Techstart Ventures

ActiveVenture Capital

Updated: Feb 17, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Jun 1, 2025	Valla	$3.0M Seed	—	Ada Ventures, Calum Forsyth
Apr 1, 2025	Neurolabs	$8.0M Series A	—	7percent Ventures, Koolen and Partners, LAUNCHub Ventures, Nauta Capital, Calum Forsyth, Charlie Songhurst
Mar 1, 2025	Cloudsmith	$23.0M Series B	—	Frontline Ventures, Preston-Werner Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, TCV, Christian Bach, Guy Podjarny, Sarah Friar, Shane Curran, Yvonne Wassenaar
Apr 1, 2024	Qureight	$8.0M Series A	—	Credo Ventures, Playfair Capital, Calum Forsyth, Will Brooks, Will Martin
Mar 1, 2024	Steadybit	$6.0M Series A	—	Angular Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Paladin Capital Group, Weekend Fund, Ameet Patel, Ben Porterfield, David Mytton, Grant Miller, Guy Podjarny, Jon Gelsey
Jul 1, 2023	Voiceflow	$20.0M Series A	—	Kevin Hartz, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Acrew Capital, AIX Ventures, Angular Ventures, Bain Capital Crypto, Bond, C2 Investment, Cool Climate Collective, Exponent Founders Capital, Felicis Ventures, General Catalyst, Hack VC, Innovation Endeavors, Insight Partners, Jetstream, LGF, Mouro Capital, MS&AD Ventures, Northzone, Preston-Werner Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, StillMark, Vouch Insurance, Weekend Fund, Y Combinator, Frederic Kerrest, Guy Podjarny, Hunter Horsley, Jeff Hammerbacher, Karim Atiyeh, Parker Conrad, Peter Sonsini, Sam Altman, Sam Blond, Sean Harper, Wences Casares, Yan-David Erlich
Jun 1, 2023	Bito	$3.0M Seed	—	Frontline Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, TCV, Sarah Friar, Shane Curran
May 1, 2023	Manus Neurodynamica	$3.0M Venture Round	—	Northstar Ventures, Par Equity, Puma Growth Partners
May 1, 2023	NetBird	$1.0M Seed	—	Antler, Atomico, Cavalry Ventures, Nauta Capital, Peak, Point Nine Capital, Project A Ventures, VR Ventures, Calum Forsyth, Constanze Buchheim, Frank Freund, Jan Wilmking, Julian Stiefel, Julius Köhler, Michael Stephan, Robin Behlau, Travis Todd
Jan 1, 2023	AtomicJar	$25.0M Series A	—	2050 Capital, Accel, Addition, Angular Ventures, Band of Angels, Baukunst, Boldstart Ventures, Cedar Capital Group, Cerulean Ventures, Tom Hulme, Heavybit, Inba Shenfeld holdings, Insight Partners, Kraken Ventures, MYASIAVC PTE LTD, Tribe Capital, Weekend Fund, Alex Kayyal, Ameet Patel, Apoorva Ruparel
Oct 1, 2022	This is Unfolded	$1.0M Seed	—	Asylum Ventures, Electric Capital, LaFont, Meritech Capital Partners, Nauta Capital, Pareto Holdings, Sapphire Ventures, Solid Bond Capital, Stellar Capital, World Fund, Mario Götze, Mulenga Agley, Scott Belsky
Sep 1, 2022	Steadybit	$5.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Angular Ventures, Battery Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Foundation Capital, Greylock, Partech Ventures, Sweater Ventures, Weekend Fund, Work-Bench, Guy Podjarny, Jon Gelsey
Jun 1, 2022	Shop Circle	$65.0M Series A	—	3VC, 645 Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Credo Ventures, DN Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, FinTech Collective, GS Futures, NFX, Playfair Capital, Primo Ventures, QED Investors, Sterling Equity, Calum Forsyth, Karim Atiyeh, Philippe Teixeira da Mota, Will Brooks, Will Martin
May 1, 2022	Neurolabs	$4.0M Seed	—	7percent Ventures, LAUNCHub Ventures, Nauta Capital, Calum Forsyth, Charlie Songhurst
Jan 1, 2022	MedAll	$3.0M Seed	—	Calm/Storm Ventures, Connect Ventures, Aniq Kassam, Frontline Ventures, Nina Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Sorenson Ventures, TCV, Errol Damelin, Ian Hogarth, Michael Pennington, Shane Curran, Yvonne Wassenaar
Nov 1, 2021	Net AI	$1.0M Seed	—	Nauta Capital, Calum Forsyth
Oct 1, 2021	BRINC Drones	$25.0M Series A	—	AI Fund, Alt Capital, Amplify Partners, Conviction Partners, Credo Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, First Round Capital, Frontline Ventures, ShareBear Capital, Sorenson Ventures, TCV, Walden International, Bernard Arnault, Drew Houston, Kevin Lin, Kyle Vogt, Sarah Friar, Yvonne Wassenaar
Oct 1, 2021	Lupovis	$850K Seed	—	Ada Ventures, Par Equity, Calum Forsyth, Shane Corstorphine
Oct 1, 2021	Shopscribe	$1.0M Seed	—	7percent Ventures, Carao Ventures, Helium-3 Ventures, LAUNCHub Ventures, Nauta Capital, Calum Forsyth, Charlie Songhurst
Oct 1, 2021	SEQUENTIAL	$2.0M Seed	—	Adjacent, Betaworks Ventures, Contrary Capital, Factorial, FirstMark Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Gaingels, Hustle Fund, Leadout Capital, Mayfield, Metaplanet, Outsized Ventures, Rain Capital, Round One Capital, Scrum Ventures, Shrug Capital, SOSV, Splash Capital, Ulu Ventures, Apoorva Ruparel, Ashish Toshniwal, Calum Forsyth, Derrick Li, Eric Ries, Gustavo Pessoa, Harris Barton, Jaan Tallinn, Joe Greenstein, John Makinson, Karen King, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban, Mark Pincus, Matthew Dellavedova, Ron Pragides, Sheila Vashee, Tim Kendall
Sep 1, 2021	Cloudsmith	$15.0M Series A	—	Kevin Hartz, AirAngels, Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coinbase Ventures, EQT Ventures, Fifth Wall, Frontline Ventures, Greylock, Inventus Capital Partners, LGF, Matrix Partners India, Menlo Ventures, Monarch Collective, Moving Capital, Next Play Ventures, Jeff Richards, Octopus Ventures, Offline Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Paladin Capital Group, Preston-Werner Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Sorenson Ventures, TCV, Top Tier Capital Partners, Unusual Ventures, WestCap, Akshay Kothari, Christian Bach, Dylan Field, Elliott Cohen, Eric Wu, Evan Williams, Fidji Simo, Guy Podjarny, Kenny Van Zant, Larry Summers, Mandeep Singh, Manish Chandra, Mike Krieger, Peter Kazanjy, Sam Corcos, Sarah Friar, Scott Belsky, Shane Curran, TJ Parker, Yvonne Wassenaar
Sep 1, 2021	Gigged.AI	$810K Seed	—	Ada Ventures
Aug 1, 2021	Reath	$430K Seed	—	Ada Ventures, Calum Forsyth
Aug 1, 2021	Trickest	$2.0M Seed	—	AngelList Syndicator, Credo Ventures, Double Prime LLP, Earlybird Venture Capital, Greenoaks Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Moonfire Ventures, Playfair Capital, QED Investors, Calum Forsyth, Nedelcho Spasov, Stanimir Vassilev, Svetozar Georgiev, Will Brooks, Will Martin
Aug 1, 2021	Cloud Cycle	$3.0M Seed	—	Antler, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Calum Forsyth

