VENTURE
COMMUNITY
Welcome to the roll-out of Venture.Community. Explore the wider picture of what The Community has to offer. The next step on our mission to spark a new golden era of technology in the Secret Startup Capital of the UK.
The Full Potential of Our Ecosystem
As attendees of our event will know, Venture.Community has never been about one solution, but a holistic approach to bettering the support available to entrepreneurs, to unlock the full potential of our ecosystem.
IMPACT
Venture.Community has been operating acceleration for select start-ups since 2022. With five companies in our cluster, our stewardship has seen a total of £5 million raised, over 30 staff onboarded and three of our companies being listed in Yorkshire’s 50-most exciting companies of 2023. One company was awarded a rising star by sifted.
But who are these companies?
Productive Machines
Productive Machines, An AI-powered milling software enabling companies to significantly improve overall equipment effectiveness. This streamlines production and can reduce inefficiencies by up to 50% and increase productivity by up to 110%. Only last week Productive Machines launch the world’s first autonomous milling optimisation software; SenseNC Finesse.
Under Venture.Community acceleration, Erdem, and Productive Machines were awarded a Sifted rising star. Productive Machines successfully raised a Seed round totalling £2.3m.
Productive Machines have continued to rapidly scale and are being backed by investment from Boeing HorizonX, UKI2S, Fuel Ventures and Mercia.
Testimonial
“Venture.Community was instrumental in helping us to secure our Seed round which enabled us to scale from 8 staff to 17.
Peter has over 20 years of experience with start-ups, his expertise has helped us find the right approach and make the right decisions in our journey. We recently launched the world’s first autonomous milling optimisation software, SenseNC Finesse.
Peter is a great source of support to me as a mentor. I know he will always be there for us when we need advice, or help“
BOW (Bettering Our Worlds)
BOW, A robotics Software Platform providing the first competent hardware-agnostic solution to robotic application development. BOW is unlocking application portability, interoperability and in turn the full potential of robotics.
Using Venture.Community’s ValRes framework, the venture potential of the company could be understood and issues to be overcome became clear. From there Venture.Community helped BOW build a world-class team, reshape its capital structure and guide a strategic restructuring of the business model, aligning it more closely with BOW’s foundational vision. Building up a team around the leadership and vision of company Founder, Daniel Camilleri. Since, BOW has received fantastic commercial feedback and raised from top Super-Angels.
Testimonial
“In the critical area of capital funding, Venture.Community‘s support has been instrumental. They have refined our messaging, focusing on delivering a clear and impactful narrative to potential investors. Their approach helped clarify the value proposition of our business, effectively balancing potential rewards against risks. Through their extensive network, Venture.Community facilitated multiple introductions to venture capitalists, which was invaluable.”
“BOW’s journey with Venture.Community has been transformative, marking a phase of significant evolution and readiness for future challenges. BOW are immensely grateful for the guidance, which has been delivered with a perfect balance of professionalism and genuine support.”
TUBR
TUBR, An AI and ML software enabling highly accurate data analytics from small or incomplete data sets. TUBR provides 80-85% accuracy from 20% of the data typically required in a ‘complete data set.’ No “in-house” manual data crunching or data science capabilities is required to use their dynamic model which will only get better as it learns the complexities, specificities, and trends of your factor impact. Unlike other prediction engines, TUBR uses a physic-based methodology to anticipate consistently changing trends. Their machine learning as a service (MLaaS) can make predictions in real-time, 7, 14, and 21 days into the future allowing you to effectively manage your assets while reducing costs and improving customer experience.
Testimonial
“There are many ways Venture.Community have helped me and TUBR. First, their network, being constantly connected to the right people who don’t waste your time. Every introduction has been highly valuable.
My mentorship has always been tailored to my needs in that moment, which has allowed me to break down barriers and focus on the crucial elements of my business. At the beginning of our acceleration, Venture.Community and TUBR did a ValRes session which decompartmentalised the necessary focuses for us to grow. This has led to a highly structured approach, adding efficiency and clarity to our work, turning the dark art of business into more of an engineering approach – now we’re building to that design and analysis.
