Silicon Roundabout Ventures, Community Updates Aug '24
Silicon Roundabout Ventures, Community Updates Aug '24
Our Community & Fund update, with fresh fund highlights, community events, and deeptech market insights. Written by our AI. Edited by our humans.
In this edition
Upcoming Events: Invitation-only LP & FO Dinner at Italian Tech Week, and Deeptech Demo Day 2024 is live, with over 60 VCs signed up.
Market Updates:
The EU’s new report on competitiveness highlights opportunities in deep tech and innovation.
Asks: Archangel Lightworks are hiring engineers to support their growth.
GP Personal Update: Reflections on visiting the Basque Country, discovering its rich history of entrepreneurship and scientific breakthroughs!
A reminder of what we are about
Silicon Roundabout Ventures is a Super-Angel Seed fund in the UK investing in European Deep Tech startups. It leverages their community of 15,000 entrepreneurs and engineers, through which the team previously attracted, selected and helped launch 33 Deep Tech and Big Data startups now valued at over £6 Billion.
The fund is backed by top-tier VC Molten Ventures (LSE:GROW) and exited founders, engineers and execs: including ex googlers, amazonians and from 4 unicorns.
📅 Upcoming Events and Community Updates
LP & FO Dinner at the Italian Tech Week
Strictly for LPs and FOs upon invitation by Silicon Roundabout Ventures and Exceptional Ventures.
If you're in town and are an active LP, angel or FO, drop us an email for the invite link. 5 slots left.
Deeptech Demo Day 2024
The Deeptech Demo Day 2024 is officially live!
With 60+ VCs already signed up, this year’s edition is set to surpass last year's event, which saw over 100 founder-investor intros and 300 attendees. Startup applications are now open, and the finals will take place on November 7th.
Co-hosted by Frontier Deep Tech and Silicon Roundabout Ventures, this event brings together deeptech founders and investors from across Europe.
Fund rundown
New investments since last update: 1
Total Portfolio Companies: 10
Fund: 1
Vintage: 2023
Top-of-the-funnel Pipeline: 3
Key Deeptech Areas: Computing, Climate, and National Security Infrastructure
Markups
[REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs] 3X+ MOIC [REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs]
Performance Snapshot
Here is each fund’s performance to date. These numbers are taken directly from Vauban’s back office and represent our ownership position based on the most recent priced rounds, including any down rounds to better represent the current market value.
Note: We do not book non-priced rounds as markups.
Silicon Roundabout Ventures LP Fund 1
Vintage: 2023
Status: Open for new LPs (via equalisation)
Fund Target Size: £5M
Currently invested: [REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs]
First closing: Dec 2022
TVPI: n/a
DPI: n/a
Net IRR: n/a
MOIC: [REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs]
Most Valuable Positions: n/a
GP’s Angel Portfolio + 4 “Fund 0” SPVs
Vintage: 2020 (H2)
Investments: 15
TVPI: 1.5X
DPI: n/a
Highlight Companies: Ori.co, Aegieq.com, Kaizan.ai, Nanusens.com, rnwl.co.uk, Ecosync, Axiom.ai
Status: closed
Community “Virtual” Portfolio
Vintage: 2016
Companies considered: 26
Method for selection: Silicon Roundabout community pitch winners until the beginning of the GP investment activity
Assumed “virtual” investment: £200,000 cheque into each company; No follow-on
Simulated TVPI: 6-6.9X
Simulated Most Valuable Positions: 50-58X
Notable companies: Monzo, Zego, BlueVision Labs, Sano Genetics, Admix, Humanising Autonomy, CausaLens, iProov, Proximie, Senseon, VividQ
Portfolio
[REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs]* is a snapshot of the current portfolio.
*Link to a private Airtable base with a list of all portfolio companies and include the company’s name, short description, why we invested, URL, and category.
➕ New Additions
We’ve made 1 new addition, but it’s confidential for now.
