Tell us about your career to date and what your current role at Jenson involves?
My career began as a chartered accountant with Deloitte and since then I’ve occupied every conceivable position in finance and accounting, including finance director. When I joined Jenson 16 years ago in the finance director outsourcing part of the business, it became clear how difficult it was for companies to raise funding, which inspired us to set up SEIS and EIS investment funds.
I’m very much a hands-on CEO and, like the startup founders we back, enjoy having full oversight of projects to support the internal team and investee portfolio however I can. That outlook helps me to draw on my own experiences and provide perspective for whatever the founders are going through.
My role takes me from compliance, training, HR and financial management through to deal flow, forecasting, and business development. Just the other day, I had a meeting with the British Business Bank to discuss how we can open the VC industry to the wider community, ensuring that capital is accessible to all – which ties back to why we got into the market in the first place. It’s important to Jenson that people with good ideas can manifest them.
Which industries are you working in and interest you?
Scalable problem-solving propositions are really what stand out and excite me. We’re a sector-agnostic investor, so it’s less about the industry a startup focuses on and more about what they have to offer. It’s very common to meet a business with a bright idea that there’s no market for. The ideal business for us is a growth-centric company that doesn’t just have a cool concept but one that is a solution to an actual problem.
What do you look for in a founder?
The founder we’ll choose to work with must be someone who understands and appreciates that we’re investing in a growth solution, not just an idea. That means we’re buying into the concept, the business, the roadmap and the team as a whole, so we need a founder who will listen to us, just as we’re prepared to listen and support them along the way.
On the flip side, it’s crucial founders do their research and find the right investor for their ambitions and stage of growth, which is something we’re always transparent about from initial conversations. If the fit doesn’t feel right then we’ll admit that upfront because it’s not just about providing some funding and disappearing into the shadows, we want to grow with the investee and be there as a resource when necessary.
Just as we’re investing in them financially, we want them to invest trust back into us. Investor/investee relationships built this way will do amazing things for the reputation of the VC ecosystem.
What does your current portfolio look like?
Eclectic. From rural broadband businesses to ticketing companies and drink distribution to deeptech developments, we have a broad spread of investee companies in the portfolio. Beyond sector, we have different stages of business from seed round through to Series A.
We have a dedicated portfolio team in place who hold monthly calls with the founders, covering off progress, challenges, and requirements, all of which vary based on the stage of the business and we’re very mindful of that. Building a connected network has been important for us, so we’ll make introductions to people as necessary or provide guidance on governance and so on.
Encouraging portfolio companies to communicate has also been an invaluable offering for us and founders, who all have a lot of experience and knowledge to share. We’ve held webinars discussing areas such as crowdfunding, while investees have gone on to work together, so that collaborative community proposition is important to what we offer. We want to maximise the support network without overwhelming people.