Houghton Street Ventures | August 2022 Newsletter
Hello,
Summer is drawing to a close, along with it, the graduation photoshoots on every corner of campus, and LSE is beginning to come back to life for the new school year. That means we’re back with the latest edition of the Houghton Street Ventures newsletter. There has been lots going on, and we have some exciting updates about the fund, our first couple of investments, and the LSE entrepreneurship ecosystem.
What's happening at Houghton Street Ventures:
First investments of the fund
August may have been quiet for other investors in the market, but certainly not here. We have committed to our first two investments from the fund! One, a San-Francisco-based B2B SaaS product for marketing teams led by ex-FAANG marketeers; the other, is a Berlin-based e-commerce product led by a second-time founder with a successful exit of a consumer technology company under their belt. Both of these opportunities came from long-term relationships we established with the teams early in their entrepreneurial journey. Now, this approach is paying off, the pipeline grows ever stronger as we establish our foothold in the LSE technology and startup ecosystem. You can expect to hear more about the exceptional founders we’re backing very shortly.
We have a new website
Why spend tens of thousands on a new website from an agency when we have thousands of capable students at LSE with web development side hustles? Well, we now have a snazzy new website. LSE entrepreneurs, investors, and partners now have a clear understanding of what we bring to the table and how to easily engage with the team at Houghton Street Ventures. We’d love to hear your feedback.
What's happening within LSE alumni-founded companies?
Exciting fundraises
Luckytruck - founded by Devin Bostick - $2.5m Seed from SiriusPoint
Scalenut - founded by Saurabh Wadhawan - $3.1m Seed from Saama Capital
Flossy - founded by Steve Seigel - $15m Series A from TTV Capital & Clocktower
Qloo - founded by Alex Elias - $15m Series B from Eldridge & Axa Venture Partners
Orna Therapeutics - founded by Raffaela Squilloni - $221m Series B from Merck marking the 5th unicorn of 2022 and the 25th in the LSE ecosystem
In the News
Middle Eastern prop-tech startup, Stake, featured in Forbes, discussing how they’re revolutionising real estate investment in the region
James Vincent, CEO of FNDR, featured on the Secret Leaders podcast to talk about what it was really like building Apple with Steve Jobs
Carbon Counts announced the launch of their mobile game, Everforest, to educate the masses on climate change and talked through their funding round led by the Grantham Foundation
The Lowdown featured in a Crunchbase report discussing the trials and tribulations of digital marketing for female health startups and what changes social platforms need to make
Company Hero, Brazilian B2B SaaS platform for accounting firms and SMEs, was named one of the Top 100 Startups to watch in Brazil by PEGN & Globo
To conclude, the team will be travelling a fair bit over the next month or so. We’d love to catch up if our paths cross:
NYC: 12 - 15th September - Hannah (as VentureESG) is cohosting a workshop with WEF and climate50 and also hosting drinks with AFLSE on the evening of the 12th September (shout if you want to join)
Berlin: 12 - 15th September - Adam meeting LSE founders and investors as part of the LSE Generate tech trek to Berlin with 20 LSE founders
Munich: 26 - 27th September - Adam meeting LSE founders and investors
Paris: 26 - 27th September - Hannah speaking at Women in VC’ summit
Berlin: 28 - 29th September - Hannah delivering pilot ESG VC training for VentureESG
Best,
Adam, Veronika, Hannah & David
The Houghton Street Ventures Team