Octopus Ventures

Octopus Investments, the parent company of Octopus Ventures, was founded in 2000; Simon Rogerson is co-founder and chief executive of Octopus Group.⁠[1][2][3]

Octopus Titan VCT has an inception year of 2007.⁠[4]

Octopus Ventures raised its first fund in 2008, and the firm says it has been backing founders since 2008.⁠[1][5]

In January 2009 Octopus Ventures led a £3.75m Series B round in the property website Zoopla.co.uk, investing £2m from Octopus Titan VCT 1, 2 and 3, Octopus Eureka EIS and the Octopus Private Investor Group; the funds were for developing the technology platform and expanding sales and marketing. Alex Macpherson was then chief executive of Octopus Ventures.⁠[6]

On June 18, 2014, Zoopla Property Group announced that it had reached a valuation of $1.56 billion (£919 million) on flotation, ahead of admission to the London Stock Exchange scheduled for June 23; Octopus held its stake through Octopus Titan VCT and Octopus Eureka EIS.⁠[7]

In October 2014 Octopus Ventures, led by Alex Macpherson, disclosed a £60m early-stage fund for that year (after £50m the previous year, with £70m planned for the next); it was backed by about £280m in evergreen funds across VCT, EIS and traditional LP/GP vehicles from 10,000 retail investors, with first-round investments of £250k to £5m. The wider Octopus investment group then managed £4.7bn.⁠[1]

Octopus Ventures raised an additional £100m for early-stage European technology companies, taking its early-stage funds to more than £400m; about six months earlier it had launched Octopus Zenith Opportunities II LP, a $140m fund for later-stage European companies. Its portfolio then numbered more than 50 investments, including Zoopla, Property Partner and Uniplaces.⁠[8]

In May 2017 Octopus Ventures marked its tenth year with a current fund size of £661m and 55 portfolio companies, investing about £100m a year with first-round investments of £250,000 to £25m; it had offices in London and New York, with Venture Partners based in San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore.⁠[9]

Its exits included the sales of SwiftKey to MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft is a technology company founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, with businesses spanning Windows, Microsoft 365, Azure, enterprise software, artificial intelligence, gaming and devices.Open the full entry, Evi to AmazonAmazonAmazon is a publicly traded U.S. technology and retail company founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, with its principal corporate offices in Seattle. Its businesses span e-commerce, logistics and fulfillment, digital advertising, membership and entertainment services, consumer electronics, and Amazon Web Services cloud computing.Open the full entry, Magic Pony to Twitter, Rangespan to Google and Vision Direct to Essilor.⁠[9]

In April 2018 Octopus Ventures raised an additional €230m to invest in European startups, taking total assets under management to €1bn; it had made 16 new investments in the previous 12 months, including Origami Energy and Streetbees, and had backed 89 companies in total. It then had offices in London, New York, Shanghai and Singapore, and Alliott Cole was chief executive.⁠[10]

In April 2019 Octopus Ventures launched an £83m growth fund, taking its assets under management to £1bn; it said it had backed more than 100 companies over the previous decade, investing £250,000 to £20m per company.⁠[11]

On November 11, 2019, Octopus Ventures and Ideas 2 Impact published the first Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking (report “Research to Riches”). Using Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data for 2009–2018, it measures universities’ intellectual property, spinouts and successful spinout exits relative to total funding, with added weighting for high-value exits from fewer spinouts.⁠[12]

The top three were Queen’s University BelfastQueen's University BelfastQueen’s University Belfast is a research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1845 as Queen’s College Belfast, became an independent university in 1908 and is a member of the Russell Group.Open the full entry, the University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a university in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom. It gives 1209 as its founding date, is made up of Schools, Faculties, Departments and autonomous Colleges, and is a member of the Russell Group.Open the full entry and Cardiff UniversityCardiff UniversityCardiff University is a research university in Cardiff, Wales. It opened in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and is a member of the Russell Group.Open the full entry, with the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry ninth and Imperial College LondonImperial College LondonImperial College London is a university in London, England, United Kingdom. Formed under a royal charter in 1907, it focuses on science, technology and medicine and is a member of the Russell Group.Open the full entry tenth.⁠[12][13]