🚀 Portfolio Updates
Archangel Lightworks
Archangel Lightworks has been selected for Innovate UK's 2023 EUREKA Globalstars Japan Program, in collaboration with Infostellar. They’re working together to develop commercial optical communication ground segment services for future satellite missions, combining Archangel’s TERRA-M optical ground station with Infostellar’s StellarStation platform. This will be one of the first platforms to offer both radio and optical services for satellite missions, addressing the growing demand for faster, more secure communications.
Ephos
Up until now, Ephos has kept a low profile, but that's about to change with their upcoming fab inauguration event set for September 23rd, 2024. The works are now finished and if you are in Italy and would like to join the founder for the launch, drop us an email or a whatsapp and we can link you up. Once opened, the fab
Here is a picture from back in July of the factory nearing completion ─it’s going to be the first fab in Europe to produce optical quantum chips at scale, and the only one in the world doing it with Ephos’ unique approach.
Nu Quantum
Nu Quantum has bolstered its board and expanded stateside, bringing on quantum veteran Dr. Bob Sutor as a non-executive director while setting up shop in Los Angeles. Sutor's experience at IBM will prove invaluable as Nu Quantum pushes to network quantum computers at scale. With partnerships already in place across North America, this US presence puts Nu Quantum in a great position to drive the shift towards practical quantum networking infrastructure.
The Deeptech Lowdown (Market update)
SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission launched, marking the start of a groundbreaking journey where astronauts will travel farther than any human has in over 50 years. The crew aims to reach an altitude of 1,400 kilometers, conduct the first commercial spacewalk, and test new SpaceX-designed spacesuits.
The EU’s new (very long) report, led by Mario Draghi, outlines key strategies for sustainable growth, economic security, and strengthening Europe's position in high-tech industries. With the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal, there’s a clear focus on supporting innovation and fostering competitive industries. As the EU looks to boost its economic resilience and technological leadership, does this present new opportunities For European deeptech founders and investors? Read more in the full report here.
ETH Zurich and Max Planck have developed a robotic leg using artificial muscles instead of motors. The system employs electro-hydraulic actuators that mimic biological muscles, allowing for more adaptive and energy-efficient movement across varied terrain without complex sensors. While still early-stage, this approach could significantly advance soft robotics, potentially impacting fields from adaptive gripping to rescue operations. It's a solid reminder that hardware innovation remains as critical as software in pushing robotics forward.
Asks 🙏
Archangel Lightworks are looking for an Optical Systems Engineer in Oxford.
[REDACTED: ONLY FOR LPs] for Robot Firmware Engineers, Embedded Software Engineers, and Technicians.
GP Personal Updates
Last week I visited the Basque country in Spain for the first time.
A small 1 week off to enjoy with family the achievement of our final closing and Greenjets signing a term sheet for their $7m follow on round.
Whilst there I got curious to learn more about its entrepreneurial and scientific heritage.
I discovered many examples of entrepreneurial success as well as little known contributors to science over the centuries.
For example: a teacher priest and a group of his students founded a global leading industrial group in 1956. Starting from humble beginnings in their local technical college, they founded a cooperative to produce paraffin heaters: Mondragón Corporation.
Fast forward to today, Mondragón is the world's largest industrial worker cooperative and Spain's seventh largest business group.
I also found that a Basque scientist has been shaping the future of energy storage with groundbreaking research.
So once again, it seems that wherever I travel to in Europe, I find evidence for plenty of raw materials for highly technical venture creation:
→ Exceptional entrepreneurs
→ World class scientists
→ Groundbreaking research
My conclusion, which I put down in a more detailed LinkedIn post is that it’s not culture or inability to build tech companies that’s been stopping Europeans from competing with the US in building tech titans:
It’s the lack of a stronger ecosystem for venture capital to back and supercharge the sprouting of the above seeds.
Imagine the impact of such widespread entrepreneurial spirit and scientific breakthroughs if they were backed by a robust venture capital ecosystem.
The potential is limitless.
And with Silicon Roundabout Ventures we are continue to work to create of the right catalyst ecosystem and funding landscape to unleash this potential.