Creator Fund

What Creator Fund does

Creator Fund is a London-based pre-seed and seed venture capital firm (legal entity FF Creator Limited, FCA-authorised under FRN 1032629) that backs scientific founders at European universities before they have a pitch deck. Founded in 2019 by Jamie Macfarlane after his Stanford MBA, the firm invests up to €1 million as a first cheque into teams with at least one PhD student, professor, or recent graduate, primarily across AI, Deep Tech, and Biotech sectors. Its differentiated sourcing model rests on a student investment partner programme embedded across 25 university campuses in Europe and the USA — including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, TU Delft, Max Planck, TUM, EPFL, Glasgow and Karolinska — supplemented by venture fellows at European research institutions. Founders apply through a Typeform application portal on the company website, with the network of student investors and venture fellows originating the majority of deal flow at the earliest possible stage.

The firm earns returns through two primary streams: (i) carried interest on portfolio company exits, with three recent liquidity events validating the model (Loci acquired by Epic Games in 2025, Versed AI acquired by Exiger in 2024, and Recycleye acquired by CPG Sorting Technologies in 2026), and (ii) annual management fees on committed capital. In June 2026, Creator Fund closed its first European fund at €48.8 million, backed by 71 limited partners from 21 countries with KfW Capital as the largest investor and EIFO (Investment Fund of Denmark) as the second-largest; 11 investments were deployed from this fund across the Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, Germany and the UK. The leadership team combines deep technical and financial backgrounds: CEO Jamie Macfarlane (Stanford MBA, Oxford), COO Alexandra Ntemourtsidou (MSc in AI, ex-Goldman Sachs quant strategies, prior ML engineering), Chairman Henry Lane Fox (CEO of Founders Factory, partner at firstminute capital), and Founding Partner Lord Rumi Verjee. As of 2026 the firm has 11-50 employees and a portfolio of 55+ companies, positioning it as one of the few European venture managers with a structurally embedded university sourcing engine targeting pre-pitch-deck scientific founders.

Name

Creator Fund

Legal name

FF Creator Limited

Website

https://www.thecreatorfund.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Creator Fund is a London-based pre-seed and seed venture capital firm that invests up to €1 million into scientific founders at European universities before they have a pitch deck, sourcing deals through a network of student investment partners across 25 campuses in AI, Deep Tech and Biotech.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pre-Seed Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Pre-seed venture capital
• Deep tech investing
• University spinout funding
• Scientific founder backing
• European startup investment

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns (Carried Interest): Creator Fund generates returns through carried interest on successful portfolio company exits. As a pre-seed and seed investor, the fund earns a share of profits from portfolio companies that achieve liquidity events such as acquisitions or IPOs.
2. Management Fees: VC funds typically charge an annual management fee on committed capital during the investment period, covering fund operations, deal sourcing, and portfolio support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Creator Fund provides pre-seed and seed venture capital investment of up to €1 million as a first cheque to scientific founders (PhD students, professors, recent graduates) at European universities, before they have a pitch deck. The firm combines capital with hands-on strategic support, guidance through university spinout processes, IP negotiations, and access to a network of leading European and US follow-on VC investors. Deal flow is sourced through a student investment partner programme spanning 25 university campuses across Europe.