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Techstart Ventures.

Leadership Team

Key people at Techstart Ventures.

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Techstart Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments, primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages, focused on technology startups based in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their mission is to back the most ambitious founders pursuing uncapped global opportunities, providing first cheques up to £750k with capacity for follow-on investments. Techstart adopts a sector-agnostic investment philosophy but has shown interest in industries such as wellness, fitness, therapeutics, digital health, and health tech. By serving as a trusted partner to emerging startups, Techstart Ventures plays a crucial role in nurturing the regional startup ecosystem, helping founders scale and succeed on a global stage[1][2][3][4].

Origin Story

Founded around 2015, Techstart Ventures has evolved into a leading seed capital investor in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The firm was established to address the funding gap for early-stage tech companies in these regions, aiming to support extraordinary founders from inception through initial growth phases. Key partners include individuals such as Liza Sutherland, Calum Forsyth, and Mark Hogarth, who bring extensive venture capital and entrepreneurial experience. Over time, Techstart has expanded its portfolio to over 60 startups, refining its focus on backing ambitious teams with scalable, global potential[2][4][5].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on first cheques at inception to pre-seed stage with follow-on capacity, enabling early engagement with startups.
Geographic Focus: Dedicated to Scotland and Northern Ireland, regions often underserved by larger VC funds.
Sector-Agnostic Approach: While open to various sectors, they have demonstrated strength in health-related technologies.
Network Strength: Strong local ecosystem ties, offering founders access to regional resources and expertise.
Track Record: Over 60 investments since inception, indicating experience and commitment to early-stage ventures.
Operating Support: Active partnership with founders, providing more than just capital through mentorship and strategic guidance[1][2][5].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Techstart Ventures rides the wave of increasing regional tech innovation outside traditional hubs like London, capitalizing on growing startup activity in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The timing is favorable due to rising government and institutional support for tech entrepreneurship in these areas, alongside a global appetite for innovative health tech and digital solutions. By focusing on early-stage investments, Techstart helps bridge the funding gap that often limits startup growth in these regions, thereby strengthening the broader UK tech ecosystem and contributing to economic diversification[1][3].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Looking ahead, Techstart Ventures is well-positioned to continue its role as a catalyst for early-stage innovation in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Trends such as digital health expansion, wellness technologies, and deep tech advancements will likely shape their investment focus. As the startup ecosystem matures, Techstart’s influence may grow through larger follow-on rounds and deeper operational involvement, potentially expanding its geographic or sector reach. Their commitment to backing ambitious founders at the earliest stages suggests a sustained impact on the regional and global tech landscape, reinforcing their role as a vital first cheque investor[2][3].

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Focus on first cheques at inception to pre-seed stage with follow-on capacity, enabling early engagement with startups.
Geographic Focus: Dedicated to Scotland and Northern Ireland, regions often underserved by larger VC funds.
Sector-Agnostic Approach: While open to various sectors, they have demonstrated strength in health-related technologies.
Network Strength: Strong local ecosystem ties, offering founders access to regional resources and expertise.
Track Record: Over 60 investments since inception, indicating experience and commitment to early-stage ventures.
Operating Support: Active partnership with founders, providing more than just capital through mentorship and strategic guidance[1][2][5].