How to find the right investors in the UK
Where UK investors actually come from at each stage, and how to tell who's worth your time.
Match on four things
An investor is worth contacting if they do your stage, invest in your sector, write cheques the right size for your round, and have done a deal recently. Miss any one of those and the meeting is usually a polite no.
Check recent activity
Fund websites go out of date. A fund that last invested two years ago may be between funds or only supporting its portfolio. Look at announced rounds and Companies House filings from the last 12 months to see who is really writing cheques.
Where to look by stage
Pre-seed: angels, angel networks, accelerators and specialist pre-seed funds. Seed: seed funds, angel syndicates and some early-stage regional funds. Series A: institutional VCs, usually with a partner who leads your sector.
Outside London, regional funds and public-backed programmes are often the most active early investors in their area.
Find the person, then the route in
A fund is a group of people with different focuses. Find the partner or investment manager who covers your sector, read what they've backed, and look for a warm introduction through a founder in their portfolio.
Use a ranked list
InvestorUniverse ranks UK investors against your company on stage, sector, cheque size, region and recent deals, and explains each fit. Your top 10 are free.
See which UK investors fit you
Give us your website and raise. We rank UK investors against your company and explain each fit. Your top 10 are free.
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