In the second edition of the Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking, published in November 2020, Queen’s University Belfast ranked first for the second year running, followed by the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University and Queen Mary University of LondonQueen Mary University of LondonQueen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university in London, United Kingdom, formed from four historic institutions, the oldest of which, the London Hospital Medical College, was founded in 1785. It is a member of the Russell Group.Open the full entry, with the University of Dundee entering the top five; the report said universities received £61m from spinout exits, up 37% from 2017/18 to 2018/19.⁠[14]

On June 2, 2021, Octopus Titan VCT announced that EtsyEtsyEtsy (Etsy, Inc.) is a U.S. public company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, that operates Etsy, an online marketplace centered on handmade goods, vintage items, and creative products. Founded in 2005, it listed on Nasdaq in 2015 and moved its stock listing to the New York Stock Exchange in 2025. The company acquired the music gear marketplace Reverb, the secondhand fashion marketplace Depop, and the Brazilian handmade marketplace Elo7, then sold all three between 2023 and 2026, returning to operating only the core Etsy marketplace.Open the full entry would acquire Depop Ltd at a headline price of $1.625bn, primarily in cash, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2021; Titan first invested in Depop’s Series B round in 2018, joined its Series C in 2019 and had invested £8.7m in total.⁠[15]

In October 2021 Octopus Investments opened a new £125m fundraise for Octopus Titan VCT, which AIC statistics as at October 10, 2021 showed to be the UK’s largest VCT. In the 12 months to June 30, 2021, Titan invested £95m into 40 companies and achieved a total return of 32.8%, with more than 90 companies in its portfolio.⁠[16]

Exits in the period included WaveOptics’ sale to Snap Inc. at a $500m valuation, Calastone’s acquisition by The Carlyle Group, Semafone’s sale to Livingbridge and Skew’s sale to CoinbaseCoinbaseCoinbase is a U.S. operator of crypto asset trading platforms, founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, whose listed parent is Coinbase Global, Inc.; it went public through a direct listing on Nasdaq (ticker COIN) in April 2021 and joined the S&P 500 in May 2025. It provides crypto trading, custody, staking, and stablecoin-related services, launched USDC with Circle, develops the Ethereum layer-2 network Base, and acquired the crypto options exchange Deribit in 2025; its venture investing operates as Coinbase Ventures.Open the full entry; portfolio company Cazoo listed on the New York Stock Exchange at a $7bn valuation.⁠[16]

On January 31, 2022, Octopus Investments launched Octopus Future Generations VCT, seeking an initial £20m to invest in early-stage UK businesses under three themes—building a sustainable planet, empowering people and revitalising healthcare. It is managed by the Octopus Ventures team, with Partner Simon King as fund manager. The release put Octopus Titan VCT’s assets under management at £1.3bn at that time.⁠[17]

In September 2023 Octopus Ventures published “Gateways to Growth: The Entrepreneurial Impact Report 2023,” which it described as the first Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking since 2020; the University of Dundee ranked first in that edition.⁠[18][19]

On March 7, 2024, Octopus Titan VCT announced the resignation of its lead fund manager, Malcolm Ferguson, who remained in the role until April 30, 2024; Jo Oliver was appointed Advisor to the Board on Fund & Strategy on an interim basis. Oliver had been Titan’s lead fund manager from November 2014 to June 2022 and had since remained on the Octopus Ventures investment team as a part-time Partner. The company’s portfolio manager is Octopus Investments Limited.⁠[20]

In July 2024 Octopus Ventures appointed Erin Platts, chief executive of HSBC Innovation Banking UK, as its chief executive to oversee its equity capital business; she had spent nearly two decades at HSBC Innovation Banking (formerly Silicon Valley BankSilicon Valley BankSilicon Valley Bank was a state-chartered commercial bank founded in California in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara. It was the principal subsidiary of the holding company SVB Financial Group, and its clients were concentrated among technology and life sciences companies and venture capital firms. In March 2023, after it announced a securities sale and a capital-raising plan, it suffered a massive run, was closed by California regulators, and was placed into receivership with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. U.S. regulators invoked a systemic risk exception to protect all of its deposits, its deposits and loans were then assumed by First Citizens, its parent entered bankruptcy reorganization, and the regulatory reviews and litigation that followed the failure continued into 2026.Open the full entry UK) and joined in January 2025. Alliott Cole returned to a full-time investment role focused on helping portfolio companies through later stages of growth.⁠[2][3]

