Reece Chowdhry

🌱 Looking to Connect with Leading VCs and Early-Stage Investors? 🌱 At Virtualnonexecs, we don;t only work with PE firms - we are also proud to be working with some of the UK’s most active early-stage investors to help them find the top board advisors and chairs who can drive impact. If you're a non-executive or chair looking to connect with the heart of the startup ecosystem, take note of the names below. Here are 10 of the UK's most active early-stage investors and the incredible numbers that back them: 1. Octopus Ventures - Backed 100+ startups, with a portfolio value of over £1.3 billion. 2. Seedcamp - Over 400 startups funded, including unicorns like Revolut and TransferWise 3. LocalGlobe - Invested in 300+ startups across deep tech and fintech. 4. Playfair - Early backer of companies like Stripe and Anduril. 5. Passion Capital - Early investor in Monzo Bank, managing £100M+ in assets. 6. Ascension - Over 100 startups backed with a focus on social impact and fintech. 7. Frontline Ventures - Backed 80+ startups across Europe with a key focus on B2B. 8. MMC Ventures - £500M+ under management, supporting 60+ innovative growth companies. 9. Balderton Capital - Invested in 220+ startups with notable exits like THG. 10. Entrepreneur First - 500+ startups built, including companies now worth over $10 billion collectively. ✅ To join Virtualnonexecs: https://lnkd.in/eXBj687 ✅ If you are a VC or company looking to hire: https://lnkd.in/d3na7CEC #NonExecutiveDirectors #Chairs #VentureCapital #Startups #Virtualnonexecs #BoardRoles #Leadership #BusinessGrowth

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"Funding Collapse sends investment in start-ups to six year low" The Times today covering the shocking stats that VenturePath uncovered, with our partner Beauhurst. Great quotes from supporters Michael Moore CEO, BVCA and Julian David CEO, techUK. * UK VC funding at Series A is -44% from last year, and worsening * Q3 24 is down a staggering 57% from Q2, itself down from Q1 * 9 in 10 seed funded startups cannot access Series A VC funding, the next 'rung on the funding ladder' * Just 32 future scaleup companies across the whole of the UK were able to access their first VC funding round in Q3...a 6 year low * Half a billion less capital is going in to UK scaleups at Series A, than just 2 years ago! As the UK scaleup funding gap widens, we are losing ground against other countries, at both startup stage (a position the UK worked hard to achieve, since 2011), and for scaleup support. OECD data: 13th in the world for scaleup support, and that's before Series A funding access dried up. I get that its confusing. Another report (BBB, Nations & Regions) released this week spoke of positive trends in private investment, stating "The data for Q2 2024 shows that investment value has continued to grow". Great, I love to see optimistic data. But under analysis that bundles venture with private equity (later stage), where a few megadeals skew the numbers. Otherwise the exact opposite is true. Our independent research here, for the UK ScaleUp Investment Mission, is laser beam focussed on Series A. The funding round where companies move from the c.1m startups launched each year, through the 2,179 that access seed funding, into the rarefied category of being recognised as future scaleups, attracting Series A funding (£2-10m). The UK venture landscape is currently funding just 248 pa of these companies, and declining. We've been sharing this urgent call for support with the new Government since the day after the election. I've personally met with several Ministers, and spoke to all the relevant Government departments. I will shamelessly repeat loudly what is at stake. UK scaleup funding at Series A has nearly halved in a year, and continues to decline steeply, more than halving in the last quarter. VenturePath developed The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission to convene the scaleup support ecosystem and £7bn of funders to help address this problem, to improve nationwide access to VC investment, and create more venture-backed successes. We have clear support, clear recommendations to reverse this decline in UK scaleup investment, and have made a clear ask of Government for participation in this, to ensure immediate action is taken to create the conditions for success for UK scaleups, ensuring the focus on growth isn't undermined by lack of capital, or equitable access to it. Government decision makers, we'd love your interest, to progress to action. HM Treasury: Rt Hon Rachel Reeves Spencer Livermore James Murray & CC Poppy Gustafsson (welcome to the debate).

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VC Industry Data coming out much earlier this year!!! Let us get you up to speed on: levels of fundraising, exits achieved; investment trends; sectors attracting the most capital; and so much more. Interested in joining us for the VC Industry Survey Launch and sharing your industry perspectives? Please register your interest below. See you there!

