Jack Diamond

“Investors when presented with a good opportunity remain more than willing to back young innovative UK businesses.” 💬🪙 Following the launch of the Mobeus Income & Growth VCT and The Income & Growth VCT (the Mobeus VCTs) £70mn share offer (with an over-allotment option of £20mn) this week, Nicholas Hyett, CFA, Investment Manager, Wealth Club, comments on the encouraging pace of the raise in an article for This Is Money. The two VCTs have a combined portfolio of around 50 companies, ranging from early-stage firms to later-stage ones that are already profitable, supporting young businesses that are vital to job creation and growth. https://lnkd.in/e8tYb79T #VCTs #investment #growthcapital | UK investors only. Capital at risk. Not an investment recommendation. 

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Tonight, Anna Sweetman is joining a Startup Fundraising & Investment Panel hosted by Entrepreneurs Collective alongside investors from Kavedon Kapital, 21x21 and MMC Ventures. The conversation will cover a variety of topics around navigating the UK's fundraising landscape, including: 💡 How to stand out to investors 💡 Key decision-making factors for investors 💡 What to expect at different stages of funding 💡 Navigating common fundraising challenges

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🇬🇧 Founders: Ready to protect what you’ve built? 💡 If you’re heading into a funding round or planning your next big move, your valuation can make or break your equity position. On 27th November at The Ministry Borough, London, we’re running a one-hour session on the strategies that help founders attract investors - while keeping control in their own hands. 🕒 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM 🔗 Grab your free ticket here: https://hubs.li/Q02W8rJn0 No fluff, just real insights for founders who want to grow without losing their edge. See you there? 😀

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Get up to speed on the latest news from the early-stage startup ecosystem 👇 💼 UK government extends tax relief until 2035, giving investors more incentives to back early-stage startups, according to UK Tech News 🚀 Startup acquisitions surge in the U.S.—39% of M&A deals are now made up of larger startups buying smaller ones, as reported by Crunchbase 🏠 Growth is expected for fintech startups within the mortgage industry as lower US interest rates create more opportunities for lending, based on TechCrunch 💡 OpenAI raises $6.6 billion, pushing its valuation to $157 billion, spotlighting the continuing AI boom, as mentioned by Fortune Swipe through the carousel and stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks 📣 #ConnectdNewsRound #Founder #Startup #StartupNews #Entrepreneurship

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Lemon Raises £500K in Pre Seed Funding Round to Enable SMBs to Save Thousands on SaaS Spending Co-Founder and CEO of Lemon Matt Bird commented: “It’s clear that we’re going through a really interesting period for SMBs at the moment,. Taking into consideration the challenging economic landscape with funding drying up everywhere you turn, SMBs now need the tools and services to help them build better businesses as cost-efficiently as possible. With software being the third largest spend for an SMB, we really think Lemon can become a core part of how an SMB uses SaaS. https://lnkd.in/eHzkqN5v Koen Christiaens Edward Stevenson #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Mountside - 400+ VC firms with fresh capital and UK focus https://lnkd.in/eERd3pHS Mountside Ventures keeps track of VC forms that recently raised a fund - they are most likely to be actively investing. The focus is mostly, but not exclusively, UK. ----- ♻️Like, Comment, Share Follow Startup Vencha for more, Stop Thinking & Start Doing.

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What insights would you give to founders navigating the fundraising landscape? Catch up with our latest UK VC Temperature Check webinar to find out Rob Moffat, Susan Lin and Suzanne Ashman Blair's answers to that question. Juliet Rogan led this panel of experts covering a range of topics, perfect for founders from pre seed to late stage ventures seeking to understand more about navigating the fundraising landscape. Swipe through for the highlights on the themes covered and find the full webinar here: https://grp.hsbc/6048s2QTe #Innovation #VentureCapital #Investment #Startups #Founders

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Tune into HSBC Innovation Banking's UK VC Temperature Check to hear Rob Moffat's thoughts on the key trends and what founders should be mindful of when fundraising: "What we like to see at late stages is what you've done and why it's impressive. Spend less time on what you did before the company and spend a lot less time on the vision and market size. You've built a real business at that point. So talk about that business."

