--- title: SFC Alumni Highlights 2018 | SFC Capital description: It has been a fantastic year for Startup Funding Club’s portfolio companies and, now that we are reaching the end of it, it is time to highlight some of their 2018 achievements! image: https://sfccapital.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/banner_1545913188.webp --- Disclaimer Please note, company introductions through SFC Capital Ltd ('SFC') are only suitable for ‘High Net Worth Individuals’, or ‘Sophisticated Investors’ as defined by the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) who are familiar with and willing to accept the high risk associated with private investments. Any investor requesting to contact a company through SFC Capital does so at his/her own risk and is solely responsible for conducting any legal, accounting or due diligence review. There has been no investigation to the accuracy of any information or terms contained herein and we strongly suggest that you seek advice from a person authorised under the FSMA who specialises in advising on investments of this kind prior to commencement of any potential transaction. All content provided by SFC Capital is strictly for informational purpose only and does not constitute business, financial, investment, hedging, trading, legal, regulatory, tax or accounting advice or services. SFC Capital is an appointed representative of SFC Capital Partners Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) in the United Kingdom (FRN 736284). This website is intended for professional investors only; any reproduction of this information, in whole, or part, is prohibited. SFC Capital does not sell or offer to sell any securities and no information provided by SFC Capital is intended to constitute or to be interpreted as any such offer. SFC Capital simply provides an introductory service where potential partners of all sorts can meet. The SFC Angel Fund is managed by SFC Capital Partners Ltd (‘SFCCP’) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, firm reference number 736284. Information on the Fund is intended for professional investors only; any reproduction of this information, in whole, or part, is prohibited. The content is for information purposes only and should not be used or considered as an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell the securities mentioned herein. The SFC Angel Fund (the ‘SFC Fund’ or the ‘Fund’) is defined as an ‘unregulated collective investment scheme’ (‘UCIS’) and the promotion of a UCIS either within the UK or from the UK is severely restricted by statute. Consequently, this document is only directed at professional clients and eligible counterparties as defined by the FCA and also to persons of a kind to whom the Fund may lawfully be promoted by an authorised person by virtue of Section 238(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and COBS 4.12.4R. Any decision by an investor to buy shares in a fund must be made solely on the basis of the information and terms contained within the Fund’s offering memorandum. Investment in the Fund is made entirely at the investor’s own risk and professional advice should be sought in case of doubt. SFC Capital Partners Ltd (‘SFC’) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) in the United Kingdom, firm reference number 736284. This document is intended for professional investors only; any reproduction of this information, in whole, or part, is prohibited. The content is for information purposes only and should not be used or considered as an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell the securities mentioned herein. The SFC Angel Fund (the ‘SFC Fund’ or the ‘Fund’) is defined as an ‘unregulated collective investment scheme’ (‘UCIS’) and the promotion of a UCIS either within the UK or from the UK is severely restricted by statute. Consequently, this document is only directed at professional clients and eligible counterparties as defined by the FCA and also to persons of a kind to whom the Fund may lawfully be promoted by an authorised person by virtue of Section 238(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and COBS 4.12.4R. The SFC Angel Fund is managed by SFC Capital Partners Ltd (‘SFCCP’) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, firm reference number 736284. Information on the Fund is intended for professional investors only; any reproduction of this information, in whole, or part, is prohibited. The content is for information purposes only and should not be used or considered as an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell the securities mentioned herein. The SFC Angel Fund (the ‘SFC Fund’ or the ‘Fund’) is defined as an ‘unregulated collective investment scheme’ (‘UCIS’) and the promotion of a UCIS either within the UK or from the UK is severely restricted by statute. Consequently, this document is only directed at professional clients and eligible counterparties as defined by the FCA and also