Octopus Ventures restructured fund management for the VCTs it manages that invest in unquoted companies: Richard Court became Head of VCTs and EIS, a new role overseeing unquoted investments across the Octopus Titan, Apollo and Future Generations VCTs; Partner Paul Davidson succeeded him as lead fund manager of Apollo VCT; and Jo Oliver stepped back from the interim Titan role, with Richard Court overseeing the appointment of a permanent Titan fund manager.⁠[21]

On September 2, 2025, Octopus Investments announced the appointment of Erin Platts as its chief executive, subject to Financial Conduct Authority approval, while she remained chief executive of Octopus Ventures; the Octopus Investments leadership page states that she became its CEO in September 2025. The announcement said Octopus Ventures had supported more than 200 early-stage businesses, including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Depop, Swiftkey and Graze.⁠[3][22]

After a strategic review, the board of Octopus Titan VCT decided to retain Octopus Investments as manager; the management fee was cut by 17% to a tiered annual fee (2% of NAV up to £500m, 1.75% from £500m to £750m and 1.4% above £750m), the additional fee was suspended until 2034, and the termination notice period was reduced from three years to 12 months. The VCT was then barred from investing in new companies, and the changes required approval at a general meeting on October 14, 2025.⁠[23]

As of June 30, 2026, Octopus Titan VCT had £743m of funds under management, a net asset value of 45.1p per share and holdings in at least 127 companies; it was closed to new investment, and its lead fund manager was Zihao Xu.⁠[4]

The firm says it has backed more than 180 teams, 32 of which have had successful exits, and that it can also invest at later growth stages; its investors include NHS doctors, deep tech PhDs and beauty entrepreneurs, and it has in-house People + Talent specialists.⁠[5]

Octopus Ventures describes itself as one of Europe’s largest and most active venture capital investors and aims to have invested £10 billion in industries bringing about positive change by 2030; it runs a six-week mentorship programme twice a year that pairs founders and senior leaders from portfolio companies with experienced operators.⁠[24]

Its portfolio page lists Zoopla and Depop as exited, and current companies including Big Health (backed 2016), ManyPets (backed 2016), Sova (backed 2020) and Permutive (backed 2020).⁠[25]

The Octopus Ventures contact page gives its office address as 33 Holborn, London.⁠[26]

Octopus Ventures describes itself as a certified B Corporation; Octopus Group announced its B Corp certification on April 14, 2021.⁠[24][27]

Introducing the 2019 ranking, Queen’s University Belfast said its commercialisation arm QUBIS LtdQUBISQUBIS is the commercialisation and spin-out investment company of Queen’s University Belfast, founded in 1984 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It forms and holds stakes in university spin-out companies; Queen’s spin-outs that have listed on the London Stock Exchange include Kainos, Andor Technology and Fusion Antibodies.Open the full entry had produced KainosKainosKainos is an IT services, consulting and software company headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was founded in April 1986 as a joint venture between ICL and QUBIS; its holding company, Kainos Group plc, listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2015, and the business is organised into three divisions: Digital Services, Workday Services and Workday Products.Open the full entry, Andor TechnologyAndor TechnologyAndor Technology is a maker of scientific digital cameras and imaging instruments headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Founded in 1989 as a spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast, it was admitted to London’s AIM market in 2004 and was acquired in 2014 by Oxford Instruments through an offer valuing it at about £176 million; it is now an Oxford Instruments business.Open the full entry and Fusion AntibodiesFusion AntibodiesFusion Antibodies is an antibody contract research organisation headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Founded in 2001 as a spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast, it focuses on early preclinical development of therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies, and its shares have traded on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market since December 2017.Open the full entry, all listed on the London Stock Exchange; QUBIS chief executive Brian McCaul attributed the first place to “world-class research and ambitious companies” and to senior management support for commercialisation, including early cash investment by the university.⁠[13]

Octopus Ventures: Official website: https://octopusventures.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/OctopusVentures (opens in a new window).⁠[26]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/octopus-ventures/ (opens in a new window).⁠[26]