Steven Bartlett’s former business partner, Oliver Yonchev, has announced his new venture has secured a seven-figure exit in just eight months.
Yonchev left digital marketing and communications company Flight Story last September, which he’d co-founded with the Dragons’ Den star three years earlier.
He then joined forces with ex-Social Chain board member Paul Stevens; James Lawson Baker, founder and CEO of G-Force Media; and James Whittaker to launch cocreatd, a venture studio for the marketing and creative industries.
Now cocreatd’s first venture, System7.ai, has been acquired by Vault PLC for a seven-figure fee.
Yonchev explained: “In November 2024 Nicolas Baxter and cocreated set out on a simple mission together: help marketing and sales teams use AI.
“What followed was all the normal startup pain… relentless work, late nights, building, shipping, testing and supporting some very cool partners.
“Last month, Brian Stockbridge, chairman of Vault PLC, shared his vision for the new company.
“He said ‘the convergence of AI and blockchain is a future worth building’.
“From that conversation, we knew the fit was perfect, and we had to join forces.
“Honestly, we’re so proud of what Nic has achieved in such a short time – and now with this new partnership, we have no doubt he’ll have an even more exciting future with Vault.”
Yonchev said cocreatd’s first exit was a ‘true validation’ of its approach.
“Give top talent a worthy mission, provide true co-founder support (not just investment), and then back that with a community of others on a similar journey, and you can achieve unthinkable things,” he said.
“From idea to seven-figure sale in several months. That’s definitely unthinkable territory.”
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Yonchev started his career on a BBC graduate programme before moving to Bauer Media.
He eventually joined Social Chain, which was co-founded by Bartlett and Dominic McGregor.
Bartlett bought Yonchev’s 150,000 shares when he exited Flight Story.