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As a Partner at Antler, one of the most active early-stage investors in the world, I’m thrilled to announce our latest round of investments—£840k across seven exciting new British startups! The eleventh UK residency brought together over 2,400 applicants from across the globe, with 78 founders making the cut. This group reflects incredible diversity, representing 24 nationalities and 18% female founders. After a rigorous selection process that included over 200 hours of due diligence per company, we’re backing just under 1% of applicants, confident in the impact they’ll have. Here are the seven ventures joining the Antler family: 🔎 Vente AI: Changing the recruitment game by automating how agencies discover roles and optimize their candidate pipelines. 💡Distillery: Unlocking rapid insights for businesses, providing crucial product and marketing data 25x faster than traditional methods. (Vasil Yakov, Edward Louth) 🏦 Banqora: Uses AI to automate document processing and streamline post-trade operations, saving financial institutions significant time and money. 🏠 AskVinny: Simplifying property management with AI, making tenant-landlord interactions effortless and improving service delivery. 🪲 Omma: Supporting sustainable farming with AI-driven insect incubation, reducing the need for pesticides in large-scale horticulture. 🧑‍🏭️ Tradestack: Helping trades businesses quote quicker and win more jobs with an AI-backed productivity tool. 🏨 Inntelo AI: Transforming hotel operations with AI that automates guest services, making every stay smoother and more personalized. With some of them already speaking to follow-on investors and closing investment rounds, I’m personally excited about what lies ahead for them all. If you’d like to connect with any of the founders or learn more, drop me a message! 🚀 🦄 #VentureCapital #Investments #Founders #TechStartups

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Great to see SIS Ventures make this list by TechRound https://lnkd.in/eDtRbggM A bit more about what we look for below. If you're a founder and these hit the mark 👇 then please get in touch Investment targets SIS Ventures is focused on high-impact, high-growth potential businesses our investee companies are innovation-led, often spun out of Scotland’s leading university innovation programmes. Portfolio companies are also carefully selected for their commitment to developing their environmental, equality and diversity, social impact and governance practices. SIS Ventures seeks to provide equity investment to: ✔ High growth potential with a global scale and intent to provide significant impact ✔ Focus on social and/or environmental impact, aligning with impact themes / at least one of the UN SDGs ✔ Product or service backed by defensible technology or proprietary know-how ✔ EIS or SEIS qualifying ✔ Low capital-intensive businesses ✔ Sector agnostic, but historically invested across Life Sciences, MedTech, Climate Tech, Circular Economy, Biotech ✔ Pre-seed – Series A ✔ Headquartered in Scotland

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Ever wonder what its like to run a Private Equity fund? Now you have the chance to follow along with successful investment managers by participating with Fund Launch Partners. Join me and Lincoln Archibald and next week for the Third Thursday @ Three to hear about direct investment opportunities with General Partnerships in the one of the fastest growing portfolio investment sectors. Pick up a free ticket here: https://lnkd.in/dd2yzxDd #HolyGrailofInvesting #GPOpportunities #FundLaunch #Alternatives

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PE and VC firms still only have women in 11% of key investing positions. Only 2p out of every 100p invested goes to backing female-led companies. Unlocking the potential of female-led enterprises will contribute about £250 billion to the UK economy. The bottleneck for female entrepreneurs is still access to funding. I’ve been there, pitching your business to a room full of men always feels a little strange. While some of them are supportive, there remains an unconscious bias against female-led companies. This is heightened when pitching companies that solve problems and pain points specific to women. The answer to this problem is creating and supporting more female angel investors. With the support of the British Business Bank, the Invest in Women Taskforce is exploring ways to amplify the value of women backing other women through match funding. Forbes did a feature on IWT’s work titled “When Women Mean Business For Women”. To learn more, read the full piece for yourself here: https://lnkd.in/ezN9AjTQ

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Striking: Zenobē, a UK climate tech startup, raised £600m from KKR and £270m from Infracapital, bypassing VC entirely. Zenobe captures excess energy from wind farms to stabilize the grid and reduce gas power reliance. This means: Zenobe secured one of 2023's biggest startup fundraises — without any venture capital. #battery #fundraising #venturecapital #energystorage #infrastructure #growthinflection Sifted: https://lnkd.in/g8wF-xA5

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Extremely worrying data about VC funding in the UK. While we all understand that taxes must go up to pay for the mismanagement of the Covid crisis by the then administration - allied to economic headwinds caused by Brexit - surely we must also protect the parts of our economy that can stimulate jobs and growth...ie - early-stage business?! In my opinion the most impactful and simple way to do this would be to increase the SEIS allowance to £1m from £250k and make it applicable to companies upto 5 years from their initial trading date from the current 3 year limit. This will bring a huge amount of fresh capital into the early-stage investment market...especially if the govt increases CGT overall. If we don't protect early-stage innovation we will never get out of economic trouble. #earlystageinvestment #venturecapital #SEIS #funding

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An underappreciated factor in UK VC right now, is the number of firms *only* investing in portfolio companies. ** The effect of funds, particularly the larger/later-stage funds, concentrating their funds on portfolio companies has a dramatic effect on the market. Because the new deals to later-stage funds, are likely the portfolio companies of earlier stage funds. And if the former falls/reduces/stops; the earlier stage funds have to devote more capital to their portfolio than was originally modelled. And it gums up the entire system. And it’s currently affecting all levels of funding, from growth down to seed stage funds. #founders #vcfunding #startups ** I’ve used ‘only’ as a catch all for 100% allocation to portfolio (as some funds are) through to significantly increased levels of portfolio funding (as the majority are).