to persons of a kind to whom the Fund may lawfully be promoted by an authorised person by virtue of Section 238(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and COBS 4.12.4R. Any decision by an investor to buy shares in a fund must be made solely on the basis of the information and terms contained within the Fund’s offering memorandum. Investment in the Fund is made entirely at the investor’s own risk and professional advice should be sought in case of doubt. The SFC Angel Fund is an SEIS/EIS fund which raises money for early-stage businesses by investing in SEIS and EIS eligible ventures with the aim of returning a profit for investors in the fund. Investment in early-stage companies involves risks such as illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution. Investment in SEIS/EIS funds should be considered as part of a diversified portfolio. The availability of tax relief depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future. The availability of tax relief depends on the company invested in maintaining its SEIS/EIS qualifying status. There is no assurance that the investment objectives of any investment product will be achieved or that the strategies and methods described herein will be successful. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of an investment may go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the full amount invested. No warranties or representations of any kind are expressed or implied on this website. I Accept The Terms ## FCA Mandatory Risk Warning & Risk Summary > ## Risk Warning > > **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.** ## Risk Summary **Estimated reading time: 2 min** Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) considers this investment to be high risk.   What are the key risks? 1\. You could lose all the money you invest. Investments made by the SFC Angel Fund SEIS (the “Fund”) will be in shares in early-stage businesses. Investors in these shares often lose 100% of the money they invested, as many early-stage businesses fail. 2\. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here: [https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/investment-protection-checker/](https://sfccapital.com/fca-mandatory-risk-warning-and-risk-summary/%20https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/investment-protection-checker/)    Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here: [https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers](https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers) 3\. You won’t get your money back quickly Even if the businesses the Fund invests your money in are successful, it may take several years to get your money back. The most likely way to get your money back is if the businesses invested in by the Fund are bought by another business or list their shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common. 4\. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.  A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.  [https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest](https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest) 5\. The value of your investment can be reduced The percentage of each investee company that the Fund owns will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment in each investee company reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.  These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment. 6\. S/EIS tax reliefs are not guaranteed Whilst it is the Fund's intention to invest mostly in companies qualifying under SEIS legislation, SFC cannot guarantee that all investments will qualify for S/EIS relief (or IHT relief) or, indeed, if they do initially, that they will continue to do so throughout the life of the investment. The tax advantages of investing through the Fund are therefore not guaranteed.  If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here: [https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart](https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart)  Close 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. Take 2 minutes to learn more. [![SFC Logo + Title x web](https://sfccapital.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SFC%20Logo%20+%20Title%20x%20web.png?width=2000&name=SFC%20Logo%20+%20Title%20x%20web.png)](https://sfccapital.com) - [Startups](https://sfccapital.com/raise) - Investors - [SEIS Fund](https://sfccapital.com/seis-funds) - [EIS Fund](https://sfccapital.com/eis-funds) - [SEIS Explained](https://sfccapital.com/seis-explained) - [EIS Explained](https://sfccapital.com/eis-explained) - [Angel House](https://sfccapital.com/angel-house) - [Advisors](https://sfccapital.com/advisors) - [Portfolio](https://portal.sfccapital.com/portfolio) - [About Us](https://sfccapital.com/about-us) - [Blog](https://sfccapital.com/blog) - [Login](https://portal.sfccapital.com/login) # SFC Alumni Highlights 2018 [Alex Batlle