Afleveringen

  • We all have idea of what impact investing means, but how do you measure and systematise it? Conduit Connect is an impact venture capital investor and we have asked Senior Investment Manager Gabby Morgan onto to discuss this. She was hands on in developing their own impact framework and reporting so understands the issues and can talk about how Conduit Connect solved them.

    In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:

    approaches to measuring impactdeveloping a theory of changehow to make impact robust in a companyscaling impactbeing intentional about diversitynegative externalities and avoiding themhow to treat items that can't be measuredgreenwashing in the venture industrythe challenges of comparing frameworks

    With the new SDR Regulations coming in, this is a very timely discussion. Gabby has thought deeply about many of the issues and applied them in practice, so has some great insights.

    01:20 Gabby introduces herself

    03:30 What is Conduit Connect?

    09:00 How do we approach measuring impact?

    11:50 The four buckets of impact in Conduit Connect's framework

    26:00 The need for fund managers to be intentional about diversity

    28:30 What are negative externalities and avoiding them

    32:00 Taking account of what can't be measured

    35:00 How lockstep works to keep companies impact orientated

    39:40 Greenwashing in the venture industry

    41:40 How do investors compare manager frameworks

    49:00 Prospects for the impact industry in next couple of years

    54:50 Favourite questions

    Links

    Conduit Connect website - https://www.theconduitconnect.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Range by Daniel Epstein

    Ministry of Time by Kallane Bradley

    Bio

    Gabby Morgan

    Senior Investment Manager, Conduit Connect

    Gabby is a Senior Investment Manager at the Conduit Connect, responsible for screening and performing due diligence on opportunities for the Conduit EIS Impact Fund. She is also responsible for fundraising and investor relations for the Fund. She is an investor mentor at Carbon13, a leading climate-focussed accelerator, and a Board Advisor at Thalamos, one of the Conduit Fund’s portfolio companies. She has advised early-stage impact ventures through the Huckletree Alpha programme, Village Capital and Founders Intelligence.

    Prior to joining the Conduit Connect in November...

  • The Seedrs Portfolio Report gives an insight into how equity crowdfunding in the UK has progressed over the past decade from an idea to a firm part of the venture capital market. Jeff Lynn was a co-founder of Seedrs and has been President since its purchase by Republic. He's ideally placed to give a myriad of insights into what lies behind the data and the report.

    In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:

    what the aim of the report ishow the report shows venture is an outlier asset classwhy food & beverage is the most popular sectorhow the variety of crowdfunding companies has improved over timewhy crowdfunding does better than the industry on diversityhow long should investors expect to hold investmentsthe development of Seedrs secondary markethow people use the platform and how that affects their portfolio diversificationthe future for Republic Europe and areas it is looking to expand into

    Its clear that crowdfunding will continue to be a meaningful element in the the startup and venture capital market in the UK. That makes this interview with Jeff a must listen for anyone involved in the market.

    00:50 Jeff introduces himself

    04:20 Seedrs is now Republic Europe

    06:20 the motivation behind creating the Portfolio report

    10:30 the role of outliers

    13:00 funding food & beverage companies

    16:15 do some companies work better for crowdfunding?

    19:10 Why Seedrs has had more female founders than the market

    25:50 How long is an investment for?

    28:45 what has made the secondary market successful

    31:30 investor diversification and the different use cases for platform

    37:00 how angels and sophisticated investors use the platform

    39:10 The future for crowdfunding: international opportunities, funds and blockchain

    44:50 Favourite questions

    Links

    Republic Europe (formerly Seedrs) website - https://europe.republic.com/

    Seedrs Portfolio Report Winter 2023 - https://europe.republic.com/insights/blog/seedrs-2023-portfolio-report

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    The Young Wilhelm by John C.G. Röhl

    Going Infinite by Michael Lewis

    Bio

    Jeff...

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  • The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is now 30 years old! To celebrate, we asked Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of the EIS Association, onto the podcast to discuss the past, present and future of the scheme.

    In a wide ranging discussion we talk about:

    the founding of EISthe progress it has madewhat has made it so successfulrenewal of the scheme and the efforts underpinning itwhy EIS is still not as well known as it should behow awareness could be increasedthe progress with improving diversity and regional investingthe effects of the recent changes to SEIS limits

    Christiana brings together both the big picture on the importance of the tax advantaged schemes and the small scale that each company and investor represents. Its a great discussion - enjoy!

    PS This was recorded before the recent Treasury announcement that the EU has approved the extension of EIS.

    00:50 Christiana introduces herself and the EIS Association

    04:00 The founding of EIS and how it has progressed

    07:25 Why has EIS been successful

    12:15 How the Patient Capital Review changed the schemes

    14:00 Lobbying for the scheme extension

    18:50 Why EIS is not as well known as we would like

    26:50 How do we increase awareness

    30:15 Role of financial advisers

    34:45 Progress with diversity of founders and expanding into regions

    41:00 Effect of changes to SEIS limits

    43:00 Looking forward

    46:10 Favourite questions

    Links

    EIS Association website - https://eisa.og.uk/

    HMRC 2023 EIS Statistics - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/enterprise-investment-scheme-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme-and-social-investment-tax-relief-may-2024

    30th Anniversary of EIS event - https://eisa.org.uk/30th-anniversary-of-eis/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Alchemy by Rory Sutherland

    Bio

    Christiana Stewart-Lockhart

    Director General, EIS Association

    Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.

