Ryan M.

ANNOUNCEMENT: We just launched our diversified fund investments feature on Mainshares 😲 Starting today, accredited investors can invest in SMB acquisitions managed by sophisticated investors via Mainshares I’ve been telling you all that we’re here to change the game of SMB investing for the better, and this is a huge step for us. Before, SMB investing was commonly done on a deal-by-deal basis, and depending on who you are, you may not have the time to spend parsing out every deal. Well now, investors on our platform have access to deals across a variety of industries, geographies, and deal structures in this (traditionally) inaccessible and fragmented asset class. Invest in ~20 SMBs, all with a single investment. Join the Mainshares train before we take off like a 🚀 Link below for diversified SMB investing 👇

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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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"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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This excellent deck compiled by my fellow partner, Thomas Olszewski, who is happens to be an ex-Fintech founder, is a must read for anyone considering investing in the UK Fintech scene. It provides an excellent compass to navigate the investment landscape and if you are currently a fintech founders particularly the slides on active UK Fintech investors is very useful. Great job Thomas! #fintech, #UKfintech, #6DC, #6Degrees Capital

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🌱 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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Very proud to see the WVC:E dream team - Anisah Osman Britton MBE & Rachel Drapper - alongside long time friend and rockstar Ekaterina Gianelli on stage at TechBBQ discussing "Fixing the Talent Exodus in VC". Key Takeaways: 💰Impact of Consolidation on Culture and Talent: The ongoing consolidation in the VC industry is reshaping company culture, affecting morale, and influencing talent. 🚀Emerging Managers Aren’t Diversifying VC: Despite the rise of emerging managers, the industry remains largely homogenous, with many new managers still coming from the same traditional, non-diverse backgrounds. ⚠️Perceptions of Diversity as High Risk: Many in the VC industry continue to view diverse hires, investments, and business models as "high risk," "too time-consuming," or "too costly," perpetuating a cycle of exclusion. 🚼 Parental Leave Inequality: Inequities in parental leave policies are disproportionately affecting women in venture, creating additional barriers to progression. But there are funds, investors, LPs and organisations (like us!) that are trying to change this!

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𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝟮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲? At Horizon we truly believe in brutal honesty as our guiding compass, that’s why we’re opening the vault and sharing our original #InvestmentMemo for OwnBackup, from back in 2015, when it was just a fledgling startup. Fast forward to today: Own Company is now being acquired by Salesforce for $2.1 billion! 💥 Curious how we saw its potential? Check out the Investment Memo - raw, unfiltered, and packed with real insights. It's the same memo we used to make our decisions, and we’re making it public to help entrepreneurs learn and improve their strategies. https://lnkd.in/eVDe2uTy

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Interesting Quarter 1 stats from the Equity Release Council. See below: Drawdown in vogue as equity release market ‘maintains holding pattern’ in Q1 • 14,216 new and returning customers made use of equity release products between January and March, up 4% from Q4 2023 (13,651). • Returning customers drove a 6% quarterly increase in drawdown activity as confidence held firm amongst those with existing plans. • 56% of new customers opted for drawdown lifetime mortgages, the highest quarterly share since the Bank of England began to increase the base rate from 0.1% in Q4 2021. • New customer numbers dipped 11% on Q4 2023 and when coupled with the shift towards drawdown, resulted in total lending of £504m for Q1, down 6% from £535m in Q4 2023. The market is still challenging from my perspective, which is echoed in the statements by David Burrowes, Chair of the Equity Release Council, in his commentary below: “The Q1 2024 data highlights the ongoing challenges facing the residential property market in the UK as the nation waits to see what happens next with interest rates and the health of the economy. “In our market, consumer confidence is holding up well among people with existing plans, who are not shy of making use of drawdown facilities or exploring further advances. New customer numbers are lower than last year with feedback from the market suggesting that older homeowners are adopting a more cautious approach to borrowing as there are hopes of interest rate reductions in the near future. “The flexibilities offered by modern lending products are becoming increasingly popular as customers use them to manage their borrowing in a way that best meets their individual circumstances. New customers are choosing drawdown plans with smaller initial advances while existing customers are being more modest about their borrowing compared to the start of last year. “As we look to the rest of 2024, we are confident that the green shoots that we are starting to see will germinate and the market will return to growth. Structural drivers of the later life lending sector are only due to intensify over the coming years and Council members are ready to support clients as they make sustainable long-term choices about their finances.” Read the full report attached. If you have clients that I could help then please get in touch. #equityrelease #residentialmortgageadvisers #wealthmanagement #independentfinancialadvisers #inheritancetaxadvisers

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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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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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Its's a deal flow time! We are about to share the details of 637 start-ups who joined Rare Founders London's largest #demoday 2 weeks ago with all the investors (only verified ones) in our community. If you are a #founder who is #fundraising and want to get more exposure to investors (IT'S FREE) - submit your details following the link in comments. If you are an #investor interested in pre-seed to series A start-ups join our community (link in comments) to get access access to the monthly deal flow. Please tag #investors and #founders who this might be applicable for.

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Part 3 of Hiperpool’s MBB Global Salary Index: Purchasing Power After looking at gross salaries and net salaries in each country, we have now incorporated cost of living (including rent) to compare purchasing power across the group. To generate the proprietary purchasing power score, we’ve used net salary figures and triangulated cost of living from three reputable indices. The scores are relative to the lowest scoring country, with a baseline index of 1. If you’d like to check out Part 1 (gross salaries) and Part 2 (net salaries) please follow the links below. https://lnkd.in/eq6KpT7X https://lnkd.in/edw-gtwT We will compile all three parts, along with the great input and feedback received, into a final comprehensive report soon.