As a founder I felt constantly stretched between the commercial side of growth and working on our product. Now, I have had the time to work on both without compromising the quality of either. This wider commercial support allowed me as a founder to better my commercial capabilities and save me time to continue working on the technical side as well.
Finally, I’d say the guidance has helped me navigate my relationship management. The infrastructure and support surrounding my business relationships has allowed me to follow my vision and retain control as a founder.”
Dash Tabor
Founder and CEO of TUBR
Acceleration for Founders.
Framework for Advisors and Mentors.
Venture.Community is building a framework to support deep tech founders and start-ups from MVP to Series A. We have built a core offer that supports fundraising and “Boutiques” of exited founders and seasoned venturers that will help you build your companies and maximise your potential.
The Core Pillars of Venture.Community
ValRes – ValRes is our venture potential index assessment. ValRes is our way of assessing companies’ pre-revenue to determine whether an organisation is right for Venture. Based on two key factors: the potential value your product/service can bring to the world vs the resistance to its adoption. Through ValRes we can understand the optimised GTM, the potential uncertainties of the assumptions made about value vs resistance, and what steps need to be taken to overcome the barriers identified. This is the cornerstone of how we will structure the mentorship, advisors and interventions for your company’s acceleration process.
Venture Potential vs Venture Readiness – We have seen many companies with high venture potential fail to secure funding and close their doors due to a lack of venture readiness. The work we have been doing with Ampere.Events has been to address some of this knowledge asymmetry, helping founders avoid these common mistakes. We view Ampere.Events acting as a free open-door Pre-Accelerator, assisting founders to learn the specificity of what is required to acquire venture funding. Companies with high venture potential are then selected to receive support to help build up its venture readiness through deeper acceleration with Venture.Community and the Boutiques within. We provide a safe environment for these barriers to be overcome to maximise the potential success of each company.
Founder-Chair Bond – Venture.Community understand that a relationship of deep trust between the Founder and Chair is fundamental to the success of a business. The accelerator program offers an opportunity for Founders to meet their future Chair and build that crucial trust. We curate an environment where – at an early stage – those relationships can fail with minimal negative impact on the business, Founder or acceleration process. The Founder’s security and autonomy are the top priority of the Venture Community.
What’s Unique About Venture.Community?
The key differentials of our approach:
First, we are highly goal-orientated, and aim to work with companies for the long haul from MVP to Series A.
Second, with our unique ValRes approach, we tailor the mentorship, advisors and interventions to the requirements of your organisation, team, market, and product.
Third, our fundraising approach. Our aim is to raise each company a proper raise, less fraught with danger to enable them to realistically achieve their goals. We use our grant fundraising experience to help mix equity and non-dilutive funds to get the right R&D – Traction mix and minimise dilution.
Fourth, a traction focus. Part of the ValRes approach helps understand areas ripe for early traction, and key fundraising support enables Founders to secure growth and traction in a market where fundraising in long-winded. We take approaches and growth hacking ideologies from the US. With this, we will enable a faster route to Series A.
Lastly, as a community we will work with our later stage and exited founders to help them start their career in supporting earlier stage founders. We aim to build community that is self-perpetuating and persists in-between waves of government funding.
Broad Structure
- Community: We generally expect applications to come from founders that have attended Ampere.Events, and encourage founders to take advantage of this open door to content and skill before applying.
- Application: First-round open application to be reviewed by the Venture.Community team, if you get through the first sift you will be assigned an advisor for ValRes.
- ValRes: Second round ValRes assessment. This is our unique approach to assessing Venture potential, market opportunity and what barriers your organisation will need to overcome to successfully raise capital.
- Admission: Signing agreements and terms to be admitted, you’ll now be able to be put in front of our panel of funds. The team will help you hone your deck and pitch, and we will record it for distribution.
- Boutiques: Matching successful founders to their Boutiques. Each Boutique will be headed by an experienced entrepreneur and mentor with deep knowledge in a specific vertical field. This will be the mentor who will guide you throughout your journey. Boutique terms vary depending upon need, typically we see these to be on similar terms to a chair or advisor, Boutiques often invest.
- The Pit Crew: Our top-tier team of specialists in various services, ready to work on intensive interventions at various points through your acceleration. This is where we bring in the horizontal expertise to complement the vertical specialism of each boutique.