  • While fintech has perhaps fallen out of the spotlight in venture capital, it remains a significant part of the UK venture capital scene. It is one of Love Ventures three specialist areas, and in this episode co-founders Marcus Love and Adrian Love give their views on how the sector has developed and what matters now.

    In a great discussion, Marcus and Adrian talk about:

    the difference between v1 and v2 of fintechwhy financial services is so attractive for innovatorshow business models have developedmatching founders to the right producthow incumbents are responding to new entrants and the advantages the latter havewhy the UK is doing well in supporting fintechhow AI fits into their investment thesiswhat areas are attractive for investment today

    Although Love Ventures is a relatively new manager, both Marcus and Adrian have strong backgrounds in entrepreneurship and investing. This experience allows them to being some great insights into how the world of fintech is progressing today.

    PS This was recorded while travelling, so apologies for the echoes in the background for the host.

    00:55 Marcus and Adrian introduce themselves

    02:55 Love Ventures

    05:15 versions 1 & 2 of fintech

    08:50 why financial services is so ripe for innovation

    11:25 blockages to blockchain in the real world yet

    14:00 finding the correct business models going forward

    17:00 importance of product/founder fit

    19:40 Incumbents vs new entrants

    22:00 report on corporate venture capital

    25:10 the UK regulatory sandbox

    27:10 UK as a model for other countries

    28:45 how the need for capital hasn't changed

    33:30 looking for right scale of problem to invest in

    35:20 role of AI - specialist / small models

    40:45 data confidentiality - importance of specialist data

    43:40 prime areas for investing now

    45:30 Favourite questions

    Links

    Love Ventures website - https://loveventures.co.uk/

    Love Ventures on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/love-ventures/

    Report on corporate venture capital - https://loveventures.co.uk/navigating-cvc/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby

  • Eos Advisory are rapidly building a solid reputation in science-based venture capital investing. In this episode, Partner Mark Beaumont discusses their roots, philosophy and how that translates into practice, with lots of real-life examples.

    In an in-depth discussion, Mark talks about:

    how the Eos investment philosophy developedthe strengths of the Scottish venture capital eco-systemwhat makes good founders and how he assesses thatgetting alignment between managers/investors and foundersdetermining whether there is a big enough markethow to give a company an international outlook as early as possiblethe mistakes founders makechanging management mindsets as a company progresses

    Mark's background gives him a very different perspective, both individually and as part of a team that brings very diverse experiences. His insights into the people side in particular are tremendous. There is much for any founder or investor to learn here.

    01:00 Mark introduces himself

    04:50 where Eos is now

    07:20 how their investment philosophy developed

    10:30 lack of competition for deals in Scotland

    11:50 Scottish eco-system - current strengths

    16:20 what they are looking for in founders

    20:30 separating people from company

    24:20 alignment between founders, investors and managers

    27:40 how do you determine a market

    32:15 internationalising - when and how

    36:15 how to line up international investors

    38:40 what mistakes founders make

    41:00 challenges of funding

    44:50 changing mindsets in companies as they progress

    49:25 favourite questions

    Links

    Eos Advisory website - https://eos-advisory.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Coffee First, then the World by Jenny Graham

    Bio

    Mark Beaumont,

    Partner, Eos Advisory

    Mark Beaumont became a Partner at Eos Advisory in 2019 and has helped lead the business through a period of significant growth, investing in predominantly Scottish science and technology companies addressing key global issues in healthcare and environmental health. Mark Beaumont spent the first chapter his career building teams around sporting success and is publicly known as an athlete and BBC broadcaster. He still holds the 18,000-mile circumnavigation cycling record in a time of 78 days. Mark’s degree education was in Economics & Politics, and for a decade and a half worked with a leading UK mid-market private equity firm. Mark is Patron for Entrepreneurial Scotland, Honorary President for Scottish Student Sport, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was honoured in the Queens New Year’s honours for services to sport and charity.

  • In this episode of the EIS Navigator we get a great founder story. Despite not having a medical background, Clare Brenner founded Myogenes which specialises in pharmocogenetic testing. She has a very personal story about her motivation for initially focusing on mental health to begin with, as well as her experiences in starting in a new area.

    In the discussion, Clare talks about:

    how she found a good area to work onthe initial focus on clozapinewhy she seeks out the best people to work withthe challenges of getting initial fundinghow patient advocacy is playing a rolemaking a business case to convince the NHSmoving into the US marketwhere we are in developing personalised medicine

    Clare's story is both inspiring and insightful, as well as being a great follow-on to the previous episode about female founders.

