About us

We are a team of founder-operators turned investors who share a common set of deeply held values. Our firm is built around the core principle of complete dedication to our founders' success.

Nothing else matters.

Our founding partners Michelle & Ali

Hear from our founders why they chose us…

We will work harder for you than any other person on your board or cap table, and will add real value at critical points of your journey.

How we work

We will only ever work in the best interests of you as founder and your company - never in our short-term economic interest.

We have the empathy of having been founders ourselves. We know the ups and downs and are in this with you, no matter what.

We are as ambitious as you. We first invest at Pre-Seed or Seed in Europe to help you go into the US, and have a Global Growth fund investing on both sides of the Atlantic to help you win globally.

  • “I can honestly say it was one of my best decisions to partner with Ali. He knows first-hand what it’s like to build a company and he brings some of the best operating insight on our board to the table. Every investor talks about working for you, but Ali truly does so. He pushes me...we’d be doing 20% less revenue today without his advice.”

    Garrett Lord, Founder and CEO
    Handshake

  • "One of the luckiest things for Amogy was getting to know Michelle as the first investor and working side-by-side to build the business together. As a first-time founder, I relied on her guidance and insights. Whenever we encountered difficult challenges, she was always available and her support was truly founder-oriented. It would have been impossible to build Amogy without her"

    Seonghoon Woo, Co-Founder and CEO
    Amogy

  • "Ali is amongst the best investors I’ve had the privilege to work with. His counsel, expertise and friendship have helped us scale successfully whilst navigating a turbulent couple of years in the wider markets. Ali’s expertise in figuring out product market fit, the founding journey and scaling to the US is second to none. I would work with him again in a heartbeat!"

    Nick Taylor, Founder and CEO
    Unmind

  • "Michelle is an exceptional investor—an unwaveringly candid, thoughtful, and unbiased sparring partner. With a rare blend of active listening and direct, straight-talking insight, she offers more than just advice: she opens the door to her expansive global network, ensuring that scaling companies receive high-calibre strategic support and guidance. Her combination of collegiality and unfiltered expertise makes her invaluable to any startup; they are lucky to have her on board!"

    David Fairen-Jimenez, Founder and CSO
    immaterial

  • "Working with Ali as a board director and investor has been of huge value in ViridiCO2’s journey, and as my development as a first time CEO. His support goes far beyond capital — Ali brings strategic insight, emotional intelligence, and a deep understanding of scaling businesses with integrity and vision. Ali empowers me as a founder, whilst simultaneously challenging and championing me. Ali has always been a true partner; always available for guidance, candid in feedback, and unwavering in his belief in our team. Whether navigating tough decisions or celebrating wins, he consistently adds value and perspective that push us to think bigger and operate smarter."

    Daniel Stewart, Co-founder and CEO
    ViridiCO2

  • "Michelle immediately got under the hood of what we were building in a way I hadn't seen in other first conversations with potential investors. She brought a combination of technical rigour and EQ to the process that I've only seen from a small number of the best venture investors - and that was crucial to developing the strong foundations of the ongoing relationship. Even now, I seek out her counsel when I can, which is testament to the value she can deliver to her portfolio."

    Rory Brown, Co-founder and CEO
    Airhive

  • "Ali has a deep understanding of product-market fit and a collaborative style that brings out the best in a team. He asks thoughtful questions, challenges assumptions in productive ways, and has been a strategic thought partner as we’ve worked to align our product, market, and go-to-market motion. Beyond that, I genuinely enjoy working with him—and I’m a better CEO because of it. Ali brings a rare mix of energy, optimism, and strategic depth. He has an incredible way of cutting through complexity to get to the heart of a challenge—and always in a way that’s productive and forward-moving. He’s been a key partner in shaping our GTM and helping us navigate tough decisions with confidence."

    Angie Westbrock, CEO
    Standard AI

  • "Working with Michelle helped take us to the next level. During due diligence before ultimately leading our Series A, her insightful questions helped strengthen our business plan. Her investor network helped us assemble a top-tier Series A syndicate. And as a board member she was a consistently constructive management partner."

    Conor Madigan, Founder and CEO
    Aether Fuels

  • "Partnering with the right people is critical for start up founders and in Michelle we found a partner with a great understanding of what it takes to build a company. For HPNow it has been extremely valuable to leverage her strategic insight and knowledge of bringing hardware technology to a commercial level and beyond. As a founder with a technical background and mindset I find it especially constructive to work with a person who can both understand the tech and ensure that we take the right commercial steps."