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I couldn’t be prouder to be a Venture Partner at Isomer Capital (aka the best European FoF - at least for me) as we just announced the launch of our pioneering £100m secondaries fund. This fund is dedicated to acquiring stakes from LPs in various VC funds, tapping into a massive and largely unexplored market. 🌟 Key Highlights: - Focused Investment: Primarily targeting stakes in VC funds, with selective investments in private companies. - Robust Funding: Already over 20% funded, thanks to strong support from Nordic family offices and a German foundation. - Market Potential: With a growing number of private tech companies and a VC liquidity crunch, Europe's VC secondaries market is poised for rapid growth. - Track Record: This isn’t Isomer’s first foray into the secondaries market. As a firm we’ve done several secondaries deals with portfolio companies and VC firms, including early-stage VC Seedcamp (in 2021) and mobility giant Bolt (in 2023). - Expert Team: Welcoming the amazing Omolade (Rachel) A., formerly of Coller Capital, as a principal to lead this initiative. 💡 Investment Strategy: - 65-75% of the fund will buy "LP interest" stakes in VC funds. - 15-25% will be directed towards stakes in companies. - Up to 15% reserved for flexible investment opportunities. 📈 Looking Ahead: We're targeting returns of 2-3x, with significant distributions expected in the next 4-7 years. As one of the few players in this space, we're not just participating in the market—we're driving it forward. Read all about it here: https://lnkd.in/dc7sbC3G #VentureCapital #SecondariesFund #EuropeanVC

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Despite England’s loss at the Euro 2024 last night in Berlin, the UK has retained its crown for venture capital investment! 🇬🇧👑 Data from Dealroom, a global provider of data and intelligence on start-ups and tech ecosystems, revealed that UK start-ups and scale-ups raised £7.4bn during the first six months of the year. That’s a 16% increase from the same period last year, accounting for nearly one-third of all venture capital funding in Europe! Some standout funding rounds include: • Wayve, the autonomous vehicles technology firm, raised £861m in May. • Credit technology company Abound secured £400m. • Highview Power, focused on long-duration energy storage, raised £300m. • Online bank Monzo gathered £150m. • Electric vehicle charging group Char.gy raised £100m. The second half of the year looks promising with Index Ventures announcing it has raised $2.3bn in two new funds to invest in start-ups, with a significant portion expected to be deployed in the UK. Tech companies specialising in energy attracted the lion’s share of funding, with £4.3bn across Europe, followed by generative AI companies, which attracted £2bn. Having been deeply involved in the UK tech sector, I’ve witnessed the resilience and innovation driving these impressive numbers. The UK continues to be a powerhouse for tech innovation and investment, and it’s exciting to see the impact these investments will have on the future of technology and sustainability. What are your thoughts on the future of UK tech investments?

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🚀 From Garage Startup to Financial Powerhouse: The Full Journey of Mattioli Woods plc 🚀 Join me as I explore Ian Mattioli's journey from a garage startup to the financial giant Mattioli Woods plc. Ian shares insights on work-life balance, structuring a startup, and evolving from pensions to wealth management. Discover how his vision shaped Mattioli Woods plc and our health tech ventures, Care Hires and Kanabo. Ian helped Care Hires grow to a platform connecting 19,000 care workers with care homes across the UK. At Kanabo, he's supported our growth as a telemedicine startup listed on the LSE, connecting 4,200+ pharmacies and launching medical cannabis clinics. A must-watch for entrepreneurs and startup founders seeking inspiration to turn their vision into reality. Learn how these lessons drive innovation and growth in Care Hires and Kanabo Full Version linked below 👇 #Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess #WealthManagement #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipLessons #Inspiration #HealthTech #MedicalCannabis Leicester Startups, Loughborough University, University of Leicester De Montfort University, Avihu Tamir, Nizam Bata ACCA, Tharaka De Alwis.