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🌍 Upcoming fund close – SEIS 🌍 Following the launch of our SEIS fund we are now counting down to the first close of the fund on the 9th August. The SEIS fund will invest in early-stage startups across the UK that are accelerating the transition to net zero and a green economy.    The SEIS fund will build on the progress of OnePlanetCapital’s EIS fund which was launched in 2021 and has grown to £10m of assets under management with 31 investments made.  For further information visit our website - https://lnkd.in/eqdcwBMf 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. Investment in the OnePlanetCapital Climate Change SEIS is restricted to Professional Clients, High Net-Worth Investors and Self-Certified Sophisticated Investors. Always take time when considering your investment decisions. Financial advice is recommended.

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We are incredibly grateful for our brilliant investors! Take a moment to learn more about our recent investment round and a brief update on our clinical trial progress with the University of Bath and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust! Email the team to find out more about our transformative results. 📩 - [email protected] #ClinicalTrial #investments #Prehab #Preactiv #innovation #healthtech

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We are Seven Legal. The legal practice who solves your complex legal problems, simply. We support high-growth, #vc backed startups in the UK and US. We provide legal support in all areas of your business journey from #seed stage onwards. 💰 Our guarantee to you: we deliver – or your money back Looking for some legal support? Let's chat! See comments for a free discovery call to find out how Seven Legal can help you. #startup #highgrowth #legal #founders

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💼 Top 10 UK Venture Capital Firms by Deal Count - Plus the Power of NEDs 💼 The UK's venture capital firms are leading the charge in backing high-growth companies, but think abut this..... if each deal also added a non-executive director (and they invariably do) to bring experienced governance and strategy into play, let’s look at the numbers: Let's start with the top 10 most active VCs in the UK in 2024, and the potential impact: 1. SFC Capital - 99 deals   2. Access EIS - 65 deals   3. Octopus Ventures - 54 deals   4. BGF Growth Capital - 47 deals   5. Ascension - 34 deals   6. Fuel Ventures 🚀 Ventures - 31 deals   7. Seedcamp - 28 deals   8. LocalGlobe - 26 deals   9. Par Equity - 25 deals   10. Amadeus Capital Partners - 24 deals If each deal added a NED, and each fund paid an average recruitment fee of £25,000 per hire, the total cost across these deals would be: 😳 SFC Capital: £2.475m   😳 Access EIS: £1.625m   😳 Octopus Ventures: £1.35m   😳 BGF Growth Capital: £1.175m   😳 Ascension: £850k   😳 Fuel Ventures: £775k   😳 Seedcamp: £700k   😳 LocalGlobe: £650k   😳 Par Equity: £625k   😳 Amadeus Capital Partners: £600k  👉 Total cost: £10.825 million 💸 Ps. Many recruitment fees are in excess of double the "average" fee of £25k. At Virtualnonexecs.com, we work with VCs to flatten the cost of recruitment across their portfolios. The VNXD Operator Network is available on a flat annual subscription - for less than the cost of a single hire. You get access to 22,000 non-executive directors, supported by internal headhunters and there's no "per hire" fee. This means ongoing access to the best talent with no extra costs for every deal. If you are interested in accessing this level of support, let’s discuss. You can book a demo with me here: https://lnkd.in/d3na7CEC or simply drop me a DM. 👉 #VentureCapital #Startups #NEDs #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Investment #UKTech

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Pension funds enjoy a very material tax exemption privilege. I wonder if some element of that privilege should be linked to commitment to the sector, increased over time to stop a wall of money, where for example a vehicle like Adam proposes and/or direct investment would qualify. Pension funds free not to participate, might have a size threshold, but if they do not they pay some tax. Link that to whatever regulatory tweaks needed to ensure funds are not penalized for investing a portion in growth - rationally 4% has to be a perverse allocation, someone has got the rules wrong. It feels like it is not in their investors' interests, aside from the societal point of the need to support growth, the no.1 claimed objective of the incoming government.