    00:45 Clare introduces Myogenes

    04:55 establishing proof of concept

    06:40 how she found a test

    08:30 how does the test work and the importance of working with doctors

    11:50 finding the top people

    15:00 why she focused on clozapine

    18:00 how they developed the test

    19:00 founding the company

    21:00 marketing into the NHS: establishing cost/benefit and business impact models

    25:00 progress with individual health trusts

    28:00 the role of patient/family lobbying

    29:00 getting funding for preventative medicine

    32:30 moving into the US

    37:10 where are we in personalised medicine

    41:00 prospects for Myogenes

    43:45 Favourite questions

    Links

    Myogenes website - https://www.myogenes.com/

    Telephone - 020 8387 1266

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett

    Bio

    Clare Brenner,

    Founder & CEO, Myogenes

    Clare Brenner, CEO & Co-founder Clare began her working career at the BBC, moving from radio to television and then to writing and producing.

    Her interest in genetics started in 2010 working for a private hospital and launching their DNA testing programme. She started on her own in 2016 and has dedicated the last six years to becoming expert in the field of genetics and forming her own company Myogenes.

  • Nick Dimmock founded 350PPM as an incubator for various environmental businesses, but has followed a different path from many incubators. In this episode, he discusses how he developed the 350PPM business model, developing companies more generally and the state of environmental investing.

    Amongst other items, Nick discusses:

    how he developed 350PPM's business modelthe importance of the right systembalancing doing things for a company versus developing internal capabilitieshandling areas that are capital intensivewhere we are in the demand cycle for environmental investmentshow we generate more interest in themthe need for political support and change

    Nick is naturally forthright and brings some strong opinions which make for a very interesting conversation.

    01:50 Nick introduces himself

    05:00 what 350PPM is and does

    07:40 how did the business model develop - developing a system

    13:00 doing stuff for a company vs developing internal capability

    18:35 what sorts of companies are of interest and why

    22:35 capital intensity

    27:30 demand for environmental investments

    31:45 how do we sustain interest in environmental investments

    33:00 need for removal of subsidies

    39:40 next steps

    41:15 Favourite questions

    Links

    350PPM website - https://350ppm.co.uk/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    What You See is What You Get by Alan Sugar

    Billionaire: The Life and Times of Sir James Goldsmith by Ivan Fallon

    The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis

    Bio

    Nick Dimmock,

    Founder & CEO, 350PPM

    Nick has worked in the environmental sector since 2007 and has so far been involved in over 50 environmental projects from Municipal Solid Waste Composting in India, to 1500 MW Hydroelectric projects in Ecuador. Overall, the projects Nick has been involved in have created on-going emission reductions over 9 Million tons of CO2e per annum. From 2017, Nick has been involved with incubating, accelerating and venture...

  • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) founders rightly focus on their product and market, but sound finances underpin any success. Anthony Nitsos founded fractional CFO business SaaS Gurus after working in a couple of successful exits. He has seen the inside of many SaaS businesses so has lots of experience in developing good practice and seeing the mistakes that founders make. In this episode, we tap into that knowledge.

    Amongst other topics, Anthony discusses:

    balancing different financial metricssensible gross margin targets and when companies should be hitting themchanges in SaaS valuation multiplesthe value of market expertise in generating successsales cycles and how they differ in B2B and B2Cfinding the right first sales person and who the next recruits should bewhen to bring in a CFO (and its earlier than most think)the value of benchmarkingthe difference between finance and accounting in companieshow to prepare for an exit

    Its a great conversation, with Anthony bringing lots of insights from his vast expertise for founders and investors alike.

    00:50 Anthony introduces himself

    04:45 what financial metrics matter and the difference between venture-backed and bootstrapped businesses

    09:45 gross margin - good targets and when you should be hitting them

    13:30 how valuation multiples have changed in SaaS

    15:45 patterns in CAC and trends in software purchasers

    18:05 how to you know you have product/market fit

    20:00 difference in sales cycles between B2B and B2C

    23:30 the value of market knowledge and how startups are not for on the job training

    24:30 why its easier to move from enterprise to SME than vice versa

    25:45 how finding the right first sales person is the biggest challenge

    31:45 building a sales team

    37:00 when to bring in a CFO

    39:30 the merits of building finance function when its pre-revenue

    42:20 the value of benchmarking

    43:15 most companies have problems

    45:00 the difference between accounting and finance

    49:20 preparing for exits - how acquirers look at finances

    56:00 why founders should know what short of exit they want

    60:00 favourite questions

    Links

    SaaS Gurus website - https://saasgurus.io/

    Free ebook on "SaaS Secrets for Financial Triumph" - https://saasgurus.io/lab

    SaaS Gurus contact page - https://saasgurus.io/contact/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Measure What Matters by John Doerr

  • How we fit EIS funds and VCTs in an advice process is something that the tax advantaged industry has got many different answers for. Rob Bell of Finova Money has been using these for clients for many years. In this episode we discuss their place in a financial plan, how he chooses between different products and investor perceptions of the industry.