- Venture.Community “Supporting Funds”: Venture.Community has been partnering with various early-stage Venture Capital firms and is building out a regional Angel community. With this infrastructure we will ensure the highest possibility for accelerated companies to receive funding. We’ll also use the power of community to ensure fair and equitable terms from both investors and advisors, to maximise the overall potential of the community.
What are the Boutiques?
The focus of the boutiques is to offer bespoke expertise in a particular vertical. By aligning these vertices side-by-side, Venture.Community offers not only great breadth but an incredible depth of expertise and support. Each Boutique is headed by a seasoned entrepreneur and mentor, and it is this combination which is imperative when providing valuable mentorship. Founders will be matched with their Boutique based on the sector of their company and personal compatibility with said mentor. This foundation of trust is a crucial piece to the success of any venture. The mentor will take on a temporary NED or Non-Exec Chair position with the company through the acceleration process and be the founder’s champion through the period of hyper-growth.
Meet the Boutiques
Red Paisley – CyberPhysical
Peter Hopton – Founder of Venture.Community, Iceotope and VeryPC
Run by Peter Hopton Red Paisley focuses on the CyberPhysical and Deep Digital Technology,
Peter has raised over £50m for start-ups worldwide in a mix of equity and grants (Horizon, Innovate, DASA and ARPA)
With a clearly successful formula and great traction, Red Paisley is an attractive Boutique to work with, but has limited capacity.
PinPoint Ventures – CyberSecurity & Silicon
Edward French – Founder of Apitronix Semiconductor & Umbra Systems
“At Pinpoint Ventures we enjoy helping innovative technologies overcome their challenges and fulfil their potential. Pinpoint Ventures invests with others both capital and experience to support your business.”
PinPoint has a deep understanding of the CyberSecurity sector. Combined with their experience with over 100 early-stage IP-rich startups including every defeat and victory along the way, and ultimately to exits ranging from licensing deals to unicorn-level IPO.
PinPoint Ventures – CyberSecurity
Edward French – Founder of Apitronix Semiconductor & Umbra Systems
“At Pinpoint Ventures we enjoy helping innovative technologies overcome their challenges and fulfil their potential. Pinpoint Ventures invests with others both capital and experience to support your business.”
PinPoint has a deep understanding of the CyberSecurity sector. Combined with their experience with over 100 early-stage IP-rich startups including every defeat and victory along the way, and ultimately to exits ranging from licensing deals to unicorn-level IPO.
Toki Ventures – MedTech
Dr Mark Rahn – Founder of NorthEast Capital and Partner VC at Toki Ventures.
Toki Ventures provides groundbreaking training and development content in the areas of strategic decision-making, talent acquisition, team building and entrepreneurial coaching across all market sectors.
Developed in collaboration with Manchester Business School for 15 years, Toki Ventures offers training for entrepreneurs and investors who are faced with decisions characterised by unresolvable uncertainty.
After 20 years experience of talent acquisition in some of the largest companies in the world, and the smallest companies, Toki Ventures teaches how small and micro companies can achieve and strategically benefit from the highest quality in-house recruitment, saving agency costs and retaining knowledge of the employment market in-house
Most people experience barriers to the development of their professional career and entrepreneurial achievements. Toki Ventures provides training and 1:1 coaching aimed at identifying those barriers and dismantling them.
As partner and founder of Toki Ventures and North East Capital, Dr Mark Rahn is a fundraising expert in the areas of CleanTech and HealthTech, and can help quickly develop the strategies, plans and stories that are capable of raising capital.
BBFTA – FinTech
Barry James – Founder of Green Street Club & Co-Founder of Global Impact Quest
Green Futures Architect | Changemaker | Inspirational Keynote Speaker & Facilitator | Hyper-Connector | Board Advisor | AI Mentor | Serial Patent Winner
“I’m passionate about innovation, in tech and beyond, in service of people & planet as an architect, entrepreneur & mentor having a track record of innovation, and working with innovators, in Fintech, AI, Regulation & Medtech, and of connecting high-impact entrepreneurs with impact investment.”
