Amusingly Form Ventures are a regulation focused VC, who openly admitted that pandemic has actually turned them off watching the news, especially BoBo’s 5 pm Death update (as we filmed this in Lockdown 3!!!) .

On the team itself, Leo and Patrick first met at the CBI which sparked their interest in setting up the first Fund in the UK / Europe, focused on Regulation, many years later. Think Tusk Ventures in the US, but with a few other twists and shakes!

Their approach Is to look at investing at both the “regulatory frontier” or where “soft regulation” has the potential to give birth to new areas. Open Banking, is a great example of such a current trend.

Patrick believes there has been a thinning of deal-flow in 2020 and 2021, where the desire start businesses appears to have declined due to the uncertainties the Pandemic has brought.

People currently fear change and the lack of human contact has made it difficult for new start-ups to grow in the space they focus upon. Contrasting this, he offers high hopes for a nice hot summer, which could spur optimism and a new wave of risk-taking.

In other notes, the recent budget is discussed (as the show was recorded in the same week) where Patrick praised the further support that the UK Government provide the Technology ecosystem in this budget.

On the specifics,  we also discuss price sensitivity around valuation and how this impacts a VC when building out their portfolio, as well as the difficulties of raising money for a VC. We also touch upon SPACS for the first time this year, which prompted the below.

Net/net,

it’s a really thoughtful session, where Patrick provides some really considered responses to help founders and funders navigate the challenges of the year ahead. He’s a really top bloke and if you are Founder or a Fund, keen to get in touch with him, let us know and we’ll connect you.