Startrise
Approach

Patient capital, and a few other things.

Not a fund

There is no vintage year to justify and no committee to convince. That changes what we can hold, how long we can hold it, and what we are willing to build alongside it.

Instruments

Three ways we take a position.

Direct investment

We take positions in startups, emerging companies and other ventures, usually early and usually alongside founders we expect to keep talking to for years.

Indirect investment

We commit to funds, vehicles and co-investments that reach teams, sectors and geographies we would not see on our own.

Technology & IP

We hold technology and intellectual property interests, and develop them through licensing, joint ventures and strategic partnerships.

The instrument follows the opportunity. A direct stake, a fund commitment, a licence, a joint venture or a strategic partnership are all the same decision wearing different paperwork: is this worth holding for a long time?

Commitments

What we hold ourselves to.

A long horizon

We size positions to be held through cycles. The technologies we care about take years to become obvious, and we would rather be early and patient than fast and out.

Concentration over coverage

A small number of positions we can genuinely think about beats a long list we can only track. Fewer names means real attention when it counts.

Useful beyond capital

Technology and intellectual property are part of the business, not a sideline. That gives us something to offer besides money: partnerships, licensing routes and people who have solved the problem before.

Discretion

We do not publish our positions or our partners’ business. Founders and co-investors decide what gets announced, and when.

Intellectual property

Ownership, not just exposure.

Alongside its investments, Startrise holds technology and intellectual property interests directly. We acquire and develop them, license them, and put them to work inside partnerships and joint ventures. It is slower than investing and it is occasionally the more valuable half of the business.

It also makes us a better shareholder. Having had to file, defend and license our own work, we can be genuinely useful to companies doing the same.

Process

What happens after you write.

  1. 1

    We read it

    Every email reaches a person who can act on it. If it is not for us, you hear that quickly rather than never.

  2. 2

    We talk

    A conversation about the technology and the market, not a staged process. Expect specific questions and a view in return.

  3. 3

    We decide

    Diligence is proportionate to the position, and the decision is ours to make. No committee, no waiting for a partner meeting on the other side of a quarter.