    Rasmus Frydendal, Co-founder and CTO
    HPNow

Meet the team

Woman with curly hair sitting by a window, wearing a white blouse, looking thoughtful.

  • Founding partner, London

    Michelle spent her early career advising industrial, financial and lifesciences executives on commercial growth and business development across Europe, the US and Australia.

    After moving to the UK in 2011, Michelle joined Anglo American to support the restructure of the USD5bn platinum business, set-up of the commodity trading business unit, and foundation of the venture capital unit. In 2019 Michelle became a founding investor of AP Ventures, a leading European industrial and energy venture capital fund.

    For the last 10 years Michelle has been an investor, advisor and board member of deeptech and climate focused start-ups, supporting hugely ambitious founders to develop industry-disrupting technologies at the cutting edge of science and engineering, including Amogy, Immaterial, Aether Fuels, HPNow and AirHive. Michelle feels a deep responsibility to her founders and their teams, and works tirelessly to help them turn their visions into the industrial giants of the future.

    Michelle grew up in a small country town in northern Australia, moving to Sydney to receive her degree in Industrial Chemistry Engineering from the University of New South Wales. Michelle is a passionate advocate for women in STEM, and spends much of her spare time mentoring amazing female founders and innovators. Michelle lives in London with her husband and two young children, squeezing as much fun and excitement out of each day as possible.

    LinkedIn

A man in a white shirt sitting by a window, smiling and looking outside

  • Managing Partner, London

    Alastair (Ali) is serial founder turned VC, who has been an early investor and board member on some of the most transformational European and US start-ups of the software era.

    A serial founder, Ali has been CEO and founder of 3 start-ups and led product at 2 others through exit. Ali's last start-up - Huddle, which he co-founded with Andy Mcloughlin - took him to San Francisco where he spent 10 years with his family until 2022. During that time, after Huddle was acquired, Ali moved into VC, partnering with incredible founders to help them build their businesses at the earliest stage and scale across the Atlantic.

    Ali's track record includes being an early investor (if not the first) in iconic companies such as Pleo, Permutive, Beamery, Anydesk, Peakon, LetsDoThis and Handshake. Ali has invested in 5 start-ups that have subsequently gone on to be worth over $1bn, and 10 worth over $400m. Funds he has been part of have returned almost $900m to their investors (so far) and are amongst the most successful of their vintage. But above all - Ali feels unbelievably lucky to be partner and friend to some truly amazing founders, playing a small part if helping them navigate the insane ups and downs of being a start-up founder - and changing the world in the process.

    Alastair grew up in the UK and east coast US, with a Masters in Maritime Engineering from Southampton University, where he now advises their spinout program. Ali is very proud dad to two incredible kids and loves adventure of all kinds - whether in nature on the zero-carbon farm he calls home, on the water or in the mountains. We only live once, and must make the most of every day.

    LinkedIn

US expansion team

Smiling person wearing a business suit against a gray background.

Mark Charkin

Executive Director, GBx.

Mark is Head of Odyssey's unique 'land & expand' program in San Francisco and is an extensively networked Silicon Valley investor, go-to-market expert and sales leader. Mark leads our platform of network and resources for all our companies and founders to help them on the ground in the US.

LinkedIn

Advisors & venture partners

  • Anne Raimondi

    Anne Raimondi

    COO Asana, Board Gusto & Patreon, Lecturer Stanford; San Francisco

  • Lauren Smart

    Global Head Sustainable Finance, Bloomberg

  • Martin Eriksson

    Martin Eriksson

    Founder, Mind the Product, Operating Partner EQT, Author; London

  • Laura Yao

    Laura Yao

    Board Fly.io, Founding Partner Commit Capital, EQT Ventures San Francisco

  • Julian Gay

    Julian Gay

    Founder & CEO Cred Protocol, Xendo, Board GBx; San Francisco

  • Phil Mullan

    Phil Mullan

    Founder (Stealth), Chief AI Officer, Unmind, CTO Tractable, Huddle; London

  • Mark Watts

    Mark Watts

    Co-founder & Managing Partner, Marwyn; London

  • Mark Charkin

    Mark Charkin

    Executive Director, GBx, ex Onfido, King, Bebo; San Francisco

  • Mike Sexsmith

    Mike Sexsmith

    VP Engineering, Pascal, ex General Fusion; Vancouver