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Maternity in VC in the spotlight. Well done Rachel Drapper, Sophie Winwood & the WVC:E team on getting this important report out there. In VC we’re dealing often with small firms, network & event heavy schedules and FOMO of being left behind if we take time out (I refuse to use the word off as anyone who’s had a child knows that’s the furthest from how it feels). If you’re thinking about having a child or in the throes of the early-stages, navigating how to even try and get some semblance or balance, then hopefully this report can provide some useful tips. Most importantly showcasing that you’re not alone.

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CLOSING EARLY - LESS THAN 36 HOURS REMAINING 🚨 The support we've received for our Crowdcube campaign has been truly incredible. After reaching our funding target in just 2 hours after opening the early access window, we've now reached an amazing milestone - 200% overfunded in less than two weeks. Due to the overwhelming demand, we are having to close the campaign EARLY! The campaign will close tomorrow at 11:59pm on the 22nd of October, meaning there's now less than 36 hours left to invest and join us on our journey. Link to the pitch page: https://lnkd.in/euaKnEj3 Please do feel free to reach out to me directly if you do have any questions. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more: https://lnkd.in/enVX8jsy

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There's no doubt that sentiment in the market is improving and it feels easier to raise funding than it did a year. At least this side of the pond. But a new report from @wilson sonsini highlighting US/UK venture financing trends and deal terms for first half of this year doesn't show such a great picture with valuations pretty much on hold to their end 2023 levels. Some thawing in capital markets might open up IPO exit opportunities and ungunge the machine. Full report https://buff.ly/4e38UWM

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Are you an early-stage company looking for Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A Round funding? ⬇️⬇️ - We cater to startups looking for investment ranging from £150k to £10Mil, specifically within the UK/EU. - Our investor network is eager to delve into diverse sectors, maintaining an open approach to ALL industries. - Particular interest lies in sectors such as: • SaaS • Fintech • Marketplaces & Platforms • Computer Vision & NLP • Enterprise Technology • Industrial Automation • The Transition to Sustainable Energy • Artificial Intelligence & Data Analytics • Software Development Tools 🚀 Jumpstart your funding journey by registering at FundMyPitch.com and create your pitch today to link up with our wide-ranging network of investors. #fundraising #angelinvesting #startups 🤝 Know a startup on the lookout for investment? Help spread the word

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Balderton's €1.3bn raise for European startups sparks debate: Does a bigger VC fund lead to better outcomes? First, consider: 💲 Larger rounds demand bigger funds, but returns get harder at scale 💲 $100M fund needs $1bn exit at 10% ownership for a single 1x return 💲 Most early-stage VCs target 3x returns, investing in 30+ companies 💲Management fees (typically 2%) grow with fund size Plus, the current landscape: Giants like Balderton, Index, and Accel are raising massive funds, while smaller firms stick to sub-$200M and focus on early-stage startups. Many VCs have maintained their previous fund sizes, while others are downsizing or struggling to raise new funds (or even returning un-invested capital to investors, as CRV recently announced they will do). Thus, weigh up the trade-offs: Larger funds (≥$500M): 📈 More firepower, full-cycle support 📉 Risk: Pressure to deploy capital, potentially lower returns Smaller funds (≤$200M): 🔍Agility, focused support, higher potential multiples ❌ Limited late-stage participation The future of European VC may not be one-size-fits-all. As the ecosystem matures, perhaps there's room for both Davids and Goliaths. What's your take? Would you bet on a nimble $150M fund or the muscle of a €1B+ vehicle? Source: Sifted #EuropeanVC #FundStrategy #StartupInvesting PS 🔔 Follow me for strategies and resources for startups and VCs! There's a better, streamlined way to raise capital: 💸https://foundersuite.com/ for startups 💸https://fundingstack.com/ for VCs and investors

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Very much looking forward to joining the discussion and sharing the importance of embedded finance within our products. Embedded finance has the potential to revolutionise customer experience across a number of verticals, offering unparalleled convenience to keep up with evolving consumer expectations. #FTTEmFin #FintechTalents #embeddedfinance

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If you are a FinTech founder or VC, you need to have a look at this! We just put out a deck (link below, no login required) that has a in depth breakdown of the UK FinTech ecosystem. It has: - List of FinTech investors with offices in the UK - Who is investing at various stages - List of funds with "dry" powder, newly raised funds that invest in FinTech - How the UK compares to its closest rivals, Paris and Berlin - Comprehensive list of FinTech exits (200+ since 2005) - Celebrating success stories, Revolut and Transferwise ($1bn+ revenue) - How FinTech unicorns are training the next generation of entrepreneurs - UK as a magnet for equity growth capital - Early stage startups to watch - How valuations have changed over the past few years Full presentation (no paywall or login required): https://lnkd.in/eZx2ZCvz If you hate it or love it, please like or leave a comment and let me know what you think is missing Some of the early stage startups to watch: Superhog, Banked :,Barte, Adhara, Artificial Labs, Blockpit AG, in3, Pomelo Pay, Rivero Thomas Olszewski, Wouter Volckaert, Thibault D'hondt, Filip Coen, Bob Rode, Hilmar Eggertsson, Kim Jory

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