What Firstminute Capital does

Firstminute Capital is a London-based, FCA-regulated seed-stage venture capital firm (structured as firstminute capital LLP) founded in 2017 by Spencer Crawley and Brent Hoberman. The firm invests £1m-£3m tickets at pre-seed and seed into European founders building global technology businesses, with stated sector expertise in vertical AI applications and deep tech including robotics. The firm manages $500m AUM across two funds and has backed more than 170 portfolio companies, producing 11 seed-stage unicorns such as Wayve, Mistral AI, Storyblok, Tessl, and n8n.

The firm operates a platform-plus-investment model rather than a pure capital deployment business. Beyond cheques, portfolio companies gain access to a network of 130+ unicorn founder backers (including Eric Schmidt, Max Levchin, Niklas Zennström, and Guillaume Pousaz) and a five-pillar community stack covering Talent & Network, Events & Community, Business Development, Storytelling/PR, and Fundraising. Operational artefacts include an aggregated Talent Pool and Jobs Board, an annual Firstminute Summit in London, curated dinners and annual retreats, a "Crazy Until It's Not" podcast, and a published insights platform with thematic theses. The firm is operationally intertwined with the broader Founders Forum ecosystem founded by Brent Hoberman, sharing office space at 180 Strand with Founders Factory, Founders Intelligence, Founders Keepers, and Founders Pledge.

Revenue mechanics follow the standard venture fund structure: management fees on committed/invested capital plus carried interest on realised exits. The LP base combines blue-chip institutional investors with a large operator-investor pool drawn from the unicorn backer network, providing both capital and value-add distribution leverage. The fund's reported outcome is that portfolio companies have subsequently raised $2.7bn+ in follow-on funding, validating the bridge-to-Series-A thesis that anchors the firm's differentiation.

Name

Firstminute Capital

Legal name

firstminute capital LLP

Website

https://firstminute.capital

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Firstminute Capital is a London-based seed-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests £1m-£3m tickets into European technology founders, managing $500m AUM across two funds and a 170+ company portfolio anchored by a 130+ unicorn founder backer network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early-Stage Venture Capital

NAICS

All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Seed stage investment
• Early-stage technology investing
• Pre-seed startup funding
• European technology 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, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: Firstminute Capital operates as a seed fund generating returns through equity investments in early-stage technology companies. Revenue is derived from management fees and carried interest on successful fund returns. They have backed generational companies such as Wayve, Mistral, Storyblok, Tessl, and n8n at seed stage.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Firstminute Capital is a $500m AUM seed-stage venture capital fund that invests £1m to £3m cheques into European pre-seed and seed technology founders, typically as the first institutional investor. The firm supplements capital with a community platform built on five pillars (Talent & Network, Events & Community, Business Development, Storytelling/PR, and Fundraising) and access to a network of 130+ unicorn founder backers.

Product overview

Firstminute Capital is a £500m AUM seed fund that operates as a platform rather than a single product, offering investment services (£1m-£3m tickets), a portfolio platform (170+ companies), a talent pool, a jobs board, community networking (including Founders Forum), annual summits, and insights/research content. The fund is backed by 130+ unicorn founders and focuses on European AI and deep tech startups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investment Fund Services
• Firstminute Summit

Quantifiable outcome

• 11 unicorns backed at seed stage
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 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

One partnership is on record.

• Founders ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirstminute's co-founder Brent Hoberman co-founded Founders Forum 20 years ago. It has become one of tech's deepest ecosystems, attracting superstar founders, heads of state, academics, and investors. Ancillary businesses include Founders Factory, Founders Intelligence, Founders Keepers, and Founders Pledge. firstminute sits as an independent cousin to these businesses.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Seedcamp: London-headquartered early-stage (pre-seed and seed) European VC; one of the most established players in the same sub-£3m ticket range that Firstminute competes in.
• Speedinvest: Vienna-based early-stage VC writing similar-sized seed cheques across Europe, often co-investing with Firstminute (e.g., Vocca, Scalera) and competing for the same founders.
• Atomico: London-based venture capital firm investing across European tech from seed to growth; a direct competitor for the same European pre-seed/seed AI and software deals that Firstminute targets, and a frequent co-investor.
• LocalGlobe: London-based seed and pre-seed investor focused on UK and European founders; overlaps directly with Firstminute's stage, geography, and sector focus.
• Balderton Capital: Leading London-based Series A investor in European tech; frequently co-invests with Firstminute (e.g., Lindus Health) and is a natural next-round partner for Firstminute's seed portfolio.
• Hoxton Ventures: London-based pre-seed and seed fund backing European tech startups; competes in the same early-stage ticket size and geography as Firstminute.
• Notion Capital: London-headquartered early-stage VC focused on enterprise/B2B software across Europe; comparable stage, geography, and B2B SaaS/AI orientation to Firstminute.
• Episode 1: London-based pre-seed and seed investor in UK and European consumer/internet/AI founders; a direct competitor at the earliest ticket sizes Firstminute writes.
• Kindred Capital: London-based seed-stage VC investing in European founders across frontier tech and AI; overlaps closely with Firstminute on stage, geography, and thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Index Ventures: Pan-European and US venture firm with a broad seed-to-growth mandate; a broader incumbent whose seed activity overlaps with Firstminute's pre-seed/seed focus, especially for AI and frontier tech.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firstminutecap
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firstminutecapital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments210 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Firstminute Capital