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The best VC pitch meetings are truly conversations! • One where both sides learn something new and come away with a different lens on the world • Both founders and investors asked questions that sparked new ideas • Everyone walks away believing in more of what's possible tomorrow, than what's 'seemingly impossible' today Founders and VCs should strive for more of these conversations. Here’s my favorite ways to do that: • Get pitch decks and demo videos in advance! Allows more time for fluid conversation than data/fact finding (which is better async!) • Favorite questions to ask: - What's something that most people believe about this space that's not true? - Why is everyone else tackling this problem wrong? - What does the world look like when you succeed at solving this problem? - What's a challenge you've overcome? - What motivates you?

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My shout-out for this week is a different one. Not a startup, but a book. The Fundraising Field Guide was written by Carlos Eduardo Espinal MBE. Here is why I think it is a kick-ass book helping founders decipher fundraising. 👉 Is designed specifically for early-stage, high-growth tech startup founders. 👉 Is a guide that explains fundraising through practical advice. 👉 Lays a good foundation on all things fundraising-related. 👉 Adds both the soft and hard challenges encountered. So, here is my thank you note to Carlos! For launching an updated version of this guide. Get the book here 👉 https://buff.ly/4byUywn #venturecapital #startupfunding #fundraising #europe

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Great conversation yesterday at Preqin with Preqin's Cameron Joyce, CFA, CAIA, Blue Owl Capital's Cara Griffiths, Bain Capital's Tom Sargeant on the future of fundraising for private markets. Where will AUM come from going forward? What are the challenges that funds will face in fundraising? What strategies will be most popular going forward? It was fascinating to hear the perspectives of some of the industry's biggest platforms in Blue Owl Capital and Bain Capital from Cara and Tom, respectively, as to where fundraising is headed given their purview on the market and from Cameron on his data-driven insights from market research and plenty of numbers crunching on what it will take for private markets to grow to $30T AUM by 2030.

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💼 Top 10 UK Venture Capital Firms by Deal Count - Plus the Power of NEDs 💼 The UK's venture capital firms are leading the charge in backing high-growth companies, but think abut this..... if each deal also added a non-executive director (and they invariably do) to bring experienced governance and strategy into play, let’s look at the numbers: Let's start with the top 10 most active VCs in the UK in 2024, and the potential impact: 1. SFC Capital - 99 deals   2. Access EIS - 65 deals   3. Octopus Ventures - 54 deals   4. BGF Growth Capital - 47 deals   5. Ascension - 34 deals   6. Fuel Ventures 🚀 Ventures - 31 deals   7. Seedcamp - 28 deals   8. LocalGlobe - 26 deals   9. Par Equity - 25 deals   10. Amadeus Capital Partners - 24 deals If each deal added a NED, and each fund paid an average recruitment fee of £25,000 per hire, the total cost across these deals would be: 😳 SFC Capital: £2.475m   😳 Access EIS: £1.625m   😳 Octopus Ventures: £1.35m   😳 BGF Growth Capital: £1.175m   😳 Ascension: £850k   😳 Fuel Ventures: £775k   😳 Seedcamp: £700k   😳 LocalGlobe: £650k   😳 Par Equity: £625k   😳 Amadeus Capital Partners: £600k  👉 Total cost: £10.825 million 💸 Ps. Many recruitment fees are in excess of double the "average" fee of £25k. At Virtualnonexecs.com, we work with VCs to flatten the cost of recruitment across their portfolios. The VNXD Operator Network is available on a flat annual subscription - for less than the cost of a single hire. You get access to 22,000 non-executive directors, supported by internal headhunters and there's no "per hire" fee. This means ongoing access to the best talent with no extra costs for every deal. If you are interested in accessing this level of support, let’s discuss. You can book a demo with me here: https://lnkd.in/d3na7CEC or simply drop me a DM. 👉 #VentureCapital #Startups #NEDs #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Investment #UKTech

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Green Angel Ventures has just launched the eighth round of our EIS Climate Change Fund. This is how I am personally doing all my EIS investing now, because it gives me a great spread of investments, all backed by individual angels in our group and after our thorough due diligence process, and means that I don't miss any of Green Angel Ventures' portfolio (no FOMO!) #EIS #climatetech #angelinvestment

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Why UK investors are going to ask you about “SEIS” and “EIS” 🚨 Confused about SEIS and EIS? 🤔 Don't worry, we've got you covered! 💡 Our latest podcast ep with Sam Simpson breaks down these UK government tax incentive schemes for investors, designed to encourage investment in early-stage startups. Think 50% tax relief, CGT exemption, and more! 🤑 But, can you invest in your own company using these schemes? 🤔 The answer might surprise you... 👀 Have you used SEIS or EIS for your startup? Share your experiences in the comments below! 💬 #SEIS #EIS #startups

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