    Amongst other topics, Rob discusses:

    how he chooses the right scheme for his clientshow he uses what might go wrong in framing discussions and diversificationthe use of a panelassessing track records and their depththe true term of EIS investmentsthe value of managers having several capital poolswhere SEIS fits into the advice processdifferent uses of generalist and specialist managersthe current state of ESG and impact managersimproving investor perception of venture capital

    Its a great conversation with lots of insights from Rob for investors, advisers and fund managers.

    01:15 Rob introduces himself

    02:15 what is Finova Money

    03:00 how he chooses between EIS and VCT for a client

    06:50 loss relief and how discussing what might go wrong helps

    07:50 thinking about diversification

    12:15 product selection and producing a panel

    13:20 assessing manager track records

    16:50 thoughts on the depth of track records

    19:30 the real term of EIS investments

    22:50 value of managers having several capital pools

    25:30 how SEIS fits into the advice process

    28:45 specialist vs generalist managers

    31:00 ESG and impact investments

    36:10 challenges of recommending new managers

    38:35 investor perception of venture capital

    44:10 how do we improve investor perception of financial advice

    48:15 favourite questions

    Links

    Finova Money website - http://www.finovamoney.co.uk

    Rob Bell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbell-financialplanner/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

    Bio

    Rob Bell,

    Founder & Chartered Financial Planner, Finova Money

    Rob is a Chartered Financial Planner and one of the founding directors at Finova Money, an independent financial advice business based in London.

    Rob is passionate about helping his clients take control of their finances so they can live with confidence knowing they have a solid financial plan for the future in place. Rob’s clients include business owners and professionals with more complex tax positions who can benefit from looking at a broader range of financial planning options. Outside of work Rob’s interest are getting out into the countryside, Munro bagging and scuba diving.

  • Manufacturing and operations is an area that has been much neglected by venture capital, but has plenty of issues that can be address. Renan Devillieres of venture builder OSS Ventures focuses on this space, with distinct methods and successful results. In this episode we discuss how he goes about creating successful new businesses, with very good results to date.

    In a wide ranging discussion, Renan discusses:

    what is venture buildingthe process for finding pain points in factorieshow Renan characterises different operations why there is still so much low hanging fruit in this areawhat sorts of manufacturers are open to changehow to make sure there is enough initial customers and how to work with themworking with different tech stackshow to make sure that companies don't customise for specific clientsmaking the OSS fire itself from each companythe different markets and sales processes he seesfinding the right founders and the skill sets they needthe effect of AIhow the global manufacturing model of the past 30 years is changing now

    Its a great conversation with lots of insights from Renan and a must listen for investors and founders who want to build successful businesses.

    01:30 Renan introduces himself

    02:45 introduction to OSS

    04:00 what is venture building?

    09:00 finding pain points in factories

    13:15 how the regulatory environment can affect go-to-market strategies

    17:30 why is there so much low hanging fruit

    21:00 how different manufacturers are stuck or open to change

    25:30 finding the first customers

    29:00 working with clients to build viable solutions without customising too much

    32:00 how the OSS team fires itself

    37:00 how different software has different sales and decision making processes

    41:20 the necessary founder skills

    44:15 how AI is affecting manufacturing

    49:10 trends in manufacturing and how its all changing now

    55:30 favourite questions

    Links

    OSS Ventures website - https://www.oss.ventures/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

    Empty Planet by Darrell Bricker & John Ibbitson

    Bio

    Renan Devillières,

    CEO OSS Ventures

    A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Renan began his career as a consultant at McKinsey, before becoming an economist at the OECD and then strategic project manager for the Richemont Group. After his various experiences, Renan launched into...

  • Governance is all too often seen in startup companies as a chore, or necessary evil when it can be a positive and enable success. Dermot Campbell, founder of CEEIO, is trying bring more of the latter to the venture world. In this episode, he discusses how startups can enable good governance without spending too much time on it and make it a means to the right end rather than an end in itself.

    Dermot covers a lot of areas, including:

    what is governancethe importance of maintaining stakeholder relationshipswhen startups should start introducing governance structureshow governance should lead growthwho should take the lead on board creationthe role of fund managersgood preparation for board meetingsbuilding effective board agendasthe value in identifying riskssetting up risk assessments and how these can lead to key objectiveshow to generate relevant KPIshow to translate a business plan into something usefulgenerating the right boardthe commons mistakes made by foundersthe rise of ESG and how its different in startups from quoted companies

    Whether you are a founder looking to put governance into place or an investor helping or wanting a company to do it, this is an essential discussion.

