Concept Ventures has closed an oversubscribed £65 million Fund II, cementing its status as Europe’s largest dedicated pre-seed fund.
The London-based VC, which launched its first institutionally-backed fund of £48m in 2022, now manages $200m in assets.
Its debut fund is a top 1% performer for its vintage globally, with portfolio startups raising more than $450m to date.
Backing for Fund II came primarily from the US, with 80% of institutional LPs based there.
Investors include Aldea Ventures, Top Tier Capital Partners, Marktlink Capital, Dominus and Granite Capital Management, alongside one of the world’s largest US investment banks and a leading charitable trust.
More than 70% of portfolio founders also reinvested, among them ElevenLabs CEO and co-founder Mati Staniszewski.
Concept’s track record includes spotting AI voice platform ElevenLabs at pre-seed, now a $6.6bn unicorn, alongside startups such as VSim, Treefera, Anam and Arondite.
To date, 100% of its portfolio companies that have gone on to raise further rounds have done so successfully.
With Fund II, Concept will back up to 50 companies at pre-seed stage across the UK and Europe, with average cheques of $1m and plans to lead more than 90% of rounds.
It also pledges 1% of its carry to charities chosen by founders – a commitment that has already funded school facilities in India, youth mental health provision in the UK and support for LGBT communities affected by HIV and AIDS.
“As outsiders to VC, we’ve always believed pre-seed investing requires true specialists – partners who can spot and support founders before the wider market sees their potential,” said Reece Chowdhry, founding partner at Concept Ventures.
“Raising an oversubscribed $88m fund from a majority-US investor base (as well as making first close in just three weeks) is a huge vote of confidence in this thesis and in the European market at large.
“To have 70% of our portfolio founders now backing us as LPs is a further validation of the people-centric approach we’ve worked so hard to develop and deploy.
“This close cements our position as Europe’s largest dedicated pre-seed fund and gives us the firepower to keep saying ‘yes’ at the very beginning of a founder’s journey.”
Eric Fitzgerald, general partner at Top Tier Capital Partners, added: “In today’s venture market, there’s nothing more important than partnering with managers who can spot exceptional talent before anyone else – and that’s exactly what makes Concept Ventures so special.
“The team brings together multi-generational expertise and unmatched networks, which we think gives them an edge in backing the next wave of standout founders.
“Their transparent, thoughtful, and high-conviction approach to pre-seed investing is differentiated, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Concept Ventures.”
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