Onstage
Onstage (Startup Stage Limited) is a London-based venture platform running twice-yearly Demo Days that connect European pre-seed to Series A founders with 300+ VC partners, alongside a Deploy GP-LP summit, SPV angel co-investments, and a newly launched £10m early-stage venture fund.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Onstage does
Onstage (legally Startup Stage Limited) is a London-based venture platform founded in 2020 by Taos Edmondson (Partner at dmg ventures) and Hector Mason (GP at Episode 1), alongside co-founder Issie James, with Joel Hambly as Partner. The company operates a twice-yearly Demo Day cycle (May and October) that connects pre-seed to Series A European founders with 300+ VC partners including Balderton Capital, Sequoia, LocalGlobe, Cherry Ventures, a16z, Atomico, Felix Capital, and Speedinvest. The platform's underlying mechanism is a curated event-based matching workflow: founders submit a 10-minute application that is distributed to the VC partner network, which generates over 1,500 warm intro requests per Demo Day; the top 100 founders are surfaced on the Onstage Top 100 list; and the top 1% (~25 finalists) pitch at a live London Demo Day that is streamed globally. The service is free for founders, and Onstage explicitly takes no fees or equity. Alumni startups, including Deep Render, OXCan, Superlinked, Anterior, Jude, Scan.com, Praktika.ai, Lawhive, Caribou, and Captur, have collectively raised over £480 million from top-tier funds.
The business has historically been non-monetized for founders but has progressively built out adjacent revenue streams. These include Deploy, an annual February GP-LP summit in London connecting ~20 selected fund managers (from 350+ applicants) with 70+ LPs under an LPAC comprising Top Tier Capital Partners, Isomer Capital, and AXA Venture Partners; Onstage SPVs, an angel co-investment community built on the Odin SPV platform that has deployed over £1m alongside leading VCs in named alumni including Vizgard, Bonnet, YASO, Scan.com, Glycanage, Cosine, Captur, Honest Mobile, Clara, and Jude; and most recently, in November 2025, the Onstage Venture Fund, with a £10m initial close targeting approximately 80 pre-seed and seed investments over three years. The entity operates as an Appointed Representative of The Fund Incubator under UK FCA firm reference 208716, and runs with a lean team of 1-10 employees.
Onstage firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Onstage
- Legal name
- Startup Stage Limited
- Website
- https://onstage.vc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Onstage (Startup Stage Limited) is a London-based venture platform running twice-yearly Demo Days that connect European pre-seed to Series A founders with 300+ VC partners, alongside a Deploy GP-LP summit, SPV angel co-investments, and a newly launched £10m early-stage venture fund.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Onstage industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital Events Platform
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- SIC
- Investment Advice (6282)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Venture Capital Fundraising Placement (FSAEALAC), Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Executive Summits & Invitation-Only Forums (MPAGAGAK)
Keywords
Where Onstage is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Onstage business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Demo Day Platform Services: Onstage provides a free platform for founders to access VC investors; revenue model appears to be nascent with the launch of a new venture fund. The company previously operated without taking fees or equity from founders.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free access for founders |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Onstage product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Onstage operates a venture events platform that runs twice-yearly Demo Days where pre-seed to Series A founders apply via a 10-minute form, are reviewed by 300+ VC partners, and the top 1% pitch at a live event in London streamed to a global investor audience. It also runs an annual Deploy summit connecting fund managers with 70+ LPs, structures SPVs for angel co-investment alongside leading VCs, and recently launched a £10m early-stage venture fund making ~80 investments over three years.
