How we operate & what we look for:

Our team has worked with companies at all stages throughout our careers but we have always preferred to be involved at the very beginning, when the odds of success seem small, where there is much uncertainty, and when founders need long-term partners.
It is here that we can help the most. We are focused on bringing the right elements into our group; sourcing vital engineers, honing product positioning, lining up initial customers and providing a world of deeply sought connections. The earliest days of a company often set the tone for all that comes later.

Team setup:

We have a small, core team but what we lose in scalability, we gain in speed. We are able to move extremely fast as a highly-engaged team on any opportunity that we like. We can debrief in real-time on any conversation we’ve had. We are able to build conviction quickly and without any process overhead.
Each of us has our own path in finding great opportunities. The moment we identify a company we like, we work as a unit. We all meet management and contribute to the process. We find that the close understanding we develop through this process is really helpful to our decision-making, as well as giving entrepreneurs a chance to understand who they’re getting into business with. After all, we invest in people, not strategies or data.
The only thing that matters is the body of work of the team. We share opportunities and our network freely and we want entrepreneurs to have full access to anyone in the partnership at any time.

Early Stage:

TheStartupFund wants to back teams at the time when it matters most; we write meaningful cheques at the earliest stages to turn real potential into real companies. We will back companies pre-launch, with early traction and no revenue, pre-build, and with solidly recurring revenues.

Investment size:

The typical round we look at is a €1–3M round where we lead, or co-lead and we will write cheques from €150-500k.

What we look for:

We have broad themes around Fintech, B2B SaaS, Deeptech and Medical Devices (all areas where we have past experience).
We have no rules on traction, revenues or anything but we look closely at each company under these headings:
• Does this opportunity have the potential for greatness?
• Can this founding team truly shape the industry they are in?
• What is the problem this opportunity solves?
• Can the team deliver product/market fit?
Our team needs to agree that we want to back the founders. Our only hard rule involves consensus on the entrepreneurs. Beyond that, every case is different and it’s on us to be flexible enough to figure it out.

Portfolio size:

Up to 15 companies per year over 5 years. We are not a factory but appreciate that there are a lot of great startups in the market that we want to support.

Location:

We primarily invest in Ireland and the UK, with some focus on Europe.