The United Kingdom has become popular among startup companies looking for venture capital funding to expand their businesses and achieve scalability in their specialized industries. This article will cover various top UK venture capital firms based on the investments made into local startups and companies outside the country.
Also, you’ll get detailed breakdowns of each firm, including funding, notable clients, and acquisitions. Check out information about various top investment teams that routinely provide financing.
Best Venture Capital Firms in the UK
Various famous London-based VC firms provide seed and series funding to UK startup companies. Read further to determine specific picks that have the potential to become industry tycoons.
Disclaimer: With so many venture capital firms around the world, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the following VC firms are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
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Get Started1. Kinetic Investments
- Industries: Sector-Agnostic, AI, B2C
- Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Seven Star Digital, Investoo
Kinetic Investments is a venture capital firm, investing in AI-focused pre-seed and seed-stage startups that are transforming traditional business models in the digital landscape.
Kinetic Investments provides more than capital, their integrated shared services model offers portfolio companies immediate access to top-tier HR, finance, legal, tech, and data resources – at cost. This helps portfolio companies to scale efficiently from the outset and tackle growth challenges swiftly, without costly and inefficient overheads.
2. Seedcamp
Seedcamp, acquired by StartEngine, is a seed-stage VC firm that invests in startups specializing in technology to tackle large, global markets. While the firm is industry-agnostic, it favors software startups. It also builds out its sales and marketing functions and introduces a global network of experts.
With an investment range of $350,000 to $1 million, the firm has invested in nearly 200 startups since its inception. Seedcamp maintains an impressive history of financing several pre-seed startups, such as Skew (which has since been acquired by Coinbase), Sorare, Maze, and Primer. A few of its other portfolio investments include Cerbos, Outverse, and Medusa.
3. MMC Ventures
- Industries: Fintech
- Stage: Seed, Series A
- Notable Portfolio Companies: BoxyHQ, Creativity Software, Ray Day
MMC Ventures invests in AI, fintech, and data startups from seed stage to Series A. The firm bills itself as a research-led investor, providing valuable insights to portfolio companies to support their development.
MMC has made more than 200 investments across four funds with 24 exits within their portfolio. The firm also offers the MMC Connect program that grants founders with access to MMC’s network of industry experts and operational specialists to help them scale their businesses.
4. Albion VC
- Industries: Healthcare, Deep Tech, B2B Software
- Stage: Seed, Series A
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Black Swan, Peak Data, Toqio, Gravitee
Founded in 1996 Albion VC invests in early-stage, UK-based B2B software, healthcare and deep tech startups. Investors focus on new establishments seeking scale-up expertise and long-term capital to help them grow and build their profitability potential. They also seek to establish strong professional partnerships with portfolio companies, contributing to their growth and helping them achieve their financial goals. The firm boasts four unicron companies within their portfolio and $1 billion in assets under management.
5. Amadeus Capital Partners
- Industries: AI, Machine Learning, Digital Health, Fintech, Insurtech
- Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Contact Engine, Constructive.Bio, Sprout.ai, Improbable
Amadeus Capital Partners is one of London’s top global venture capital firms supporting visionary entrepreneurs who seek to build successful companies in a variety of industries. It also helps companies implement scalability to increase their profit value and clientele.
VC investors at Amadeus have backed over 275 companies and raised $1 billion since the firm’s inception in 1997. One of the firm’s most notable investments is VocalIQ (acquired by Apple). This speech technology startup has proven to be a potential competitor to similar platforms dominating the machine learning sector.
6. Notion Capital
- Industries: Fintech, SaaS, Enterprise Software, AI
- Stage: Series A
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Tradeshift, Mews System, Unbabel, GoCardless
Notion Capital is an investment firm that focuses primarily on investments in deep SaaS and cloud startups. The firm is guided by ‘founder-friendly principles,’ working to support portfolio companies with valuable resources and expertise to assist them in reaching important milestones. Notion Capital has invested in over 100 companies in a variety of industries from fintech to cloud security.
7. Playfair Capital
- Industries: Ecommerce, Big Data, Healthtech
- Stage: Pre-Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Stripe, Thought Machine, Omnipresent
Playfair Capital is a pre-seed venture capital firm based in London. It invests in innovative tech businesses and coaches founders about managing a startup and choosing the right team.
The firm makes between six to eight investments per year and boasts three unicorns in their portfolio. Playfair’s goal is to be a startup’s first institutional investor, opting to partner with portfolio companies at the earliest stages.
8. Molten Ventures
- Industries: Deeptech, SaaS, AI, Healthtech
- Stage: Seed, Series A+
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Apperio, Lyst, Thought Machine
Based in London, Molten Ventures invests in tech startups with visionary founders spanning several sectors such as digital health, AI, and SaaS. Their primary investments are Series A and beyond with a focus on powerful startup leaders in the tech space.
The firm also backs several seed funds working alongside other notable European seed-stage investors. A few of the notable seed stage funds that have received funding from Molten include Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and Form Ventures.
