Cocoa
Cocoa (Cocoa Advisor LLP) is a UK-based solo-GP angel venture fund writing $500K pre-seed/seed checks into technical founders across AI, hard tech, energy, healthtech, space, and defense. Manages Cocoa I ($17M, 2022) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cocoa does
Cocoa (legally Cocoa Advisor LLP) is a UK-based angel venture capital fund, founded in 2021/2022 and headquartered in Wimbledon, London. It operates as a solo-GP firm led by Carmen (ex-Morgan Stanley IBD, former VC), with a small core team (Carmen, Samu, Alejandro). The firm's core product is a series of pre-seed/seed angel funds that deploy $500,000 checks into 'Killers with a Heart' — technical founders building across AI, data, hard tech, energy, creators, marketplaces, consumer, fintech, Industry 4.0, professional services, healthtech, science, space tech, and defense. Cocoa has raised two funds to date: Cocoa I ($17M, 2022, mainly founder-backed) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025, anchored by institutional LPs Sapphire Partners, Alfred I. duPont Charitable Trust, The Dietrich Foundation, and SITFO). Together these represent roughly $40M in committed capital, deployed across ~26+ publicly listed portfolio companies.
Cocoa positions itself as a 'founders' in-house VC' rather than a traditional institutional VC. Its operational layer consists of an open-source educational content platform branded Cocoa OSS — comprising a blog, a Spotify/YouTube video-podcast series ('The One Where…'), and downloadable Google Sheets templates including an Investor Tracker fundraising CRM and a Cap Table template. Internal workflows run on Notion and Google Workspace. The firm is FCA-regulated as an Appointed Representative of The Fund Incubator Limited (FRN 208716) and operates as a UK limited liability partnership (OC450336).
The business model is classic venture fund economics: management fees (typically ~2% on committed capital) plus future carried interest on exits from minority equity stakes acquired via $500K angel checks. GTM is community-led (founder and GP referrals), sales-led (Cocoa proactively approaches founders rather than waiting for inbound), and event-driven (LP fundraising uses in-person 'hot chocolate' meetings and personalized chocolate bars). Customers are two-sided: (1) primary — pre-seed/seed founders receiving capital and operating support; (2) secondary — institutional LPs (foundations, fund-of-funds, family offices) committing capital to the funds. The firm has no software product, no API, no AI/ML pipeline, and no recurring SaaS revenue.
Cocoa firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cocoa
- Legal name
- Cocoa Advisor LLP
- Website
- https://cocoa.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Cocoa (Cocoa Advisor LLP) is a UK-based solo-GP angel venture fund writing $500K pre-seed/seed checks into technical founders across AI, hard tech, energy, healthtech, space, and defense. Manages Cocoa I ($17M, 2022) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cocoa industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Angel / Early-Stage Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Open-End Investment Funds (525910)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Micro-VC & Angel Funds (FSANAAAI)
Keywords
Where Cocoa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cocoa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Fund management (Cocoa I & Cocoa II): Cocoa raises venture-style funds from LPs and invests the capital into startups. Cocoa I (2022) was a $17M fund; Cocoa II (2025) closed at $23M. Returns to LPs and the GP come from equity stakes taken via $500K pre-seed/seed checks — classic VC management-fee-and-carry economics are implied by the fund structure.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Angel check size |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Cocoa product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cocoa is an angel venture capital fund that invests $500K checks at the pre-seed and seed stages into founders it describes as 'Killers with a Heart' — teams building across AI, data, hard tech, energy, creators, marketplaces, consumer, fintech, Industry 4.0, professional services, healthtech, science, space tech and defense. The firm operates two funds — Cocoa I ($17M, 2022) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025) — and layers an 'in-house VC' support model on top of the capital, including the open-source Cocoa OSS education platform and free downloadable cap-table and investor-tracker templates for founders.
Product overview
Cocoa (legally Cocoa Advisor LLP) is an angel venture capital firm — not a software product company — built around a single core offering (its investment funds) wrapped with a distinctive 'in-house VC' support layer. The core product is the Cocoa Fund franchise: Cocoa I ($17M, 2022) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025), both investing $500K angel checks at the pre-seed/seed stage in 'Killers with a Heart' — founders building across AI, data, hard tech, energy, fintech, healthtech, defense, and more. Layered on top of the fund are: the 'Killer with a Heart' portfolio brand showcase, the open-source Cocoa OSS educational content library (including the TOW video/podcast series), free downloadable founder resources (Cap Table template and Investor Tracker), the Job Page hiring hub, and the formalized 'Cocoa Pledge' service charter to founders. Together these form a unified platform where the fund is the financial product and OSS/Pledge/Jobs/portfolio showcase are the in-house VC services that wrap around it.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cocoa OSS: An open-source in-house VC content platform by Cocoa Ventures offering videos, materials and fundraising playbooks for founders.
