For founders

Getting investment from SVV.

How we decide, the terms we offer and what happens after the cheque. Read the terms, check yourself against our seven questions if it helps, then send us your plan.

Terms at a glanceIndicative

First cheque£/€500k–1m

StagePre-seed & seed

RoleLead, co-lead or join

Follow-onThrough Series A

All eight terms↓

01Terms

How we invest, written down.

This is how we invest. It's indicative, not an offer, and every deal is agreed with you on standard documents by partners who have sat on your side of the table.

01Stage

Pre-seed & seedOften the first institutional investor in the company.

02Geography

UK & Ireland, built for globalFounders based anywhere in the UK and Ireland, building for international markets from day one.

03First cheque

£/€500k–1mIn sterling or euro, depending on the fund.

04Role

Lead, co-lead or joinWe're happy to lead. We also join rounds led by other specialist funds.

05Instrument

Standard equityNo complex terms that make your next round harder.

06Diligence

Technical firstLed by engineers and computer scientists, before commercial metrics.

07Governance

Board seat or observerWith a written plan, KPIs and a cash model agreed in the first 90 days.

08Follow-on

Through Series AWe reserve capital for later rounds, and agree a Series A milestone with you at the start.

02Timeline

First look to term sheet.

If you fit our model, you get a quick decision and a fast turnaround. A recent seed round ran like this. Legals then move at the pace of the round and its other investors.

A recent seed roundDays from first look

Day 0

First lookDeck in, first conversation booked

done

Day 26

Partner reviewFull partnership decision

done

Day 29

Term sheetIssued to the founders

issued

Then

LegalsAt the pace of the round and its co-investors

varies

From a recent SVV seed round. Your timeline will depend on your round and its co-investors.

03How we decide

Seven questions. The same every time.

The question is never whether a model can produce a great demo. It's whether your company can own a consequential workflow and get more valuable as models improve. Check yourself before you pitch if it helps. It's optional, gaps are normal at pre-seed, and nothing is sent anywhere.

Seven questions0 of 7 answered

Result

Not started

Seven questions to go.

0 yes0 not yet0 no

Send your plan →

Your answers

iIllustration

How we read a deck.

The same seven questions on every deck, run by people who use the tools you build with. This is a sample deck, not a real company. Partners make every decision.

SVV · Deck reviewIllustrative · sample deck

sample-deck.pdf · 18 pages

memo.mdwaiting…

First-look memo

Sample deck · pre-seed · vertical agent

Next step: partner conversation. One check on hold: show how failures escalate to a human.

An illustration of how we read a deck. Partners make every decision.

04After the cheque

After the cheque. The real work.

The cheque is just the start. For the next 24 to 36 months we work alongside you, on a plan built around what your company needs, with partners who have built and sold companies themselves.

Onboardingm1–3

Gap analysis becomes your plan

Board and reporting set

Hiring plan for the first 12 months

Partner programmes switched on

Developmentm3–12

Revenue strategy and pipeline

Positioning, category and buyer

Senior hires through the network

Customer introductions

Expansionm12–24

Deck, data room, metric pack

Sequenced investor introductions

Investor-readiness coaching

Security and AI governance

Series A & beyondm24–36+

We support the round end to end

Follow-on and board continuity

Investor conferences

The alumni founder network

The advisory board50+ experts, matched to your plan.

Our Portfolio Advisory Board brings together operators and specialists from blue-chip companies, leading universities and Silicon Valley VCs. You don't get all fifty. You get the ones your plan needs.

Your gap analysis picks them.What we learned in due diligence becomes your plan, and your plan decides which advisers you meet first.
Workshops and one-to-ones.Go-to-market, product, positioning, pitch and fundraising: mentoring and coaching from people who have done the job.
Introductions.Customers and partners from the board's own networks, when you're ready for them.
In the room with you.Advisers join the annual leadership summit with our founders, and sit on the panels at our investor conference in London.

05In practice

Founders backing founders. In practice.

Founders on our team have raised, hired, shipped and sold. This is what that looks like after the cheque, logged across the companies in our current fund.

Support log · current fund

Logged support200+dated support items across 25 companies

Advisory board50+operators, founders and domain experts to call

Partner programmes50+credits and tooling, negotiated at portfolio scale

Partner programmes · examples