London for startupsFrancisco van Zeller

Jan 2016

About me

Netsonda (2000/2014) (Sold to Fullsix in 2009, exit in 2014)

Samsung Electronics (2009-

2014)

Rentify (2014 – Present)

Lived & worked in five countries (Portugal, Singapore, France, Korea, UK)

Married, three boys

Loves: Bodyboarding, Skiing,

Football

Why London1. Size

Map: # of investors in Europe

Why London1. Size (II)

Source: Olswang

Why LondonOther very good reasons

Large amount of incubators/accelerators (~25)

SEIS (Small Enterprise Investment scheme): Fiscal

scheme allowing angel investors to claim back

50% of the investment (more if the company

goes bankrupt)

Access to wide pool of talent, including from

non UK cities (Coders, Marketing, PR etc.)

Reliable & biz friendly legal system

It’s an incredible city

What VCs are looking forIn London and beyond

Team, team, team: while listening to the pitch

VCs are ALWAYS thinking “does he have what it

takes to grow the biz?”

Ability to articulate really well the idea/product

Great analytical/reasoning skills – answers all the questions!

Strong empathy among team members

Endless energy and enthusiasm

A ground breaking product or service (of course)

That scales really well

Ideally already proven - #users, customers growing fast

References: established chairman, advisors,

customers etc.

How to approach London

Join another accelerator after Startup Braga –

access to great mentors, talent, PR and of

course funding

Once you have a good product, reach out to

industry experts – to become advisors and give

you access to their network

Partner with existing Portuguese presence (ex:

Faber Ventures)

After all of the above, THEN you should reach a

London VC – you’ll be much more prepared!

Risks in 2016

Investors already more cautious

in terms of # of deals (see pic.)

House rents in London: currently

very high and rising (~2000

euros p/ month for one bedroom)

Higher salaries in a tight labour

market (tech/digital mkt)

High acquisition costs –

expensive marketing ruining

your figures!

Market crash: VCs raised a lot of

money in 2015, but they’ll be

more cautious

ResourcesLondon & Europe

List of VCs and angel investors (Techstars)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10S7_jBpRoWuNMnOYpkjFJArt76dPhFw0tIR7E_nd

gnk/edit#gid=771548385

European startup resource page (Techstars)

https://medium.com/@dalynewspaper/european-startup-resource-page-

1cffd6626edb#.jdjnuv1xi

Thank you