Episode 1 raises new £60m funding to invest in UK seed companies

Episode 1, the backer of companies such as Carwow, Triptease and AimBrain, has closed its second UK seed-to-Series A fund, raised to help passionate teams turn innovative insight into scalable operations.

It leads rounds of £500k to £2m into teams with an insight into markets that are emerging or evolving.

The fund is a £60m Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF), raised with the support of the British Business Bank, the government’s economic development bank. The new fund is 60 per cent bigger than the Episode 1’s first ECF despite supposedly tough economic times.

Paul McNabb, co-managing partner of Episode 1, commented: “There is no shortage of funds for the best entrepreneurs, but in our experience much of it is undifferentiated - there are few investors with the commitment to roll up their sleeves and get on with the heavy lifting that turns innovation into operations.

“We realise that for companies at this stage, the next handful of decisions they make are potentially transformational - and we plan to be there to help.”

As an early stage fund, Episode 1 see thousands of business plans per year and invest where they see the best opportunities, but are mainly interested in how emerging ‘deep technologies’ such as AI are disrupting industries.

In addition to the British Business Bank and a long list of private investors including many well-known entrepreneurs, several new institutions including Draper Esprit and ADV joined the ranks of the fund’s LPs.

Simon Cook, of DE, observed: “Episode 1 are one of Europe’s leading seed funds, backing some of its biggest successes.

“As the number of new start-ups continues to increase, experienced operators like Episode 1 are needed to bridge the gap to the next round of institutional funding, and we are excited to partner with them on the next stage of their growth.”