    01:00 Dermot introduces himself

    02:00 What is SEEIO

    03:10 What is governance

    04:20 the importance of maintaining stakeholder relationships

    05:40 importance of creating a governance framework

    06:15 how should new startups approach governance

    08:40 when to create the board

    09:45 who takes the lead

    11:30 role of fund managers

    12:30 the work in preparing for board meetings

    15:00 don't just sell - value in identify risks

    16:30 setting up appropriate risk assessment

    20:30 how to use a business plan and use it to generate objectives

    22:10 working on KPIs

    24:00 building effective board agendas

    27:20 generating the right board and founder relationship with them

    30:30 role of independent NEDs in startups

    32:10 what mistakes do founders make

    33:30 value of governance in improving odds for fundraising

    35:50 rise of ESG and how investors care about G - G facilitates E & S

    42:20 favourite questions

    Links

    SEEIO website - https://seeio.co.uk/

    Dermot on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dermot-campbell-3178a326/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    The Go To Market Handbook for B2B SaaS Leaders by Richard Blunder

    MEDDICC: The ultimate guide to staying one step ahead in the complex sale by Andy Whyte

    Bio

    Dermot Campbell

    CEO, SEEIO

    Dermot Campbell is an experienced fintech leader,...

  • Getting big returns in venture capital can involve stepping away from the mainstream and investing in opportunities that others won't. Will Gibbs of Octopus Ventures has a reputation for investing in areas others see as taboo. We ask him about being a contrarian investor, how to do it well and what needs to change to create a successful investment.

    In a discussion filled with numerous examples, Will discusses:

    getting big enough markets when the market is somewhat hiddenbalancing new technology and new marketswhen specialist investors are neededjudging whether a company will be ripe for follow-on investmenthow taboo investments can interact with social changesequencing market expansionwhat a company needs to internationalisewhat problems that internationalising doesn't solvebuilding deal flow in taboo areashow the venture capital industry is creating some of the problemsthe value of team diversity in looking away from consensus areaswhether valuations are different in taboo areas.

    In a wide ranging conversation, Will brings a great perspective on how to bring mainstream venture capital skills to genuinely new areas. Its a great discussion for investors and companies who dare to be different. Enjoy!

    01:00 Will introduces himself

    03:40 Who Octopus Ventures are

    06:30 Contrarian and tabooo investing

    07:45 Example: Elvie - silent breast pump

    09:50 Example: Pelago - substance use disorder

    13:20 the size of taboo markets, challenges in assessing true market size

    16:00 new tech and new markets - need for specialists

    17:30 Example Overture - improving and automating IVF

    19:20 market meets social movements - will someone follow-on?

    22:05 assessing the pace of social change - risk of too early

    25:30 sequencing the right national / international markets

    25:45 Example Skin & Me - getting expansion right and not too quick

    29:30 Time and capital to internationalise

    31:00 when is the right or wrong time to internationalise

    33:30 building deal flow in taboo areas

    35:15 to what extent is the venture capital industry part of the problem - value of diversity

    38:05 is the industry going in the right direction?

    40:00 are valuations different in taboo areas?

    42:35 creating communities supporting companies

    47:45 prospects

    50:20 Favourite questions

    Links

    Octopus Investments: https://octopusinvestments.com/

    Octopus Ventures website: https://octopusventures.com/

    Companies mentioned:

    Pelago https://www.pelagohealth.com/

    Overture https://www.overture.life/

    Vira https://www.vira.health/

    Elvie https://www.elvie.com/en-gb

    Skin and me https://www.skinandme.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Essentialism by

  • Valuations are always a popular topic. With much discussion about whether we are at the bottom of the current cycle, it seems a good time to revisit and we invited back someone who has experienced several market cycles: John Glencross, co-founder of Calculus Capital.

    We had a great discussion on how the current market, how this compares with recent times and how a fund manager handles them. Topics discussed include:

    how companies are accepting lower valuationsthe danger of growth at any pricewhere there are still bubbles and what the consequences of these might behow to manage investing when valuations are highthe psychology of down rounds preferential return structures and what John is seeing in the marketreal unicorns versus valuation aberrationshow valuation matters for investinghow Calculus values existing portfolioJohn's sense of valuations in the EIS & VCT market and where he thinks the discrepancies arehow close we are to the bottom of the valuation cycle

    Talking with someone who has seen several downturns gave a great perspective on all these topics and there's lots for all advisers and investors. Enjoy!

    01:00 John introduces himself

    04:30 recent exit patterns

    06:00 companies accepting lower valuations attraction of investment vs exits

    07:30 avoiding growth at any price - US vs UK

    10:15 where there is still bubbles

    13:15 investing when valuations are high - changed pace of investments in recent years

    16:45 the psychology of down rounds

    18:45 preferential return structures and the general tightening of terms in market

    26:00 when are unicorns a market aberration?

    28:30 how valuation matters for investing

    31:10 portfolio valuation - lags, being realistic and getting a good process

    35:00 how EIS managers are using unrealised performance as marketing, but its not similar to exits

    41:00 what is an acceptable band of uncertainty? How exits matter

    44:15 are we at the bottom of the valuation cycle?

    48:45 favourite questions

    Links

    Calculus Capital website: https://www.calculuscapital.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Sunshine & Shadows

    The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

    Sing as We Go by Simon Heffer

    Bio

    John Glencross

    Chief Executive and Cofounder, Calculus Capital

    John co-founded Calculus with Susan McDonald in 1999, creating one of the UK’s most successful,...

