Angel Investors: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine Angel investors. For founders looking to scale with professional investment, Angels represent a crucial funding source combining capital with expertise and industry connections. Who Are Angel Investors Angels typically include high net worth individuals, successful entrepreneurs who have exited their companies, and wealthy […]
Friends and Family Investors: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine friends and family investors. Friends and family often represent entrepreneurs’ first source of funding. These investors occupy a unique position in the startup ecosystem, offering distinct advantages and important considerations. Understanding Friends and Family Investors Friends and family investors are typically not professional […]
Early Stage VC Funds: A Deep Dive
Following up on our recent overview of investor types, today we examine early stage VC funds. Early stage VC funds operate in the pre-seed and seed space, representing a distinct category of investors that founders should understand when raising capital. In markets like the UK, these funds benefit from tax breaks and incentives that make […]
Why VCs Should Help Founders—Even When Saying No
How a VC Says No Matters Venture capital is mostly a business of saying no. For every investment, there are hundreds of rejections, communicated or not. Given Venture is a business of finding outliers, this is inevitable. But how a VC says no matters—and most are leaving value on the table by doing the bare […]
Fundraising? Why You Should Optimise Quality Outreach
Fundraising? Here’s why you should optimise Quality Outreach Over Quantity If you’re a founder looking for investment, you have a dilemma. How much time to invest in identifying and building connections with investors, or to invest in immediate business traction. Daniel Sawko, co-founder of shipshape.vc, the free to use investment search engine, shares his tips […]
Deep Tech in South West England: Key Insights from Our Latest Data
Where do we get our data? When companies use our free investment search engine, they tell us about their company growth plans. This means that they can find investors interested in their domain for free, and shipshape.vc gains valuable insights into emerging technology companies. Deeptech in the South West is a particularly promising area. What […]
How to Make Your Investments Indexable
How to Make Your VC Firm Visible to Startups That Fit Your Investment Criteria shipshape.vc was founded to support the venture capital ecosystem by connecting high-tech founders with relevant investors efficiently, transparently and on your terms. Why Transparency in Investor Data Matters The venture capital ecosystem thrives on connections. Yet too often, information about investors […]
5 Things I Wish I Had Known When We Started Shipshape.vc
5 Things To Know Before Start Where you base your business is really important. Really think about your brand – persona, name, logo, fonts, tone etc. (this really made me chuckle and think of the Southpark episode with Harry and Meghan) You will Pivot! Data should drive your decisions, always! That doesn’t mean you’ll always […]
Do We Eat Our Own Dogfood?
🐶 Do you eat your own dog food? 🔍Being a search engine for investors means this question comes up a lot! 💻 Both from startup users and investors. 🫡My answer is a resounding yes! 🏦 Back when we focused on subscriptions, we found our first VC customer (Balderton) via our search engine by seeing which […]