London-based venture capital firm Concept Ventures has launched an $88 million fund dedicated to supporting Europe’s pre-seed founders. The fund plans to invest in companies across the UK and Europe and is sector-agnostic, with a strong focus on exceptional founders with global ambitions.
- Concept Ventures, founded in 2022 by Reece Chowdhry, is Europe’s largest dedicated pre-seed fund, investing in early-stage startups. It often serves as a founder’s first VC conversation, offering a founder-first, flexible approach and the capacity to follow-on through Series A and beyond.
- Since its first fund, it has backed over 44 companies, including notable portfolio companies such as ElevenLabs, Treefera, VSim, Anam, and Arondite.
- To date, Fund I companies have collectively raised over $450 million, with 100 percent of those that went on to fundraise successfully closing their next rounds, placing Fund I in the top 1 percent globally for its vintage.
- The new Fund II, an $88 million vehicle, will invest in up to 50 European startups, providing checks of up to $1.5 million at the pre-seed stage. The fund is sector-agnostic, targets both first-time and repeat founders with global ambitions, often being their first VC investor, and continues to offer follow-on support through Series A and beyond.
- Fund II was supported by over 70 percent of its portfolio founders, including Mati Staniszewski of ElevenLabs, Amar Shah of Wayve, and Michele Attisani of FACEIT, as well as institutional investors such as TopTier Capital Partners, Marktlink Capital, Dominus, and Granite Capital Management, with 80 percent of institutional investors based in the US.
"This raise makes Concept the largest dedicated pre-seed fund in Europe. It’s a milestone that reflects not only the growing importance of pre-seed as its own asset class, but also the trust placed in us by our portfolio founders and global LP base," explains Seyon Indran, Principal at Concept Ventures and Head of Founder Research.