Product overview

Creator Fund is a pre-seed and seed venture capital fund that operates across Europe, backing scientific founders at the earliest stage of their journey. The fund does not offer a traditional software product; rather, its core offering consists of investment capital (up to €1 million as a first cheque) combined with access to Europe's leading deep technology network. The fund operates a student investment partner program at 25+ universities and a venture fellow network to source and support founders. Creator Fund is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 1032629) and is structured as FF Creator Limited.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-Seed Investment Services Creator Fund provides pre-seed and seed equity investment of up to €1 million as a first cheque to scientific founders (PhDs, professors, recent graduates) at European universities in AI, Deep Tech, and BioTech sectors. Investment is made before founders have a polished pitch deck, with the fund taking a hands-on role in subsequent fundraising rounds and access to follow-on VC networks.
• University Network and Student Investment Partner Programme A network of student investment partners and venture fellows across 25+ European universities (including Max Planck, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, TUM, EPFL, TU Delft, Karolinska, DTU, Lund, Glasgow) that sources and supports founders, provides hands-on operational support, and connects portfolio companies to future funding rounds.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to €1 million invested as first cheque in European deep tech startups
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Max Planck InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has made investments in companies emerging from the Max Planck Institute, including Ovo Labs (therapeutics for IVF success) and companies in the portfolio spanning the institute's research ecosystem. The fund has a Venture Fellow at Max Planck Institute.
• TU DelftcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has invested in companies emerging from TU Delft, including SEAL Robotics (port robotics), and has a student investment partner (Sergio Loarte Castro) based at TU Delft.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has invested in multiple Oxford spinouts including Arondite, Helical AI (with Imperial), and Baseimmune, and has student investment partners and venture fellows active at Oxford.
• University of CambridgecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has invested in multiple Cambridge spinouts including BeyondMath, Loci (acquired by Epic Games), Marqo, and Helical AI (with HEC Paris), and has multiple student investment partners at Cambridge.
• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has invested in multiple Imperial spinouts including Helical AI (with HEC Paris), SOLVE Chemistry, tera, and Recycleye, and has student investment partners active at Imperial.
• University of GlasgowcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund invested in Chemify, a Glasgow spinout creating digital chemistry laboratories with a universal chemistry programming language. Also invested in Malted AI and Neuranics from Glasgow.
• EPFLminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund has a Venture Fellow (Pietro Mello Rella) at EPFL and invests in companies emerging from the Swiss federal institute's research ecosystem.
• TUM (Technical University of Munich)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund invested in Quantum Diamonds, a TUM spinout building atom-sized quantum sensors in diamonds for semiconductor, quantum computing, and medical diagnostics applications. Has venture fellows and student investment partners at TUM.
• DLR (German Aerospace Center)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEAL Robotics was founded by a former DLR roboticist (Daniel Leidner) and Creator Fund led their $2.1M pre-seed round, with the company developing robotics for port infrastructure leveraging space-grade technology.
• Barts, Kings, UCLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator Fund invested in Apian (Barts) — healthcare drone logistics partnered with the NHS and Boots; Stanhope AI (Kings/UCL) — active inference for robotics; Fairgen (UCL) — synthetic data for fair AI decision-making.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Entrepreneur First: London-headquartered pre-seed investor that backs technical individuals before they form a team, with a similar focus on AI and deep tech founders in Europe. Directly comparable thesis (pre-team, pre-pitch-deck, technical talent) and overlapping LPs in the European deep tech ecosystem.
• Deep Science Ventures: London-based pre-seed VC that creates science-backed companies from scratch, focused on hard tech and biotech. Comparable thesis around scientific founders, pre-company formation investment, and sector focus on deep tech/health.
• Seedcamp: One of Europe's leading pre-seed and seed funds, based in London. Comparable in stage (pre-seed/seed), geography (European), and ticket size, although Seedcamp's sector mandate is broader than Creator Fund's deep tech focus.
• firstminute capital: London-based early-stage venture fund with pan-European focus; Creator Fund's Chairman Henry Lane Fox is a partner at firstminute. Highly comparable in stage, geography, and institutional LP profile, with potential for co-investment and overlap.
• LocalGlobe: London-based seed-stage VC investing across the UK and Europe, with a similar pre-seed-to-Series A focus. LocalGlobe co-led Anzen Industries' pre-seed round with Creator Fund, demonstrating direct competitive and co-investor overlap.
• Dorm Room Fund: US-based student-led venture fund backed by First Round Capital that pioneered the student-investor-partner model Creator Fund has adopted in Europe. Conceptually identical sourcing model; useful benchmark for the student partner programme's track record.
• Oxford Science Enterprises: Oxford-focused investment company that builds and backs deep tech ventures from university research. Co-investor in Caudal Energy alongside Creator Fund; competes for the same Oxford deep tech spinout deal flow.
• Cambridge Innovation Capital: Cambridge-focused deep tech investor backing spinouts from the University of Cambridge. Direct competitor for Cambridge deep tech founders, with similar sector focus and university-anchored sourcing.
• Speedinvest: Vienna-based European early-stage VC with sector-focused funds including deep tech. Comparable in stage, pan-European footprint, and increasing focus on scientific founders, though with a larger fund and broader sector mandate.
• Hoxton Ventures: London-based early-stage VC investing in European tech startups at pre-seed and seed. Comparable stage, geography, and ticket size; less deep tech specialisation but overlapping founder pool.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CreatorFund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/11796947
• Facebookfacebook.com/creatorfund

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments73 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creator Fund