Building companies that transform industries
Firstname Lastname & Firstname Lastname
Position & Position, Company
Welcome to GCV Labs
Venture Builder and Startup Incubator
Our innovation arm is an impact-driven venture builder dedicated to launching products and new ventures that make a positive difference to society, the environment, and the economy.
Utilising our multi-disciplinary skill-set, we invest our knowledge, experience, ideas and infrastructure to help high growth startups scale fast.
1. GCV Spinouts
Our core area of focus is financial services and fintech. Our Fintech Venture Builder Team identify opportunities where technology can create value and streamline processes.
We explore new business models and ways to provide a better customer experience. We test new products and services, when one shows great promise, we build a dedicated team, incubate and then spin it out into a company and grow a successful business.
2. Co-Founded Startups
Typically we work with non-tech co-founders with deep domain knowledge. We help to define and design the business idea. We’ll work together on product specifications and roadmap then assemble a multi-disciplined team to tackle the challenge. We know what building businesses is about and have experience building and successfully exiting start-ups.
We work closely with our co-founders through every step of the start-up journey - from product development to raising capital and building the team and the business. That’s the GCV Labs way.
3. Corporates
We support entrepreneurial businesses and corporations through our 'venture builder as a service' solution. We assemble an experienced delivery team to work with your company to create and launch new products or new businesses.
From research and discovery to ideation and business model development. We work with you to understand your market, define your product then build, launch and scale.
Building Ventures Together
A multidisciplinary team with experience across a number of sectors including technology, financial services, media and property. We also team up with entrepreneurs and companies to build and launch ventures in areas where, together, we have complementary skill sets and deep sector knowledge.
GCV has supported Intelligence Fusion from idea stage and proof-of-concept stage right through to launching and scaling the business.
The GCV Invest team supported each funding round raising £1.25m of seed and growth capital.
The GCV Labs team helped to create, launch and scale the business, from developing our core software product and intelligence platform including cutting-edge UX and UI, to helping to recruit the team and create enterprise value.
Michael McCabe
Founder & CEO, Intelligence Fusion
Companies We've Backed
Ambitious businesses with high growth potential.
We always look for the businesses that can make an impact; the businesses that can make a difference. Since launch, we've built a portfolio of a dozen companies across banking to threat intelligence and each continues to thrive to this day.
Intelligence Fusion
Sector: | SaaS |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 556,800 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS, SEIS |
QikServe
Sector: | Fintech |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 2,624,694 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS |
n-gage.io
Sector: | SaaS |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 803,963 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS, SEIS |
Atom Bank
Sector: | Fintech & Banking |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 1,100,000 |
Hive.Hr
Sector: | HR Tech |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 1,453,000 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS, SEIS |
Business Finance Market (trading as Finance Nation)
Sector: | Fintech & Banking |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 1,303,855 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS, SEIS |
Cathedral Gates
Sector: | Property |
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Investment Type: | Equity & Debt |
Investment to Date: | £ 2,000,000 |
Middleton Waters
Sector: | Property |
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Investment Type: | Equity & Debt |
Investment to Date: | £ 7,000,000 |
The Langtons
Sector: | Property |
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Investment Type: | Equity & Debt |
Investment to Date: | £ 3,000,000 |
Thorpe Paddocks
Sector: | Property |
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Investment Type: | Equity & Debt |
Investment to Date: | £ 6,000,000 |
Growth Capital Ventures
Sector: | Fintech |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 2,381,069 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS, SEIS |
Finexos
Sector: | Fintech & Banking |
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Investment Type: | Equity |
Investment to Date: | £ 2,096,414 |
Tax Schemes: | EIS |
Ready To Raise Capital?
We back the game changers, the innovators and value creators.
Those who make a positive difference to the way we live and work. Whether that’s the UK’s first app-only and most trusted bank, or a tech startup that’s transforming the way businesses engage employees and strengthen culture, the mission is the same - identify and accelerate those businesses with the potential to grow, scale and create value.
Venture Builder FAQs
Find out more about the Venture Builder process
The Venture Builder model differs from traditional venture capital. We invest more than just funds; we invest our knowledge and experience, our ideas and our infrastructure.
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Venture Builders, also called startup studios, startup factories, or venture studios — is an organisation that creates, launches and scales startups using their own ideas and resources. This innovative new model is responsible for startups like Twitter, Medium, Lazada, Food Panda and Zalora, just to name a few, and increasingly adopted by the corporate world.
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The venture builder model is growing. High-growth startups need more than just capital, particularly in the venture creation stage. Many tech startup founders may possess deep domain and sector experience, but not the software development or capital raising expertise needed to create, launch and scale a high-growth startup.
The venture builder model provides more than just capital. It’s a much more hands-on approach. Many venture builders provide strategic and back-office support combined with deep startup knowledge and experience.
The focus is very much on launching and scaling fast using techniques such as lean startup methodology and agile software development. In many cases, with the right founders, it can increase the chances of success significantly, and provide a solid pathway to raising traditional venture capital investment and long-term value creation.
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As the business develops we provide formal support from GCV Labs and GCV Invest. Team members will help the company with core functions, strategic advice and funding support, including access to our private investor network and institutional investors.
Our Venture Builder Services and Investment support include:
- Business Model Development
- Investment Readiness
- Corporate Finance
- Marketing
- Accounting
- Legal
- SEIS and EIS forward assurance
- Capital raising
- Sales & leadership coaching and mentoring
These support services are typically charged with bundled fees under a formal agreement between ventures and GCV.
In addition, new ventures can access the services of GCV Labs in the North East covering:
- Technology development
- UX/UI development and rapid prototyping
- Financial support
- Market research and competitor analysis
If you have a query that is not answered here please leave us a message or visit our insights page.
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