5 Questions to Ask Before Investing in An Emerging Technology

In today’s world, technology has reached immense heights in terms of the number of end-users it has reached. It’s because of modern technology that offline businesses are shifting gradually to the online sector which is at boom. The internet has now become a medium to perform business transactions and spread awareness about the current market scenario too. When we talk about it, let’s not narrow it down to big conglomerates like Alibaba and Amazon but widen the spectrum by including emerging businesses, e-commerce websites, and social media platforms. Today technology has reached all the spheres including business and entertainment. This constant web development motivated all the firms to come up with or invest in emerging technologies. This sense of competition and increasing numbers of online businesses, not only gave birth to this immense competition but also motivated other potential individuals to come up with a way to add up to the field of technology. If we talk about a start-up in the field of technology it is both an opportunity and a dire need. Let’s face the fact that everybody nowadays wants a bit more improvement in the current use of technology so that it becomes a bit more convenient for them. All the budding e-commerce websites and the established ones too, are entering the market with this very vision and a motto to provide innovative technology that can ease the daily life issues of every individual.

Now, if the emergence of these new firms is on such a big scale, it is an opportunity for all investors as well. Investing in new technology is a beneficial decision and worth the long shot it calls for. But investing in something new is a risky proposition as well because it requires the investor to consider many aspects. Let’s take a look at the most important questions an investor asks before investing in emerging technology.

Is the technology relevant enough to be introduced in the market right now?

Although it’s a debatable issue but not from the point of view of new technology. An emerging technology that’s claiming to enter the market with a vision to add up to the technology and is looking for investment should be relevant in the current market and should also satisfy the current needs of the customers. If an application is integrated with this new technology, the application should fill the gap between the company and its audience. If the application fails to satisfy the needs of the customers, the technology might not get funded.

How far has the technology gone in solving the needs of the users?

One of the most important determinants for asking for funds for emerging technology is the magnitude of its problem-solving capabilities. And as we’re talking about emerging technology, this question implies the question an investor asks about the quality of the technology and how it’s any different from the existing firms that provide similar services. It’s important for a new technology to stand out in the market, for that it should approach the audience in a different way, and along with this, it should solve more and more issues in the market.

The issues that are being fulfilled by this technology, are they being misinterpreted as needs?

Before solving the issues and/or satisfying the needs, the technology should always have both of them distinguished properly. Needs and issues are two different concepts if we take a closer look. For example, long waiting time for food is a common issue that can be resolved by the application itself, and as it is resolved, it’s vanished from the market altogether. But using social media for uploading pictures is a need and it’ll never vanish from the market, at least not in the foreseeable future. If the technology focuses more on issues than on needs, it’ll cease to exist instantly.

What’s the nature of the particular emerging technology?

Determining the nature of the new technology is the most important fact an investor will consider. If its nature isn’t dynamic enough, it’ll be a deal-breaker for him. The technology that’s more susceptive to change is likely to keep pace with the constantly changing market and thus, is more likely to become profitable.

What is the target audience of the technology?

As we’ve already discussed that the internet has reached almost everyone on the planet, but after it, the field has witnessed many new technologies that could not satisfy users on a large scale. That’s why it’s very important for an investor who’s looking to invest in an emerging technology to look for the targeted audience this technology has. If the emerging technology has a small sphere of audience it can be concluded that it’ll not sustain in the market. The more this emerging technology is accepted by a larger band of people, the more growth it’ll witness.