Ed Lascelles and Jessica Bartos from Albion VC, based in London, UK, early backers of Booking.com, explain their investment philosophy, especially when it comes to FinTech and Tech, success stories, assessment of the British and European start-up scene, and views on the FinTechs' prospects of taking on big banks or partnering up with them.
Show Notes
- What brought Jessica and Ed to VC investing? Jessica from the White House under Obama's Administration to Rothschild's at Wall Street and the City to Albion and Ed, a VC investor from before it became fashionable
- What is Albion? Who founded Albion? When?
- What’s Albion's investment focus/philosophy? Geographic focus?
- How much money they have raised since inception and for how many start-ups?
- What kind of start-ups do they invest in? Series A, post-product-market fit, writing checks of GBP 0.25 to 10 million
- What kind of FinTechs has Albion invested in? E.g Quantexa or Imandra
- How do you find them? How do scouting and due diligence work? What are your selection criteria?
- What’s your investment approach? E.g. min size of the stake, board seat, time to exit, economics?
- Investment success stories of the start-ups - Booking.com or active.com
- How do you see the prospects of Fintechs vs incumbent banks?
- Assessment of the start-up scene in the UK and Europe vs. the rest of the world
- Wrap up: where and how can inspiring entrepreneurs learn more about Albion
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Aiming to inspire entrepreneurs around the world to launch their new ventures. Connect FinTech enthusiasts with start-ups, incubators, accelerators, investors and incumbents.