Products and services
- Cocoa II Fund Active angel venture capital fund that invests $500K checks at the pre-seed/seed stage into founders building across AI, data, hard tech, energy, creators, marketplaces, consumer, fintech, Industry 4.0, professional services, healthtech, science, space tech and defense; fund also acts as an 'in-house VC' providing ongoing operational and fundraising support to portfolio founders.
- Cocoa I Fund Debut angel venture capital fund (now deployed) that established Cocoa's $500K angel-check, pre-seed/seed investment model and 'in-house VC' operating approach with portfolio founders.
- Cocoa OSS (Open-Source In-House VC) Free, publicly available open-source library of in-house VC knowledge for founders, including a 'TOW' video/podcast series on Spotify and YouTube plus written materials; covers fundraising strategy, round terms, fund economics, board governance, KPIs and legal topics.
- Investor Tracker spreadsheet Free downloadable Google Sheets-based fundraising CRM template that captures investor profile (name, HQ, tier, ticket size, lead vs follower, contact role), funnel stage, next steps and intros/context; designed to help founders execute a fundraising round like a B2B sales funnel.
- Cap Table template (Hacking Your First Cap Table) Free downloadable Google Sheets-based cap table template for a first priced equity round (no prior SAFEs), listing shareholders, share counts, share classes and ownership percentages, with Cocoa commentary on dilution and round terms.
Quantifiable outcome
- Closed Cocoa II at $23M in 2025, anchored by Sapphire Partners, Alfred I. duPont Charitable Trust, The Dietrich Foundation and SITFO.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Cocoa
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Cocoa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Cocoa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Cocoa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- LocalGlobe: UK-based pre-seed and seed-stage venture firm writing similar early checks to founder-led startups. LocalGlobe shares Cocoa's founder-friendly philosophy and UK/European footprint, making it a closely comparable micro-VC peer.
- Seedcamp: One of Europe's leading seed funds, investing in UK and continental founders from day one. Direct peer to Cocoa at the seed stage, though Seedcamp operates at significantly larger fund sizes and broader scope.
- Episode 1: UK pre-seed venture fund investing small initial checks into UK and European founders. Comparable to Cocoa in stage focus, ticket size discipline, and generalist thesis spanning consumer and B2B software.
- Hoxton Ventures: London-based early-stage fund backing ambitious UK and European technology founders. Direct peer to Cocoa in stage, geography, and the generalist B2B/consumer thesis, with similar small initial checks.
- Connect Ventures: London-based pre-seed/seed fund focused on product-led startups. Closely comparable to Cocoa in stage, geography, and the small-ticket 'in-house VC' model of supporting founders from inception.
- Antler: Global pre-seed platform and fund backing founders from inception with structured programs. Comparable to Cocoa in deploying early capital at the earliest stage and building founder communities, though Antler is far larger and program-driven.
- SFC Capital: UK's most active early-stage angel-style investor, writing small pre-seed/seed checks into UK founders. Comparable to Cocoa in stage, ticket size, and reliance on community/referral-driven deal flow.
- Outward VC: London-based pre-seed and seed fund supporting diverse founders across the UK and Europe. Comparable to Cocoa in stage focus, geography, and the small-ticket founder-support model.
Broad incumbents
- Atomico: London-headquartered European technology venture firm founded by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström. Comparable as a European tech investor but operates at much larger fund sizes and later stages than Cocoa.
- Speedinvest: Vienna-based European early-stage venture fund operating across multiple sectors with sector-specialist teams. Broader incumbent peer to Cocoa — overlapping in stage and geography but at significantly larger fund sizes and with deeper sector specialization.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cocoa social profiles
Digital presenceCocoa compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Cocoa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cocoa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Cocoa subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries24 records
Cocoa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cocoa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments23 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cocoa
What does Cocoa do?
Cocoa is an angel venture capital fund that invests $500K checks at the pre-seed and seed stages into founders it describes as 'Killers with a Heart' — teams building across AI, data, hard tech, energy, creators, marketplaces, consumer, fintech, Industry 4.0, professional services, healthtech, science, space tech and defense. The firm operates two funds — Cocoa I ($17M, 2022) and Cocoa II ($23M, 2025) — and layers an 'in-house VC' support model on top of the capital, including the open-source Cocoa OSS education platform and free downloadable cap-table and investor-tracker templates for founders.
Is Cocoa a public or private company?
Cocoa is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cocoa founded?
Cocoa was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Cocoa based?
Cocoa is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Cocoa make money?
One revenue line is on record: fund management (Cocoa I & Cocoa II).
Who are Cocoa's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are LocalGlobe, Seedcamp, Episode 1, Hoxton Ventures, Connect Ventures, Antler, SFC Capital and Outward VC. Broad incumbents are Atomico and Speedinvest.
Does Cocoa have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cocoa.
What industry is Cocoa in?
Cocoa's product category is Angel / Early-Stage Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAI, Micro-VC & Angel Funds. Its NAICS code is 525910 and its SIC code is 6282.