Product overview
Onstage is a European venture capital events ecosystem that simplifies the fundraising journey for startups and VCs. The platform operates three core offerings: Demo Day, a six-week event where the top 1% of pre-seed to Series A European founders pitch to 200+ investors; Deploy, an annual February summit connecting emerging and established fund managers with 70+ LPs; and Onstage SPVs, which enable angel investors to co-invest alongside leading VCs. The company was founded in 2020 and is backed by the world's top VC firms including a16z, Sequoia, Balderton, and Atomico. Onstage does not charge fees or take equity from founders.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Demo Day
Quantifiable outcome
- Alumni have raised over £480 million from top-tier funds
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Onstage
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Onstage technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Onstage partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Onstage competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- SeedLegals: SeedLegals is a UK-based legaltech platform that streamlines fundraising, SPVs, and cap table management for early-stage European startups. It overlaps with Onstage through its SPV product, angel investor workflows, and shared focus on European pre-seed/seed deal execution.
- Dealroom.co: Dealroom is a European startup, VC, and growth data platform used by VCs and LPs to source deals and benchmark the ecosystem. It overlaps with Onstage as a deal-flow and fundraising infrastructure provider for European early-stage investors, though its model is data/subscription rather than events.
- F6S: F6S is a global startup network and deal-flow platform connecting founders with accelerators, investors, and grants. It is comparable to Onstage because it surfaces early-stage startups to investors and runs application-based programs akin to Onstage's Demo Day curation.
Broad incumbents
- Crunchbase: Crunchbase is a broad incumbent startup and investor intelligence platform widely used by VCs for deal sourcing and market mapping. It is comparable to Onstage in serving the investor side of the early-stage deal-flow funnel, though it competes via data and software rather than curated events.
- PitchBook: PitchBook is a leading private market data platform used by VCs and LPs for deal sourcing, fund research, and benchmarking. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Onstage in supporting investor deal-flow workflows, especially relevant for Onstage's Deploy GP-LP event.
- Techstars: Techstars is one of the largest global accelerator networks, running multiple cohort programs annually with Demo Days that attract hundreds of investors. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Onstage in its investor-curated demo day format, though it takes equity and operates a longer program structure.
- Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the world's largest startup accelerator and runs the most prominent Demo Day events connecting founders with hundreds of VCs. It is a broad incumbent in the same category as Onstage but takes equity and runs a 3-month program rather than a free, no-equity model.
Direct peers
- Antler: Antler is a global early-stage VC and founder generator that runs cohort-based programs and Demo Days across Europe, Asia, and emerging markets. It is a direct peer because it actively curates early-stage founders and connects them with investors through structured events, similar to Onstage's Demo Day cadence.
- Vestbee: Vestbee is a European startup and VC matching platform that connects early-stage founders with investors and runs online and in-person deal-flow events. It is a direct peer because it targets the same European pre-seed to Series A fundraising workflow and investor-curation use case as Onstage's Demo Day.
Others
- European Investment Fund (EIF): EIF is a pan-European fund-of-funds investor that backs emerging VC managers across Europe. It is adjacent to Onstage's Deploy event because Deploy specifically curates emerging fund managers seeking institutional LPs in the European ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Onstage social profiles
Digital presenceOnstage compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Onstage financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Onstage leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Onstage funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Onstage M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Onstage
What does Onstage do?
Onstage operates a venture events platform that runs twice-yearly Demo Days where pre-seed to Series A founders apply via a 10-minute form, are reviewed by 300+ VC partners, and the top 1% pitch at a live event in London streamed to a global investor audience. It also runs an annual Deploy summit connecting fund managers with 70+ LPs, structures SPVs for angel co-investment alongside leading VCs, and recently launched a £10m early-stage venture fund making ~80 investments over three years.
Is Onstage a public or private company?
Onstage is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Onstage founded?
Onstage was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Onstage based?
Onstage is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Onstage make money?
One revenue line is on record: demo Day Platform Services.
Who are Onstage's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are SeedLegals, Dealroom.co and F6S. Broad incumbents are Crunchbase, PitchBook, Techstars and Y Combinator. Direct peers are Antler and Vestbee. European Investment Fund (EIF) is listed as an others.
Does Onstage have an API?
No public API is recorded for Onstage.
What industry is Onstage in?
Onstage's product category is Venture Capital Events Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAAAM, Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated), with a secondary code of FSAEALAC, Venture Capital Fundraising Placement. Its NAICS code is 561920 and its SIC code is 6282.