Bosch, Brand Manager](https://sfccapital.com/blog/author/alex-batlle-bosch) Since 2016, Alex has led SFC Capital's digital communications, leveraging her background in social media management and creative work. - - 27 Dec 2018 [Startup Stories](https://sfccapital.com/blog/tag/startup-stories) ##### Share on - - - #### As we reach the end of a fantastic year for Startup Funding Club’s portfolio companies, it is time to highlight some of their 2018 achievements! The year started with the SFC Alumni Alumni Awards, where we acknowledged the efforts in fundraising, reporting, and commercial traction of portfolio companies [Tapoly](https://www.tapoly.com/), [Torsion IS](https://www.torsionis.com/), and [Olly’s Olives](http://ollysolives.com/) respectively. But we are not the only ones to recognise the potential of the SFC Alumni. This has been a busy awards year for our startups, with many of them receiving accolades for their hard work – from [Valkyrie Industries](https://www.valkyrie-vr.com/)winning the Best use of VR/AR Award at the [Go:Tech Awards](https://www.gotechawards.co.uk/news/winners-crowned-at-uks-leading-tech-awards/) and [Big Couch](https://www.bigcouch.co.uk/)’s co-founders Irina Albita and Maria Tanjala being named Blockchain Founder of the Year at the [UK Tech Founder Awards](http://techfounderawards.uk/2018-awards/), to food and drink companies as [Hunter & Gather](https://hunterandgatherfoods.com/), [Superfood Bakery](https://superfoodbakery.co.uk/), and [Davina Steel](https://www.davinasteel.com/) dominating their respective categories. Furthermore, we had the pleasure to close the year by handing out the Startup of the Year 2018 Award at the SFC Alumni Christmas Party earlier this month, which was granted to SFC-funded [Cognism](https://cognism.com/). Cognism has had a stellar year besides its increasing monthly revenues and its rapid growth [since Startup Funding Club first invested in it](https://www.startupfundingclub.com/blog/cognism-story). The marketing and sales acceleration platform has also closed two funding rounds this year – including a Series A led by [South Central Ventures](https://sc-ventures.com/), who invested £2M. But Cognism is not the only SFC-funded company to have raised remarkable amounts in 2018. Most of these funds come from rounds that have been led by SFC – including those closed by [Winning Minds](https://winningminds.ai/) and [MeVitae](https://mevitae.com/) –, with money typically coming in from both the [SFC Angel Network](https://startupfundingclub.com/page/invest) and SFC Funds. This year has also been noteworthy for our funds as we reached a very coveted milestone when the [SFC Angel Fund](https://startupfundingclub.com/startup/140/sfc-angel-fund) invested in [Blue Skies Space](http://www.blueskiesspace.co.uk/) and became our [100th fund investment](https://startupfundingclub.com/blog/startup-funding-club-closes-its-100th-fund-investment). Other Alumni are also in the process of fundraising – as is [Solo Coffee](https://solocoffee.co.uk/) with its Kickstarter campaign – or getting ready for further rounds in 2019 – as is the case of AI-driven [Humanising Autonomy](https://www.humanisingautonomy.com/). Despite its young age, the automotive company has already secured partnerships with Daimler, Airbus, and Cisco amongst others, and has had a hectic year closing their seed round and attending the [TechStars Mobility Program](https://techstars.wistia.com/medias/xofoqrr75d) in Detroit last summer. Humanising Autonomy has also had a great year when it comes to publicity, with the company having been featured in multiple publications worldwide including [Forbes DACH](https://www.forbes.at/artikel/auto-pilotin.html) and [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-16/to-get-ready-for-robot-driving-some-want-to-reprogram-pedestrians). Humanising Autonomy has not been the only SFC-backed business to have taken part in a renowned startup program this year. Earlier this year [Valkyrie Industries](https://www.valkyrie-vr.com/) participated in the [Digital Catapult 2018 Augmentor Programme](https://www.digicatapult.org.uk/news-and-views/press/augmentor-cohort-yr2/?tracking_id=3405c73e03f24aec86509f226542b54a) alongside nine other VR and AR businesses and joined the [Brinc Accelerator Program](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crIKZ5VzwC8) in Hong Kong this autumn as well. Other SFC Alumni have also been on business abroad in 2018, most notably [Vortex IoT](https://vortexiot.com/), which visited China this spring to take part in the final of the China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for Overseas Talents. The team is now back in Wales, where it will be busy with its recently announced partnership with Swansea University and Swansea City Bay Region’s [Factory of the Future](http://www.swanseabaycitydeal.wales/news/vortex-iot-announced-as-factory-of-the-future-partner/), which is set to boost Welsh innovation. This seems