87. Further

Founder/s: Rob Tominey and Seb Wallace
Founded: 2021
Website: joinfurther.com

After receiving venture capital funding for his first business, Rob Tominey became more interested in the investment process – all the different ways businesses could be funded, and how he could potentially fund others himself.

He found that while there were decent ways to invest into crowdfunding, P2P lending and all sorts of other verticals, there was no simple and easy way to invest in venture capital.

Not only were venture capital funds hard to find, but they were also generally closed off to most investors due to prohibitively high minimum investment levels. So Rob decided to create Further with his co-founder Seb Wallace.

In short, Further makes it easier for anyone to invest.

In short, Further makes it easier for anyone to invest.

Investors are able to access venture capital funds with minimum investment levels starting from £1,000 – an amount that makes investing much more accessible to many more people. Plus, by offering a centralised platform, Further helps potential investors easily find worthwhile funds and opportunities.

“Venture capital (or simply ‘VC’) is the name given to investing in young, fast-growing companies.” Tominey explains. “By raising venture capital, young companies are able to build their businesses faster than if they used revenue or founders’ savings alone. In return for money, startups give investors an ownership stake in their companies. As that startup grows, so does its value and, in turn, the value of the VC investors’ ownership stake.”

Further helps potential investors easily find worthwhile funds and opportunities.

Professional venture capital investors spend their time meeting as many startups as possible, to find and invest in the ones they think will grow fast and deliver investors a good financial return. Our judges were excited by how Further has streamlined this process and done all the donkey work, making it easy and even fun to make that first foray into company investments.

In spite of the uncertain economic climate in the UK, new opportunities (and startups) are starting up every day. By building software to automatically administer all investments, Further has been able to sign up some great funds such as Ascension and Triple Point. Further’s other key partners include Antler, Haatch, Albion and Pembroke. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the impact of how this convenience and accessibility will shift the landscape of new businesses to come in the future.