Silicon Roundabout Ventures (SRV)

Silicon Roundabout Ventures (SRV) is a community-driven venture capital firm based in London, United Kingdom, specializing in pre-seed and seed-stage investments in European Deep Tech startups. The firm focuses on companies building fundamental hardware or low-level software technologies with strong intellectual property moats, aiming to solve large-scale global problems at an infrastructural level. Their investment thesis centers on deeply technical, infrastructural, defensible, and trend-setting companies with the potential for international disruption and significant revenue growth in the long term. SRV actively seeks out contrarian scientists and engineers leading enterprises in critical sectors such as Computing, Defence, and Energy, with an expanded interest in Climate and Health technologies.

The origins of Silicon Roundabout Ventures trace back to the Silicon Roundabout tech meetup community, which began in London in 2011 as a gathering of engineers, scientists, and founders. Francesco Perticarari, a computer scientist, co-founded and grew this community into one of Europe's largest tech meetups. His initial angel investments into community startups started in 2019. In 2023, Perticarari officially launched Silicon Roundabout Ventures as a solo General Partner fund, with a first closing in December 2022, to scale up his Deep Tech angel investing and provide super-early capital to technical founders across Europe. The fund closed at just over its £5 million target, backed by institutional investors like Molten Ventures and numerous angel investors.

The firm's portfolio showcases a diverse range of Deep Tech innovations. Notable investments include Anaphite, a developer of dry coating precursor technology for battery electrode manufacturing; Haiqu, a provider of software solutions for quantum computing; and Archangel Lightworks, which is developing space laser communication systems. Other portfolio companies span areas such as microprocessors (VyperCore), combat weapon systems (Origin Robotics), electric jet engines (Greenjets), HVAC management solutions (EcoSync), and quantum semiconductor manufacturing (Ephos). SRV's approach involves writing first cheques in these next-generation technology startups, often leading pre-seed and angel rounds, and providing continuous support to founders.

The team at Silicon Roundabout Ventures leverages its in-house science and engineering expertise to challenge the status quo and identify truly disruptive technologies. Led by General Partner Francesco Perticarari, the team includes Venture Partners such as Olivia Nicoletti, a nanophysicist and spinout expert, and Ralph King, an exited CTO and technology specialist. Maria Grazia Vigliotti, an AI and cybersecurity expert, also contributes to the firm's technical acumen. This technical background, combined with a community-driven approach, allows SRV to access proprietary deal flow and provide founders with unbiased advice and support, helping them navigate the challenges of transitioning from technical backgrounds to building and growing businesses.