to have been an exceptional year for our Welsh Alumni, as south Wales-based [Transcend Packaging](http://transcendpackaging.com/) has secured strategic partnerships. In June, the company announced it had struck a [deal with McDonald’s](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-44493836) to supply the fast food giant with paper straws, and in October, it was announced that Transcend Packaging would be partnering with Plastico, the UK’s market leader in catering products. In addition to tackling plastic pollution, these partnerships will also benefit south Wales as Transcend Packaging’s factory is set to create two hundred new jobs once it is fully running. Last but not least, the year has culminated with fintech company [Bean](https://usebean.com/) being [acquired by BGL Group](https://www.bglgroup.co.uk/media/press-releases/october-2018/bgl-group-enters-open-banking-arena) and becoming the first Startup Funding Club portfolio company to exit. The digital personal finance manager has exited only two years after SFC’s investment, showing that, although rare, early exits can happen for early stage investors. This has certainly been a terrific year for the SFC Alumni Network. Our portfolio is starting to show solid growth and, following this year’s great developments and with bright companies as [Swytch Technology](https://www.swytchbike.com/) and [Leading Sports Media](http://leadsports.co.uk/) having just recently joined the portfolio, we can only be excited for what 2019 may bring.   *Meet the whole Startup Funding Club portfolio on* [*startupfundingclub.com/portfolio*](https://startupfundingclub.com/portfolio)*.* ## Related Articles 19 Apr 2017 [Events](https://sfccapital.com/blog/tag/events) ##### [Startup Funding Club holds its first Investor Event after the first close of the 2017 SFC Funds at The Ivy](https://sfccapital.com/blog/startup-funding-club-holds-investor-event-after-first-close-of-2017-sfc-funds-at-the-ivy) Startup Funding Club announces the close of the first tranche of the 2017 SFC SEIS/EIS Funds at its ... [Read More](https://sfccapital.com/blog/startup-funding-club-holds-investor-event-after-first-close-of-2017-sfc-funds-at-the-ivy) 26 Jul 2018 [News](https://sfccapital.com/blog/tag/news) ##### [SFC closes its 100th fund investment!](https://sfccapital.com/blog/startup-funding-club-closes-its-100th-fund-investment) SFC invests £570K into Blue Skies Space Ltd alongside the London Co-Investment Fund and Angel Invest... [Read More](https://sfccapital.com/blog/startup-funding-club-closes-its-100th-fund-investment) 2 Jan 2017 [Events](https://sfccapital.com/blog/tag/events) ##### [December Investor Event; Ending the Year with Something Special](https://sfccapital.com/blog/hinvestor-event-ending-year-something-special) The evening of Tuesday 6th of December marked the end of the 2016 season of Startup Funding Club’s i... 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This website is intended for  professional investors, high net worth investor or certified sophisticated investors only for the purposes of the FCA's Conduct of Business Sourcebook.; any reproduction of this information, in whole, or part, is prohibited. The content is for information purposes only and should not be used or considered as an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities. Investment in early-stage companies involves risks such as illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution. Investment in SEIS/EIS eligible companies should be considered as part of a diversified portfolio. The availability of tax relief depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future. The availability of tax relief depends on the company invested in maintaining its SEIS/EIS qualifying status. There is no assurance that the investment objectives of any investment opportunity will be achieved or that the strategies and methods described herein will be successful. The investment products cited herein may place capital at risk and therefore investors may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of an investment may go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the full amount invested. Companies’ pitches for investment are not offers to the public and investments can only be made by members of SFC Capital. SFC Capital takes no responsibility for this information or for any recommendations or opinions made by the companies. Neither SFC Capital nor any of its employees provide any financial or tax advice in relation to the investments and investors are recommended to seek independent financial and tax advice before committing. This website is not directed at or intended for publication or distribution to any person (natural or legal) in any jurisdiction where doing so would result in contravention of any applicable laws or regulations. No warranties or representations of any kind are expressed or implied herein. 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