Companies

THE COMPANIES WE INVEST IN

We look for companies that are run by driven, ambitious and committed management teams that are experienced and knowledgeable in their marketplace.

Our companies will have already achieved impressive initial growth, but are now looking for support in taking the business to the next level. This is where we can help.

We are not in a hurry. We want to learn how the team manage issues and opportunities, how competitors behave, how customers perceive the product or service and how the business adjusts to growth, before we invest.

OUR INVESTMENT PROCESS

As an entrepreneur, we hope that you see us as your long-term, supportive partner. Our investment process is therefore as much about ensuring that we are the right fit for you, as you are for us. We believe that the best investments are those where we have open and productive relationships with our management teams.

HOW THE PROCESS WORKS:

After an initial review of a company’s pitch deck, we will request a telephone call to discuss the business and investment opportunity in more detail, this is usually with the Founder or CEO of the company.
If we believe that the company can progress to our next stage of assessment, we will ask the company to provide their investment memorandum, business plan and financial model to assist in the review process.
We appreciate that fundraising can take up a huge proportion of entrepreneur’s time, therefore we aim to provide quick feedback if the probability of receiving an investment from us becomes unlikely, as we work through developing our plans together.
The next stage of our investment process involves multiple face-to-face meetings in which we discuss the company’s strategy. For the first meeting, we will usually ask the entrepreneur to visit our offices for a couple of hours. We use this time to really get to know the entrepreneur, understand the challenges within the business and talk more about the company’s strategy and plans for growth. As mentioned above, we believe that productive working relationships produce the best results, therefore like to take the time to get to know our management teams.
After this, we begin our formal due diligence process. This involves an initial questionnaire, followed by independently-conducted financial, legal and other due diligence.
At the very end of the process, prior to the term sheet being signed, we will work to agree on financial milestones and other objectives that the management teams think are achievable for the next 12-18 months.
We will commonly have a seat on the board and in some cases observer seats for smaller investments.

HOW WE CAN HELP

  • We dedicate at least two full days a month to each of our management teams, to help with governance, operational and strategic matters.
  • We have built our own private, public and international businesses so, we hope we can provide relevant and useful advice every step of the way through a company’s growth.
  • We give companies access to our network of advisers, whether in finance, technology or operations to help our companies reach their goals.
  • We see ourselves as a long-term partner, so seek to provide follow on capital to our companies. We will only look to sell once the company has reached its full potential.
  • We look to take a seat on the board, or an observer seat, to help companies implement mature governance structures.
  • We provide our companies with their working capital requirements for the next 12-18 months, as stated in their business plan, and will look to repeat this process once milestones have been met.

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