Venture Capital Matchmaking

FAQs

What is the background of this matchmaking?

The FDI Venture Capital Matchmaking Platform was born out of the Sustainable Fast Track campaign when we organised matchmaking between the finalist companies and various VCs in the UK. The feedback from this was really positive and the VCs were keen to receive more information about the companies we are working with in Europe, Israel and Central Asia to see if they could invest and help accelerate those plans.

Which / How funds / VCs etc will be involved?

The process so far for identifying VCs has been mainly through contacts in HQ who have previously worked with them, and then researching more through visiting their webpages and finding out about their investment requirements and if they would be a good fit. Now that the first edition has been launched we should be able to get in touch with more over the next few weeks as we have something tangible to show them.

What are the criteria on selecting the companies?

Companies who are looking into the UK in order to raise capital and that fit the Industrial Strategy for inward investment. We are currently looking on how to improve the presentation of the selection of companies in terms of funding round.

Are there any sub-sector orientation?

Many of the VCs we are in contact with resulted from the Sustainable Fast Track campaign, so they are looking for innovative green solutions. However we have already expanded our contact list and we now have a broader scope of sectors they are looking for, but mainly in Tech.

What are the scale of the companies? (Seed, Angel, Series A, etc.?)

That depends on the VC, but the VCs we are in contact with mainly are looking for seed and Series A investments.

What is the expected timeline for organizing a matchmaking?

The FDI VC Matchmaking runs every two months, with specific deadlines for Posts to submit their companies, and for us to produce the brochure and send out to the VCs.

How will the process work after the pitching / matchmaking?

After sending the brochure to the VCs they will approach us if there are interested in talking to a specific company. We will then contact the DIT contact person for that company, and do the proper introductions in order to the DIT contact to introduce the VC to the specific company.

Will there be an online pitching event after the matchmaking?

The brochure itself is the pitch. If the VC then ask for more information about a specific company, the DIT contact will put them in contact with the company and they can have further talks.

Will the funds provide any feedback to the one-pagers / pitching?

The feedback we have is if they are interested or not in a company. The feedback of the success of that pitch should come then from the DIT contact who follows up on the result of the talks between the VC and the company.