New year. Exclusive Event. EPIC deals. (#006)

Richard Hadler here from Founders Capital

We scour Europe for the top 1% of Start-ups led by epic Founders, giving them access to our world-class investor & partner network to scale their ventures to heady heights.

Happy New Year!

2023 was a pretty wild ride for startup investing. The M&A and IPO scenes took a breather, causing ripples down to the earliest startup stages. Angel investments globally took a hit, halving compared to 2022.

Personally, I see this as a much-needed reset. Pre-COVID, early-stage capital flowed so freely that the market got swamped with mediocre opportunities - especially in the UK. The rise (and fall) of those flashy yet unsustainable tech "unicorns" has (rightly) pushed angels to be more cautious. Now, it's about focusing on sustainable metrics, laser focused business plans and relying on groups like Founders Capital to sift through the opportunities.

This reset might just be a blessing for early-stage angel investors. With less capital being deployed across a smaller number of start-ups, we've got a shot at backing exceptional founders who'd usually be courted only by the big gun “inner circle” early-stage investors. However, now with more dry power at the top of the VC tree, we’re getting access to deals that maybe 3 years ago we wouldn’t have.

At FC, we are super excited to sniff out the best value and potential in this market. Our confidence is higher than ever before and we're geared up to deliver exceptional results for our investors.

To kick off the year, we are hosting a panel discussion on Thursday 25th of Jan with our friends at The Dream Factory to discuss most pertinent topics on Angel Investors agendas in 2024. This event is exclusively available to Founders Capital members. You can sign up here.

Ahead of this, I've put together a (short) list of three projections for the venture industry in 2024.

1) Galactic Investments

VC funds have started pouring into startups aiming for moon bases or asteroid mining. With the race to space heating up, it looks like this trend is set to skyrocket. We nearly pitched a couple of these in 2023 but decided to wait for a more established market.

2) Bio-Tech Bonanza

Life extension and creating new life forms are hot topics among top-tier VCs. Expect significant evolution in this space over the next year. There will be a significant clamour in the market - it's important to keep a close eye on regulatory developments & make sure we're not just backing "hype-trains".

3) Eco-Friendly Futures

ClimateTech has seen massive growth among early-stage companies. Now, some of these climate-focused companies are not only changing the world but also providing strong returns for early-stage investors. This is a market we have got a lot more comfortable with over the last few months and are looking to ramp up investments in this area.

Cheers,

Rich


P.S.

Keep your eyes peeled…
We are launching 2 new deals this month.

Don’t forget…
We have a deal referral scheme & Scout program - you can view details on the Founders Capital members portal here.