BBFTA – FinTech
Barry James – Founder of Green Street Club & Co-Founder of Global Impact Quest
Green Futures Architect | Changemaker | Inspirational Keynote Speaker & Facilitator | Hyper-Connector | Board Advisor | AI Mentor | Serial Patent Winner
“”I’m passionate about innovation, in tech and beyond, in service of people & planet as an architect, entrepreneur & mentor having a track record of innovation, and working with innovators, in Fintech, AI, Regulation & Medtech, and of connecting high-impact entrepreneurs with impact investment.“
Performance Engineered Solutions – Advanced Manufacturing
Mike Maddock – Managing Director and Co-Owner of PES LTD
“I don’t want to optimise; I want to innovate. Positioned at the centre of R&D, engineering design & commercial strategy, my mission is to transform challenges into disruptive opportunities. A true believer in embracing collaboration, utilising a plethora of skills to deliver commercialization for global market expansion.
Experience operating as a Senior Director in PLC & building a high-end engineering design business from the ground up. With hands-on expertise ranging from 3D Scanning, optimisation to branding identity & the commercialisation of cutting-edge technologies, a 360° approach to manufacturing & business engineering—where optimization meets sustainability, productivity & commercial viability. An advocate for SME growth, I’m on the board of the Small Business Charter and actively champion the ‘Help to Grow Program’.
Serving as Chair of MakeUk regional board for Yorkshire and Humber -MakeUK Net-Zero & Technology Innovation, and Digitisation policy committees, I collaborate with industry peers to shape transformative policies for the UK.”
Mantra Media LTD – E-Commerce
Jonny Pawlik – Founder of Mantra Media LTD
“Voted 2024, 42 Under 42 Most Inspiring UK Entrepreneurs I support businesses, charities and government agencies from London to New York, Tokyo to Brisbane to communicate effectively with disparate demographics
Our bold creatives, experts, and strategists build captivating, exciting creative campaigns to help businesses, charities, and governments. We place culture at the top of our agenda because we understand that it’s our people that craft the innovations, strategies, and productions that ensure consistent growth for our clients. Our mission is to deliver compelling communications and data-driven creative marketing services for people who share our values in building a healthier, more conscientious, and kinder planet. In the next hundred years, our world will change, yet our mission, vision, and values will strengthen.”
Meet Our “Supporting Funds”
FUEL
“Fueling the growth of ambitions tech companies. We are active investors, bringing our own experience as entrepreneurs to support the funds’ portfolio companies. We can understand and guide entrepreneurs because we have been in their shoes. Our team have experience in founding, working in or exiting startup companies. We’ve partnered with some of the top providers of software & infrastructure to give our portfolio founders access some of the best tools, at a discounted cost.”
Fuel focus on investments from £150k-£3M. Winner of best EIS manager in 2022 and best SEIS Manager 2023 (Growth Investor Awards) Fuel have proven their calibre and support for the businesses they invest in.
EHE
“No fluff, no faff. We’re clear and transparent. For growth funding from £100k to £5m we’ll make sense of everything to help you achieve fast growth. We’re entrepreneurs turned investors who’ve built 8 and 9 figure companies, with the badges and scars to prove it! We’ll share all our knowledge to help you secure investment- we’ve got you covered. We believe in being honest, different and entrepreneurial”
Focusing on 100k-5M size investments. EHE Ventures recently launched an AI-focused, EIS-qualified fund for UK-based, early stage & fast-growth companies. AI Founders need a new kind of hands-on help, with deep technical credentials and a change in approach to business growth. EHE are entrepreneurs, tech experts & investors and we’ve got a track record of success.
SFC
“SFC Capital is the UK’s most active seed-stage investor, providing seed capital and support to promising British startups. By combining our leading investment funds with our angel syndicate, we have created a unique model that provides investors with diversified exposure to high-potential SEIS and EIS-qualifying businesses. Since 2012, SFC has invested in over 450 startups and partnered with the likes of British Business Investments to support innovation across all UK regions.
We are devoted to providing sustainable value to our clients and community. This goes far beyond us looking for entrepreneurial teams that will develop successful businesses and deliver significant returns to our investors – we also want our portfolio to make a positive impact on the world. We recognise our responsibility to facilitate a resilient and diverse entrepreneurial network, and aspire to be an industry leader in how we incorporate ESG into our investment research and management, our sustainable growth solutions, and the operations of our own business.”
