ru/
- https://hub.404-group.com/accelerator
- https://sumit.ru/
- https://ft.ifmo.ru/
- https://www.iidf.ru/
- https://www.s-advisors.com/
- https://www.ingria-startup.ru/
- https://technopark.spbstu.ru/categories/biznes-inkubator
- https://start-business.ru/
- https://www.eltech.ru/ru/nauchnaya-i-innovacionnaya-deyatelnost/tehnopark/infrastruktura-tehnoparka
- https://inc.unecon.ru/
- https://startup.ifmo.ru/
Funds and business angels
These businesses and people are dedicated to helping the budding businessman with money and expert support. There are entire investment communities of business angels in the world.
Naturally, foundations and angels do not choose who to fund at random. Their investment strategy is as follows: they look for those businesses that have a high risk of failure, but at the same time have a high potential for growth.
List of business angels and funds:
- https://soba.spb.ru/
- https://community.sk.ru/foundation/investment/
- https://ventureclub.ru/
- https://pre-seed.ru/
- https://venture.gs/
- https://www.leorsa.ru/projects/innovations/
- https://ventures.i-free.com/
- https://topface.com/
- https://www.vaizra.ru/
- https://www.agatefund.ru/
- https://www.ifmo.ru/ru/
- https://nwttc.ru/
Competitions and awards
Competitions are also held at investment sites. The sponsors here are the state and large companies. They determine how well an investor understands a topic and how much they can earn.
Investors who have particularly distinguished themselves on investment platforms are given bonuses and grants for development and new investments:
- Moscow Exchange, “Best Private Investor”.
- Moscow Exchange, "Invest trial".
- CNBC, Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge.
Benefits of contributing to projects
Advantages of investing money in investment projects:
- there is no need to draw up a plan for the development of your own business, decide on the direction, form a client base and other matters related to opening and running your own enterprise;
- The depositor receives income monthly, while the bank gives out profits once every 3 months;
- higher interest rate compared to a bank deposit;
- most projects operate online, so the investor receives profit without leaving home;
- a wide range of activities.
