As a founder raising capital, choosing the right investors is hugely important. You’re going to be wedded to them for many years to come, through the good and the bad times, so make sure you’re really comfortable with them.
When talking to investors, treat it as a two way process. We’ve thought carefully about how we can really get to know you and your business (and vice versa) so that during this process you’ll also get a flavour of what we’re like to work with as a team and how we can help bring your startup’s vision to life.
.
The first step is getting in touch with us either directly through our Pitch page on our website or via an intro (we particularly like referrals from operators and sector specialists). If you come through our website and don’t make it to a first call we’ll come back with an honest, high-level email outlining why you are not quite a fit for us right now. The most common reasons include:
🐣 Too early: We invest at Seed to Seed+ in revenue generating companies
🌍 Geographic scope: We currently invest in EIS-eligible UK-based start-ups only
💸 Investment scope: Our sector focus lies within FinTech, PropTech and ConsumerTech
❌ Not a tech business: We invest in software-focused start-ups whose core tech is a deep and unique differentiator
🧑🤝🧑 Founder-market-fit: Founders lacking a demonstrable ‘why us’
.
From there on it isn’t a tick-box exercise, instead it’s an opportunity for us to work together and try to figure out how we can best support you to grow your business. We like to work on your terms when it comes to timing, though here’s what you can typically expect from us:
👋 Stage 1: A first call with an Associate. At this stage we’ll be wanting to learn about you, the problem you’re solving and how you see the world differently.
🤓 Stage 2: Partner meeting. This is when we’ll start digging into your company’s major challenges and talking through how you’re thinking about growing the business. Behind the scenes we’ll want to test your product, talk to some of your customers and hopefully have you meet the rest of the Love Ventures team in person.
👫 Stage 3: Advisor meets. We work super closely with our Advisors, who themselves have grown and exited businesses across FinTech, PropTech and ConsumerTech. This is when you’ll get a sense of the broader Love Ventures family and our industry expertise.
🤝 Stage 4: The final stage is our Investment Committee. If we’re all bought in at IC then we’ll move swiftly to issue a term sheet and commence final due diligence.
.
If you’re building a UK-based early-stage FinTech, PropTech or ConsumerTech company, get in touch with us via your network or submit your pitch deck via our website and let’s chat. 💙