  • When we last spoke with Harry Heartfield of Edition, the leisure sector was all about recovering the pandemic. Fortunately, we have moved on so we thought it was time to get him back to discuss where we are now, how his investment philosophy has evolved and what the prospects for exits are now.

    We covered a lot areas in our discussion, including:

    the unevenness of the current recoverythe difference that geography and target market makesthe need to rebalance portfolio risk nowhow live entertainment and hospitality are doinghow to run live events professionally and Edition's role in supporting thatprospects for exitshow the landscape of purchasers looksthe challenges of making rollups workwhy profitability matters more than everhow and why to set up EIS deals six months in advance

    Its another great discussion - Harry is both erudite and insightful, and the lessons are not just about the leisure sector . Enjoy!

    00:50 Harry introduces himself

    03:00 Why Edition is more than a fund manager

    05:00 How does the leisure sector feel now?

    08:00 the unevenness of the recovery

    10:00 where is recovering and where isn't - geographic and demographic differences

    13:40 rebalancing risk in portfolio

    15:30 how live entertainment and events are doing

    19:30 the return after pandemic

    20:30 how to get professionalism in live events

    25:30 the prospects for exits returning

    28:10 political games amongst the big players in live entertainment and the structure of purchasers

    31:20 making rollups work - the danger of multiple arbitrage and focus on synergies

    35:45 how long to build a company?

    40:15 the importance of profitability in the current market and when there is a trade off vs growth

    44:30 messaging around doing something different

    47:30 why Edition is lining companies up for investment 6mths in advance

    50:20 the challenges of agreeing deals 6 mths in advance

    54:00 favourite questions

    Links

    Edition Capital - https://www.editioncapital.co.uk/

    Harry on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-heartfield-2275983a/

    Email [email protected]

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested book and media

    If This is a Man by Primo Levi

    The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

    Bio

    Harry Heartfield

    Senior Partner, Edition Capital

    Harry has over 15 years’ experience in the leisure sector. In 2011, he joined boutique asset manager Ingenious becoming a Senior Investment Manager in their Live Entertainment Team. At Ingenious, he was responsible for working across several investment funds including several Venture Capital Trusts with a focus on leisure assets. During his time at Ingenious, he also developed and launched several investment products aimed at...

  • Assessing companies for venture capital investment is often more of an art than a science. Richard Blakesley is trying to change that with Venture Cubed. Its rating system aims to objectively assess how investible new companies are. We asked him to talk about how they built their rating system, what it tells us about the venture industry and how it might change it going forward.

    This is the second part of our excellent discussion. In the previous episode, we spoke about his rating system and what matters when assessing companies for investment. In this one, we discuss scaling the UK venture capital industry, indexation and investing at scale. In particular, we talk about:

    the proportion of companies that should be getting investmentthe challenge of getting more investment into different companies instead of boosting valuationswhether support and investment should come from the same organisationcreating a index for venture capital and benchmarkinghow to make that index investibledata and creating systems for intermediate valuationsbuying and selling a venture capital indexdifferent investment models that might be usedwhy bigger funds would expect to outperform smaller funds

    As you can see, we covered a lot of ground. This is a really important discussion for the venture capital industry: there could be an opportunity for it to scale up dramatically in the near future, but how it does that really matters. This discussion may not produce all the answers, but at least it asks the questions. And don't forget part 1!

    00:45 How many companies get funding that deserve it and what's the shortfall in companies not being funded that should?

    05:00 inflating valuations versus broadening the range companies getting investment - need new channels for pension funds

    08:00 why the industry needs to change - case for passive management

    10:00 the challenges of indexing venture capital

    11:00 separating investment and support - how passive managers might arrange that

    14:30 the real role of a fund manager

    21:00 issue of intermediate valuation (before exit) - data collection on private countries

    26:20 data protection & confidentiality

    27:40 how to make index investible / expand coverage - without diluting quality

    33:00 buying & selling index - fund types, physical vs derivative

    35:00 creating funds where industry can write a big cheque

    35:45 bigger diversified funds outperform

    37:00 the power law and reversion to mean

    42:00 co-investment model and role of BBB - public plus private models

    45:30 favourite questions

    Links

    Venture Cubed website - https://www.venturecubed.com/

    Richard's email: [email protected]

    British Business Bank venture capital reviews: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/uk-venture-capital-financial-returns-2023/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books and media

    Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock

  • Assessing companies for venture capital investment is often more of an art than a science. Richard Blakesley is trying to change that with Venture Cubed. Its rating system aims to objectively assess how investible new companies are. We asked him to talk about how they built their rating system, what it tells us about the venture industry and how it might change it going forward.

