Last month, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that PitchBook has named Startup Funding Club #5 Most Active Angel & Seed Investor in the world in its 2018 Global League Table! And it does not end here – we have also been ranked #5 most active VC organisation in Europe across all categories and #3 in the UK & Ireland just behind Enterprise Ireland and Mercia Technologies.
This is a fantastic achievement and, given that we were relatively unknown outside of London only a few years ago, it is almost surreal to see SFC listed alongside some of the finest early stage investors such as Y Combinator, Techstars or Speedinvest. SFC initially started as a small angel club and has become the most active angel network in the UK, having been recognised as such by the UK Business Angels Association amongst others. We launched the first SFC fund in 2014 to leverage our angel network, and it has now grown to be one of the most active pre-seed funds in the UK (and in the world, apparently!), investing in over 40 companies per year.
Our strategy has always been to be “sector agnostic,” which allows us to look for great talent across all industries and irrespective of factors such as location, age, gender, or education. We are very proud of the entrepreneurs we have backed and believe that this approach has allowed us to build a more diversified portfolio of startup investments than traditional venture investors, with companies ranging from Food & Drink brands to Satellite Technology.
We have already seen some early successes in our portfolio such as Onfido, Screencloud or Cognism, which are leading the way for the next wave of companies that will be scaling up in 2019 – such as Transcend Packaging, Humanising Autonomy or Bloom Magic. We have achieved this in part thanks to our network of great co-investors, starting with the SFC angel investors who put their own cash where their mouth is and roll up their sleeves to support the companies that we invest in together. We are also lucky to work with a great network of later stage VCs that provide the capital needed to scale up our investments.
It is worth noting that, although we rely heavily on the great SEIS and EIS tax relief schemes established by the UK Government, we have achieved all of this without receiving any public money. This means that much like the startups we have backed, we have had to generate our own income to build a sustainable business. By doing so, we have faced the same issues as most of our portfolio companies and can better understand their own challenges.
We are thrilled to be recognised as one of the most active early stage investors globally. Our focus going forward is to deliver great returns to our investors and help our portfolio companies achieve their ambitious exit plans. We are looking forward to making some exciting announcements in 2019 and 2020 in this respect – watch this space!