Focusing on early-stage investment for companies with a high growth potential.
Finance Yorkshire
“Finance Yorkshire’s fund has been created from the combined legacies successfully created by Finance Yorkshire and the South Yorkshire Investment Fund. Finance Yorkshire’s JEREMIE and Extension Funds invested £113 million in more than 500 companies in the region. The South Yorkshire Investment Fund invested £57 million in more than 360 companies in South Yorkshire.
Finance Yorkshire’s fund provides flexible investment packages to eligible SMEs based or locating to areas within Yorkshire and Humber with the ambition to expand, create jobs and improve productivity. Finance Yorkshire’s previous investments created and safeguarded more than 16,000 jobs over seven years (2010-2017), enabling those businesses to increase their turnover by a total of £474m and attract a further £374m from private sector sources. An independent evaluation by a leading economic development specialist stated that Finance Yorkshire “had demonstrated excellent value for money”.
With an array of funds for SeedCorn, Pre-Seed, Seed and SME scaling companies Finance Yorkshire is committed to investing £50M into growing companies over the next 5 years.
Anticus Partners
“Investing locally to succeed globally. We are equity investors, empowering Yorkshire’s talented and ambitious entrepreneurs to climb new global heights for a brighter future. Our team has deep-rooted connections to the region, with extensive knowledge of the local business community. Anticus Partners seeks to make a difference to the people and environment in which we operate.
The Finance Yorkshire Seedcorn Fund invests in new or pre-revenue companies across Yorkshire and the Humber. The Fund is sector-agnostic and can invest up to £1.5m in revenue-producing businesses. The Finance Yorkshire Growth Fund invests in profitable companies across Yorkshire and the Humber. We aim to support businesses as they transition to their next phase. We are looking to invest up to £1.5m in MBOs, replacement capital and development capital.”
Focused on match-fund investment at Pre-Seed and Seed.
UKBAA
“UK Business Angels Association are a trade body for Angel and early-stage investing. We connect the ecosystem from Seed to Series A. With 651 members and over £2.3B invested to date we enable Angel activity to maximise the success of innovative companies. working on Angel enablement we bring more potential investors into the landscape and help connect them to entrepreneurial brilliance.”
Focusing on Angel enablement, SEIS and EIS investment and Angel Syndication.
Angel Groups
“We Intelligently match Angel investors to ambitions high-growth SMEs, across all sectors.
We run several pitching sessions a month, where businesses in all sectors, and at various stages along their growth journey pitch for funding and support. Not only do these events showcase some of the best SME talent from across the country, but they also allow our members to build a superb, like-minded peer network.
In addition, we also provide an exclusive online member hub where angels can browse all of our investment opportunities, tailor their preferences to view businesses within their criteria and connect to other investors.”
AngelGroups focus on enabling companies find Angel investors, driving deal flow and facilitating angel syndication.
UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund
“The UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund is a national seed investment fund that nurtures innovative businesses to leverage private investment and grow jobs, recycling profits from the realisation of our investments into the next generation of impactful UK companies. We invest in innovations emerging from the UK’s publicly funded science and knowledge base.
The fund is backed by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Ministry of Defence (MOD), the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and other public bodies.
- We invest in high-risk businesses to get the most groundbreaking ideas to market.
- We provide support beyond financial, offering commercial expertise to grow your business.
- We help our portfolio companies solve some of the most complex challenges in today’s world.“
Mercia
“We are one of the UK’s most active venture capital investors
From early-stage to scaleup investment, our investment team operates from a shared set of beliefs, partnering with entrepreneurs for the long term. We offer venture capital investment of up to £10million and support our portfolio companies at every stage of their growth
We’ve seen what it takes to build great companies and we work closely with founders to achieve this goal together. Key to this success, Mercia’s Nucleus offers a dedicated and focused team to support value creation aligned to founders’ needs.”
Venture.Community Sponsors
Introducing the organisations who are helping make the work of Venture.Community possible!
Venture.Community Supporters
Introducing the organisations who assist our reach and events endeavours