9. Octopus VC
- Industries: Healthcare, Climate, Consumer, Bio, Fintech
- Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A
- Notable Portfolio Companies: ManyPets, Depop, Elvie
Octopus VC has been backing startups across seven key sectors, B2B Software, Bio, Climate, Consumer, Deep Tech, Fintech and Health, since 2008. The firm has a portfolio of over 180 companies, 32 of which are successfully exited.
With a founder-focused investment approach, Octopus VC aims to build strong, long-lasting founder relationships, providing support and expertise throughout each stage of growth for its portfolio companies.
10. Index Ventures
- Industries: Media, Healthcare, Fintech, Open Source
- Stage: Seed to Venture Growth
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Etsy, Trustpilot, Wise
Located in New York, San Francisco, and London, Index Ventures is a global VC firm with over 1,100 investments included in their portfolio. The firm is stage-agnostic, investing in companies from seed to venture growth stages. Index Ventures also invests in all industries from fashion to fintech to machine learning. Notably, the firm provides information for startup founders looking to scale their US- and Europe-based companies as well as talent seeking startup job opportunities.
11. Hoxton Ventures
- Industries: Fintech, Deeptech, Enterprise, Consumer, Digital Health
- Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Darktrace, Babylon Health, Epic Games
Hoxton Ventures is a London-based VC firm primarily investing in pre-seed and seed startups. The firm prefers to focus on existing customer interest and engagement, unique products, and capable, talented team members.
Hoxton Ventures typically invests between $500,000 to $5 million in exchange for 10-20% equity. After investments, the firm assists startups tackle the US market early on, finding suitable partners with acquisition potential, strategic hires, or providing market guidance.
12. Ascension Ventures
- Industries: Healthcare, Healthtech, Diagnostics, Medical Devices
- Stage: Early-Stage, Late-Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Vori Health, Get Well, NextSense
Ascension Ventures, a sub-organization of Ascension Health, invests capital in startups revolutionizing healthcare, medical devices, and health services. The firm invests in early- to late-stage startups within three to five years of a potential liquidating event. Investments are commonly between $10 million and $20 million. Ascension Ventures has funded and supported over 90 businesses with more than $1 billion in capital under management.
13. Episode 1
- Industries: B2B Software
- Stage: Pre-Seed, Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Frame, CloudNC, Treecard
Episode 1 invests in pre-seed and seed stage B2B software companies. Its venture capital firm consists of former entrepreneurs and investors with solid ties to Silicon Valley-based tech professionals. The firm prioritizes startup-investor relationships, helping their portfolio companies reach a successful Series A. Since its inception, Episode 1 has made more than 65 investments and raised £170 million across two funds.
14. Business Growth Fund
- Industries: Climate, Deep Tech, Life Sciences
- Stage: Early-Stage, Growth Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: CHS Healthcare, Current Body, Adestra
Business Growth Fund, also known as BGF, is the most active and influential investor in small and mid-sized businesses in the UK. The firm offers an unparalleled international network of entrepreneurs and sector specialists.
As an established and independent firm, BGF has invested in 600+ companies, including Fulfillment Crowd, Healthshare, Evoke, and Blue Light Card, and raised £3 billion, supporting various growing companies across regions outside of London.
15. Entrepreneur First
- Industries: Biotechnology, Commerce, Future of Work, Finance
- Stage: Pre-Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Aztec, Magdrive, BetterData
Entrepreneur First isn’t strictly a venture capital firm, it is a program for founders to build and scale successful startups through a robust network of founders, investors, and operators as well as meaningful guidance. The program’s participants are not chosen based on startup ideas but rather the founder, or aspiring entrepreneur, themselves.
The program offers opportunities to match with a co-founder, generate and develop ideas, and fund startups demonstrating potential for scalability.
16. Point Nine Capital
- Industries: SaaS, Enterprise Software, B2B Marketplace
- Stage: Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Chainalysis, Zendesk, Loom
Launched in 2008, Point Nine Capital has invested in 167 companies, primarily at the seed stage, with 10-12 seed-stage investments made per year. While Point Nine is based in Europe, 20-30% of its investments are made abroad in the US, Canada, and other countries.
Notably, the firm commits to participating in a Series A raise if companies raise a seed round with them and boasts 65% of seed stage investment companies raising a Series A.
17. Passion Capital
- Industries: Tech, Digital Media
- Stage: Early-Stage
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Tide, Tillo, Adzuna, Focal Point
Passion Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2011. The firm has funded 96 early-stage tech startups, backing over 100 founders. Passion Capital is known for its involvement in several successful exits since its inception and aims to create an ecosystem that marries tech with collaboration to continue the growth of its wildly successful portfolio.
18. SFC Capital
- Industries: All Sectors
- Stage: Pre-Seed
- Notable Portfolio Companies: Nossa Data, CodiKoat, Vertical Future
SFC Capital is a venture investment firm with a portfolio of over 400 startup investments. The firm focuses on pre-seed investments and while it is industry-agnostic, all investment companies must demonstrate a strong advantage in an underserved and/or growing market as well as be qualified for SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme). Portfolio companies benefit from funding at the earliest stage as well as partnership through a successful exit from SFC Capital.