    We had such a good discussion that we have split it into two parts. In this episode, we discuss how he measures companies. In the second part, we talk more about the wider industry. Here we discuss:

    what their rating system aims to measurehow they assess how good the ratings arewhat are the important factors in the ratingthe weights that are given to those factorshow they quantify factors that are more qualitativethe challenges in analysing financial modelswhere founders don't understand what investors wanthow founders can get good advice on fundraisingthe process of giving feedback to founders and how receptive they arethe mistakes that founders often makethe proportion of companies that are really investiblewhat investible really meanswhere funding gaps are

    As you can see, we covered a lot of ground. Whether you are an investor thinking about how to assess companies or a founder considering fundraising, there's a lot for you here. And don't miss part 2!

    01:00 Richard Blakesley introduces himself

    02:20 What Venture Cubed does

    03:45 What are Venture Cubed scoring? - investibility

    06:00 How he measures the success of ratings

    09:25 What are the most important factors

    12:20 How they quantify qualitative factors

    14:20 Issues are around bias in interviews

    18:10 Assessing companies without interviewing management

    19:00 How founders often don't understand the desires of investors

    22:00 Getting good advice on how to fundraise

    26:30 How founders get feedback from the rating process

    30:20 The receptiveness of founders to feedback

    32:45 What mistakes do founders often make?

    38:50 How does Venture Cubed weight the factors?

    42:40 What proportion of companies are investible?

    45:15 How many companies get funding that deserve it and what's the shortfall in companies not being funded that should?

    Links

    Venture Cubed website - https://www.venturecubed.com/

    Richard's email: [email protected]

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Bio

    Richard Blakesley

    Founder & CEO, Venture Cubed

    **tbc

  • Investing in companies that are starting out presents different challenges from when they are more established. Oxford Technology has probably been investing in new science and technology companies for longer than than anyone else in the (S)EIS/UK VC world. We get Director Andrea Mica to discuss how to go about it.

    In a discussion that is full of examples, both successful and unsuccessful, we cover a wider range of areas:

    how to validate the science / technology when there is no saleshow to invest without specialist knowledgebuilding appropriate experimentslooking beyond the first experimentthe importance of testing commercialityavoiding solutions looking for a problemdeveloping founder skills and encouraging them to try salesthe value of contrarianism

    With lots of experience, Andrea gives lots of great insights into how they approach the challenge and there is plenty for investors and founders to learn from. Hope you enjoy it!

    00:45 Intro to Andrea

    06:00 History of Oxford Technology

    09:40 Geographically close companies versus distant

    12:30 Validating the science / product at the early stage

    16:00 Example - viral pathway

    21:00 The usefulness of specialist knowledge

    26:30 How to building experiments - appropriate size and looking to future experiments

    28:30 Testing commerciality: balancing exploration vs definitive answers

    33:00 Example - value of testing hand strength vs recovering hand functionality

    36:00 Solutions looking for a problem

    40:00 Challenge of products that reduce pay of those buying. example - technology to discriminate moles

    43:00 Founder skills

    46:00 Importance of sales and persuading founders to learn to like it

    50:00 Recent trends and the value of contrarianism

    55:30 Favourite questions

    Links

    Oxford Technology website - https://www.oxfordtechnology.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested book and media

    Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

    Bio

    Andrea Mica

    Director, Oxford Technology

    Investment Career

    Oxford Technology Management Ltd – OT(S)EIS Fund Director. Responsible for souring selecting and supporting companies in the fund. The Fund now has invested £11m.

    2009 - Royal Society Enterprise Fund at the Royal Society.

    Short term role to help structure the investment evaluation process, train an incoming analyst and help carry out due diligence on the first investments.

    2005 IP Group Plc - Responsible for selecting investment opportunities in the partner universities, conducting technology and market due diligence , building startup up team and presenting the investment case to the investment board.

    This was followed by a period as director of the companies formed

    1999: CFB Technology, Flintstone Plc - Responsible for investigating the technologies in which the group invested and then in helping the teams/companies get started.

    Other

    Oxford Creativity Trainer and Problem Solver

    Cleansteel Ltd – (Business developing and running a recycling process) Co- Founder

    Oxford University Begbroke Business Development Fellow

  • Yet again, the EIS navigator team has got its all-star panel to discuss what happened in 2023 and how 2024 is shaping up. Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Director General of EIS Association, Neil Cole, Head of Private Markets Distribution, UBS Wealth Management, and Kealan Doyle, Director, Symvan Capital join Brian to pick through the events of the past year and the prospects for 2024.

    We chat through many areas of interest:

    how has fundraising gonewhether some VCTs are sitting on too much cashhow easy is it for companies to raise moneythe need for discipline when making follow-on investmentswhether valuations have bottomedhow UK venture capital compares with the US and Silicon Valleythe renewal of the tax advantaged schemes (EIS, VCT and SEIS)whether the increase in SEIS limits is having an effect yeteffect of the new Consumer Duty ruleswhether some risk warnings are flawed

    And, as usual, we get our guests to look forward to 2024 and make some predictions.

