Focus Interviews
FOCUS ON DOWNING VENTURES EIS Laurence Callcut, Partner and Head of Sales at Downing, and Portfolio Director Mike Kennedy took the time to chat to GBI Magazine about EIS in general and Downing in particular as we head towards a new year.
What was your approach in 2019? Downing Ventures EIS has now backed 60+ companies. Throughout 2019 we saw more and more capital being deployed back into the portfolio, while the businesses scale up and raise larger follow-on rounds as their progress attracts wider investor interest. We aren’t afraid to step up and lead funding rounds and are writing larger cheques alongside syndicate partners to provide more firepower to our portfolio. What’s your firm’s USP? Our ladder of funding means we’re able to identify fast growing, high potential scalable UK businesses, invest and continue to financially support them as they progress through the start-up life cycle. We build long-term relationships with founders in sectors we know and are passionate about and have the funds to follow-on. Has your firm changed in any way during the year? We are becoming increasingly thematic in our investment approach. To do this well you need to bring in people that are completely immersed in their sectors, bringing with them a wealth of relevant knowledge and powerful
networks. Will Brooks (30 years investing in the healthcare space) joined our team to head up our investments in healthcare and life sciences, and James Nettleton recently joined us from InMotion (Jaguar Land Rover venture capital arm) to focus on transport and mobility. Our Portfolio Management team has recently been strengthened with Laoise McGarry, to ensure we are encouraging governance excellence and developing open and collaborative relationships with portfolio FDs and CFOs. The UK appears to have a strong start-up/ entrepreneurial culture – what do you put that down to? It hasn’t happened overnight. Our world class institutions, universities and centres of excellence have encouraged the entrepreneurial spirit, which is as much a feature of today’s commerce as it was a rarity just 25 years ago. The entrepreneurial genie is out of the bottle for good now. What are your views on recent changes to EIS? Two significant changes resulting from the Patient Capital Review, have been particularly impactful. The risk to capital
GB Investment Yearbook · March 2020
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