VC Principal

VC Principal @ Octopus Ventures in London, England

At Octopus we’re transforming the industries we operate in and improving the lives of millions of people. We’ve built market-leading positions in a number of specialist sectors, including smaller company financing, renewable energy, healthcare and property finance. We employ in excess of 800 people and manage more than £8.5 billion on behalf of over 50,000 investors. Our products don’t just help real people solve real life problems, they also make a positive impact on the world around us.

The Octopus Group incorporates Octopus Energy, Octopus Real Estate, Octopus Investments, Octopus Ventures, Octopus Wealth and Octopus Renewables. Our aim is to have an impact in everything we do, and to make a vital contribution to the UK economy by helping people, companies and institutions generate wealth. And we’re always on the look-out for smart, talented people who share our values.

Job Description

Octopus Ventures is one of Europe’s largest venture capital funds, with £1.2 billion under management. We can invest from £250,000 to £25 million in a first round of funding and will look to follow in subsequent rounds. We are proud to be known as one of the most entrepreneur friendly investors in Europe. The pioneers we back dare to reimagine the future of health, the future of money and deep tech.

Octopus Ventures, part of Octopus Group, is one of the largest VCs in Europe. We invest in the pioneers who will create the next $1 billion companies in health, money and deep tech. We know that being bold and generous with our time, our network and our knowledge works for everyone. We draw on the diversity of our experience to help the companies we back get better, faster, whether that involves building teams, developing their CEOs or scaling internationally.

We aim to be helpful and straightforward, committed to shaping an ecosystem where the brightest entrepreneurs can make a meaningful contribution to society. We know that companies which embrace diversity, including our own, perform better, which is why we’ve joined others and signed up to #movingforward.

Octopus Ventures have backed the founding teams of nearly 100 companies including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Elvie, Depop, Sofar Sounds and Cazoo. Some of our portfolio companies have gone on to join forces with the world’s largest businesses including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter.

About the role

Octopus Ventures is (one of) the most active Series A investors in the UK. With >£1bn AuM and significant capital to deploy in new investments. Going forwards we aim to capitalise on our strong market position and network by building a team focused on slightly later stage start-ups that have proven product market fit and are ready to scale their business. The Growth team will work closely with the existing Octopus Ventures’ sector teams to leverage their expertise when assessing later stage opportunities. The newly formed team will seek to ...