Growth-stage investment fund
with a unique media approach

EC2 Partners is a different kind of investor. We help with investment and building recognition of your business, your way. We aim to be an active investor in growing companies, backing businesses with promise across the UK.

Discover

We look for innovative UK-based businesses with aspiring ideas

Invest

The EC2 Partners Fund invests both cash and media value in some of the UK's most exciting early-stage companies

Grow

We help the fund grow and scale companies with great potential and global ambitions

Who We Are

The EC2 Partners team are experienced City professionals and entrepreneurs with an original approach to funding early stage companies. With decades of experience in media and financial services, operating as entrepreneurs and high-level executives, we bring a unique of mix of expertise to help businesses grow from early stage through to scale.

The EC2 Fund, has been developed to fill the “equity gap” which we believe is instrumental to the growth of early stage businesses. Our media, marketing and creative skills we can take a startup who is in the process of validating its business model to scale by including a comprehensive marketing and media plan as well entrepreneurial and operational guidance.

By injecting a cocktail of media, services and cash into our investee companies, we help founders take their fledgling ideas to a wide audience, fill this equity gap, reduce investment risk through a range of support services and improve investor returns.

We take founders of proven and scaleable startups…

…and help them to promote and grow their company

We look for
outstanding teams

Building truly differentiated products

In large addressable markets

We are a driven team, looking for
high growth startups ready to
scale using media & investment.

What we do

EC2 Partners is a different kind of investor. We help you build your business but also turn your product or service in to a household name using our media partners, in a way that suits you. We’re aiming to become an active investor in growing companies, backing businesses with ambition across the UK.

You're in control

A minority, non-controlling equity partner
Long-term mindset and no exit deadlines

We back you all the way

Initial investments typically from £750k-2m
Follow-on funding to support long-term growth

More than money

Global network of business leaders, sector specialists and other investors
In-house support on board and executive appointments

Flexible funding tailored to you

Funding to strengthen your balance sheet and ignite new growth
Can be via equity, loan notes or a combination of both, into the business or out to existing shareholders

StartUp Support Institutions Comparission

We're always looking for the next brilliant business to back. Want to join some of the nation's most ambitious and successful companies?

Investment Model

Focus

Consumer-facing companies with strong entrepreneurial management teams. Strong co-investors and a good fit to our media's target groups are favourable.

Scale

Our sweet-spot is £750k to £7m gross investment value per company over 2-3 rounds.

Media

Providing single point of contact for all media needs, and necessary support at all times.

The Team

A combination of seasoned investors, operators and functional experts.

Ben Woolley

Co-Founder & Principal

Ben has built several successful businesses in the media and financial services sectors with aggregate sales in excess of £100m. Ben founded lendingzone.co.uk, the recently TV launched consumer credit portal.

He has wide experience bringing consumer startups to market using his deep relationships and experience in the TV, media and digital arenas. He holds a degree in population statistics from the London School of Economics and is regulated by the FCA.

Enayet Rasul

Co-Founder & Principal

Enayet has 15 years experience in the financial markets. He is a registered Chartered Banker and member of the Securities and Investment Institute. He has assisted in the assessment and planning of strategies for the expansion of businesses from both a commercial and regulatory dynamic on behalf of a number of Tier 1 banks, including Lloyds, NatWest and Barclays Capital. Over the last 5 years he has been working in private equity, running his own regulated firm, and supporting an outside Venture Capital company

David Peerless

Principal & Investment Partner

David has worked in investment banking and fund management for 15 years, and has extensive IPO experience, listing Chinese companies in London, Hong Kong and New York. Previously, he managed the world’s largest brand protection program on behalf of Procter & Gamble, in China, when he generated millions of dollars of free advertising on national media for P&G.

Currently Director of Boustead Capital Markets LLP, David is a guest lecturer at Manchester Business School and Chatham House.

He has a MA in Chinese from Edinburgh University and a MBA from Manchester Business school.

Adam Shoefield

Principal & Head of Media

Adam has over 25 years' experience delivering media planning and buying for clients, across finance retail and travel, including Thomas Cook. He has worked in all types of agencies and used this experience, and his frustrations with how networked agencies worked, to set up and run independent media agencies.

In 2011, Adam founded Smithfield as he looked to focus on bringing service to the forefront of all client relationships across all media disciplines, he's worked on Post Office Franchises, Alex Laurie Factors, Nationwide Business, Intelligent Finance and Nutmeg.

Quentin Solt

Head of Legal

Quentin is a corporate finance lawyer. Specialising in corporate and commercial advisory services for high growth technology businesses, including several that he led through IPOs. Engaged by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman as a corporate consultant in from 2004 to 2007 and transferred his firm to Burlingtons Legal LLP in 2012, where he continues as a consultant. Quentin was also one of two founders of Eurovestech PLC, an early stage technology investment company, which was listed on AIM for over a decade, he remains on the Board. He specialises in advising early stage companies both on aspects of funding and structuring commercial deals.

Patrick Hall

Patrick obtained a BSc. from Bristol University in 1984. Prior to moving into fund management and compliance, Patrick worked in FX and capital markets, primarily with Citibank and Chemical bank. Patrick is a founding partner of Thornbridge.

James Bedford

He has been working in finance since 1987 and has a strong understanding of both the wealth and fund management sectors. James was a partner in the equities team at Cazenove & Co for many years and then a managing director in the funds team at JP Morgan Asset Management. James is a founding partner of Thornbridge.

We take founders of proven and
scaleable startups...

...and help them to promote and
grow their company

Objective + Strategies

Our investors expect an appropriate return of their capital, our goal is to meet and/or exceed those targets. The investment horizon for any portfolio company will be 3 to 5 years.

Direct Investment

£750,000 to £2,000,000 purchase of Preferred Equity or Convertible Notes with additional capital reserved for follow-ons, board representation or board observer seat, active engagement.

Co-Investment

EC2 Partners believe in sharing and cooperating with other strategic angels/VCs to identify attractive co-investment opportunities. EC2 Partners will maximize the use of strategic partnership to deliver outsized returns and will be more flexible with co-investment terms.

This is where your EC2 Partners journey begins

Now it's time to accelerate your long term growth

The moment as arrived to raise capital

Leading the way to your potential

Let us assess your business's future growth potential and see if your business can hit our baseline criteria as illustrated on the spider graph. These are the 10 drivers we fundamentally seek to grow together faster:

Growth Potential
Competitive position
Business Plan Solidarity
Governance
Organisation and Management
Level of Risk
Reporting
Digitalisation
Sales and Marketing
Funding

Contact Us

EC2 Partners Ltd, 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, England, N1 7GU

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