Project A Ventures launches in the UK
Project A Ventures, the European early-stage venture firm headquartered in Berlin and backers of WorldRemit, Trade Republic, KRY, Unmind, Voi, Spryker, sennder and Catawiki has brought its “Operational VC” model to UK start-ups by opening its first international office in London.
Project A’s London office is headed by an experienced investment team including principals Sam Cash, Jack Wang, and associate Luc de Leyritz, supported by Leopold Lerach and Francesca Baillieu from Berlin.
Project A has been present locally since early 2019 through Sam Cash, who joined the firm from betaworks to lead efforts locally. The team expansion is indicative of their commitment to the UK ecosystem, and demonstrates the firm’s willingness to build on the positive momentum it has in the UK, having invested in WorldRemit and Unmind.
The firm will continue to back pan-European founders at seed and Series A with its “Operational Model”. The model enables all of Project A’s portfolio companies to access a wide range of operational support services. This includes more than 100 functional experts across key areas such as software engineering, business intelligence, sales and marketing, recruitment and many more. The fund boasts the largest platform team in European venture capital.
Uwe Horstmann, general partner at Project A Ventures, “The UK has always been one of the world’s major technology hubs, and commands a significant portion of both capital and talent. We fully expect to see this trend continue, with talented employees coming out of large companies in increasing numbers, to embark on their own start-ups, supported by an abundance of venture capital in the market.”
Sam Cash, principal at Project A Ventures, “We’re expanding our presence in London for a few reasons. We want to give founders all the benefits of having a local partner, whilst allowing them to work with our operational team. London has been fertile ground for us in terms of our existing partnerships, the density of tech talent and the opportunity cost is now too great for global firms not to be here.”
Nick Taylor, CEO of Unmind, “Project A’s operational approach offers something that most VCs cannot provide, a team of 100 functional experts who are able to support companies at a moment’s notice. Since partnering with them, their teams in London and Berlin have been invaluable in helping us manage our growth and scaling internationally.”
Project A currently has $600m under management investing across consumer, marketplaces, SaaS, deeptech, fintech / insurtech, mobility and gaming. Furthermore, Project A has already been backing amazing U.K. founders over the past years including WorldRemit, Unmind, Electric Gamebox, Quix, Wonderbly as well as a number of unannounced companies.