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💷🇬🇧 Fintech remains the UK’s most heavily funded sector, with standout investments in companies like Monzo Bank and Moneybox. Healthtech followed closely, with London-based femtech startup Flo raising $200 million, marking Europe’s first femtech unicorn. Other key segments drawing investor attention in 2024 include generative AI and autonomous mobility. 📈 From AllFocal Optics (formerly Lark Optics) to Scalpel AI and Diffblue, the UK has seen some notable funding rounds recently. Here, we present a roundup of the latest UK startup funding activity that may pique your interest. 🤖 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eMFjG7aA Hometree - Simon Phelan autone - Adil Bouhdadi, Harry Glucksmann Cheslaw CULT MIA - Nina Briance iGent AI - Sean Ward, Martin Szummer Auquan - Chandini Jain, Shubham Jain GridBeyond - Michael Phelan, Richard O' Loughlin Mindtech Global Limited - Steve Harris Birl - Cam McGimpsey, Peter Lydon Anam.ai - Caoimhe Murphy, Ben Carr Definition Health - Sandeep Chauhan, Rosie Scott #tech #funding #news #UKtech #fintech #UKstartup #VC #womenintech #fundinground #technology #startup #investment #innovation

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It's just Fintech-tacular! Scottish Fintech's just keep on cashing in on #Innovation and #Investment. In the past year, the Scottish #FinTech sector has seen an impressive surge in investment, attracting over £305 million. This figure represents a whopping 200% increase compared to the previous year, underscoring the sector's rapid growth and the increasing confidence of investors in Scotland’s FinTech ecosystem​ A significant portion of the investment, around 60%, has been directed towards FinTech SMEs specialising in data and payment innovation. These companies are well ahead of the curve, when it comes to developing technologies that enhance financial transactions, data security, and processing efficiency. Companies focused on wealth management solutions and financial regulation have also been major recipients of the funding. These key players are innovating in areas such as automated #wealth advisory, #compliance solutions, and financial #risk management. ​ Located in Edinburgh, the Smart Data Foundry has received a hefty £22.5 million to advance open banking and financial data solutions. This initiative aims to provide a trusted environment for global participants to research and develop innovative financial solutions that offer social and economic benefits. The centre is a collaboration between FinTech Scotland, the The University of Edinburgh, The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA), and Scottish Enterprise​​. Nice work! Scotland's FinTech scene is booming, with the number of companies soaring to 211—a remarkable 13% increase year-on-year! This exciting growth is fuelled by fresh startups entering the market and established international FinTech firms making their mark in Scotland. Notable Achievements ⤵ Scotland’s FinTech cluster has achieved formal European cluster excellence accreditation, which highlights its robust ecosystem and capacity for innovation. This recognition has further enhanced Scotland’s reputation as a leading FinTech hub in Europe and globally​. The Scottish FinTech sector is thriving, with several companies achieving significant milestones. Snugg has partnered with TSB Bank, winning the "Best Fintech Collaboration 2023" award. BR-DGE was named "Fintech of the Year 2023" for its innovative payments platform. Aveni secured £11 million in funding to develop a large language model for financial services. FreeAgent won the "Best Wellbeing at Work" award, highlighting its positive work environment. Lastly, Grand Bequest is recognised for its focus on environmental sustainability in FinTech. Whoosh! From securing substantial investments to pioneering groundbreaking technologies, these companies (and more) exemplify the cleverness and ingenuity #Scotland is known for. As they continue to innovate and grow, they prove that when it comes to FinTech, being Scottish means, you'd get a piece at anybody's door! 🤣 #proudaspunch

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