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We can provide VC backed pre-seed and seed rounds with the minimum ticket usually being £150k. We also have our own Angel Network who can invest from £25k+ for equity. We are based in London, which enables access to the world's leading investors.
Traction is preferred but not a requirement. The more you have achieved, the better your chances of success. Evidence of users, paying customers or your own community are a good thing.
We like diverse, mixed gender and female teams and are open to invest in any sector (ideally full-time 2-3 complimentary skilled co-founders.
We’re very aware of your IP and treat it with the utmost of respect. Although we don't sign NDAs we're happy to sign a FriendDA.
We understand that finance and business may not be your strong points. As entrepreneurial designers, we have a foot in both camps - so we can provide you expert support - in what can be a complicated financial world.
From 5% for £150k
3% of Raise*
*Excluding potential fees set by our VC partners
Tell us about your startup by filling in our simple application form. Should you be successful we will contact you and invite you respond further. We receive a lot of entries so please bare in mind that it may take some time to get back to you (usually within 4 weeks).
If you don't hear from us unfortunately you may not have been successful. This usually means your idea doesn't quite fit our criteria just yet. Please don't be put off, we may recommend that you join our Spark course so your pitch is more investment ready. Or you can wait and re-apply when you feel you have improved your chances.
If successful, one of our investment team will contact you and arrange a one to one meeting where we can discuss your idea. This is followed up by a number of mentoring workshops, from our expert mentors, who have coached 100s of startups to raise funding. They will help you to get your pitch ready for the best chance of success, as your success is our success.
Demo day will be your chance to pitch in front of our investor partners. This will be followed up with a Q&A with the investment panel. After this process we will inform you if you've been successful and can enter the due diligence process. If you're not chosen to go forward by our VC partners we may put you forward to our Design Future Angels (see below).
Our fund is provided in partnership with SFC Capital, the most active seed-stage investor in the UK, and was ranked fifth globally by Pitchbook in both 2018 and 2019. Having backed more than 225 start-ups since its inception, notable companies in the SFC Capital portfolio include Onfido, Cognism, and Transcend Packaging
Due diligence is a process of doing a thorough review and assessment of your startup.
If your idea does not meet the criteria for investment from our VC partners, the good news is that we can still get you funding. We have attracted some of the countries leading Angels and we will introduce your startup to them through our website (where they can access to your pitch*), regular pitching events (starting in 2023) or private meetings organised by us.
*We are currently working on developing full features for this area of our website.
Having received early stage investment ourselves, we know that the first year can be critical. We can provide you support to help accelerate your business, including early stage mentoring, brand design and other services. We can also help you plan and prepare for your journey to achieving a successful exit.
As designers we are keen to connect you others on a similar journey and create a like-minded community, for the Design Future Alumni, through IRL events.