    Links:

    EIS Assocation - https://eisa.org.uk/

    Symvan Capital - https://www.symvancapital.com/

    UBS Wealth Management - https://www.ubs.com/uk/en/wealth-management/home.html

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Bios

    Neil Cole

    Neil Cole is the Head of Private Markets Distribution at UBS Wealth Management. He has responsibility for the Private Markets product range offered to UBS clients in UK and Jersey, which includes all of the tax efficient investment world including EIS, VCTs, inheritance tax, ISAs, and other relevant product types.

    Kealan Doyle

    Kealan is CEO and co-founder of Symvan Capital. He has worked with venture capital companies for 15 years, both in a corporate finance advisory capacity as well as a fund manager. He prefers to invest in a wide range of technology companies, but is also very interested in finding synergies within the Symvan portfolio of companies. Company interests include big data analytics, fintech, SaaS, 3D printing and network security. Before his involvement in venture capital investing, Kealan previously lead a structured equity products team at HSBC, and has worked at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and UBS. Together with Nicholas, he has since founded his own entrepreneurial businesses to focus on VC investing. Kealan holds degrees from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto.

    Christiana Stewart-Lockhart

    Christiana Stewart-Lockhart is the Director General of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA). She previously spent more than a decade working in Westminster including ten years at the Institute of Economic Affairs. She also founded EPICENTER, a Brussels based network of some of the most respected think tanks from across Europe. Christiana holds a BA in Politics from the University of York. She is a member of TISA’s Children’s Financial Education Policy Council and also sits on the Advisory Board for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship.

  • In this episode we take another look at debt funding for high growth companies. Juice has a novel approach using marketing data and its CEO, Katherine Chan, comes on to discuss their approach and the wider funding market.

    We cover a lot topics., including:

    why alternative funders have arisen in the marketthe pros and cons of using revenue based fundingwhen debt finance is appropriate in high growth companieshow Juice uses marketing data in its approachwhat makes reliable marketing datahow to navigate the risk of rising CAC/CPAhow lenders can give support to companiesthe concerns that borrowers have and how these can be addressed

    We finish off by discussing some recent market trends, including the change in availability of funding. Its a great discussion!

    Links

    Juice website - https://velocity-group.com/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books / media

    Clara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Atomic Habits by James Clear

    Bio

    Katherine Chan

    Chief Executive Officer, Velocity Juice

    Katherine serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Juice, a forward-thinking financial services company dedicated to providing growth capital for digital-first businesses. Katherine's journey in the financial sector spans over 19 years, marked by roles in banking and risk management at institutions including Commerzbank AG, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank.

    Transitioning from banking to the startup world, Katherine joined Juice in 2019 as the Chief Financial Officer and has played a pivotal role in the company's development and rebranding from Velocity Juice to Juice. Her expertise in finance and risk management has been a key driver in Juice's evolution, leading to her recent advancement to the position of CEO.

  • Amongst EIS funds and VCTs, consumer companies is less popular than B2B investments but still have their attractions. VGC Partners is one of the few managers that focus on this area and we get Investment Director, Phoebe Scriven to discuss it.

    In a fascinating discussion we cover many topics:

    why consumer is still attractive despite the economyhow the dynamics of returns in consumer venture capital investments is different from B2Bhow to understand the consumer when its not something that you would buy yourselfgetting conviction when data is limiteddeveloping investment thesesfinding quality within a group of companies within the same spacehow creative companies can find a formula for repeat success

    Phoebe brings lots of real life examples and really brings out her thought processes and approach to making investments.

    01:00 how Phoebe became involved in venture capital

    02:40 what VGC does

    04:45 why is consumer attractive now

    07:00 consumer brands don't scale as quickly - don't need unicorns to get good returns

    13:00 B2C vs B2B investing -

    14:00 understanding the consumer if you aren't the consumer

    19:00 how to get insights into consumers - qualitative insights

    23:15 quantitative insights

    26:45 thinness of data and using opinions: testing beliefs and getting conviction

    32:45 looking for differentiation when you see a lot of similar companies

    36:45 example of circular economy companies

    41:30 other areas of current interest - VR gaming,

    46:45 creating formulas for repeated creative success

    49:50 favourite questions

    Links

    VGC website - https://vgc.partners/

    Phoebe's email - [email protected]

    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebescriven/

    Subscribe to the EIS Navigator podcast on most services here: https://the-eis-navigator.captivate.fm/listen

    Suggested books

    Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull

    Culture Code by Daniel Coyle

    Bio

    Phoebe Scriven

    Investment Director, VGC Partners

    Phoebe leads early-stage EIS investing at VGC Partners.

    After reading English at Oxford, Phoebe began her career in product innovation and strategy, working with major FMCG companies and travelling across the globe to better understand different consumers. From there, she moved into consulting and development finance, while (outside of her day job) getting increasingly involved with the London start-up ecosystem via DevelopHer, a non-profit organsiation. In 2019, Phoebe made the move into venture capital, joining Supernode Global, where she made her first investments and exit. Phoebe joined VGC Partners at the beginning of 2023.