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Top Technology Ventures is a UK-based venture capital company which
specialises in providing equity funding for early stage technology based
growth companies. Founded in 1986, Top Technology Ventures has a strong
track record and has earned a reputation for significant expertise in the
early stage UK technology sector. In June 2004 Top Technology Ventures
became part of IP Group plc (www.ipgroupplc.com).
The investment team manages funds totalling approximately £49 million.
We have a straightforward, open and collaborative approach to investment.
We add value to portfolio companies through our experience, support on
strategic and corporate finance issues and extensive contact network.
Top Technology Ventures focuses on high growth technology companies,
with the first investment being typically between £400,000 and £1.0
million. Our general early-stage funds have mostly invested in the fields
of information and communication technologies, but we also look at life
science and physical science companies.
Top Technology Ventures' Managing Director, Harry Fitzgibbons, started
investing in early stage UK technology businesses in 1982 through Hambros
Advanced Technology Trust (HATT), a publicly quoted investment trust. Top
Technology Ventures raised a second fund, Hambros Advanced Technology Trust
II LP, of £10.6 million in 1991 which was invested in parallel with HATT II
(1993), a £2 million co-investment fund raised in 1993.
Top Technology Ventures currently manages two funds: Top Technology
Ventures IV, investing funds totalling £17.8 million in early-stage
technology companies, and IP Venture Fund investing £30 million in spin-out
companies at IP Group's partner universities.
Top Technology Ventures is a member of the British Venture Capital
Association (www.bvca.co.uk) and is
authorised and regulated by the FSA.
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Harry Fitzgibbons, Managing Director.
hf@toptechnology.co.uk
Harry was a director of Hambros Bank from 1972 to 1983 with
responsibility for United States corporate finance and for Hambros'
portfolio of international unquoted investments. He was instrumental in
establishing Boston Hambro Capital Company and Hambro International Venture
Fund, both of which were venture investors in the United States. He left
Hambros for two years to set up the London subsidiary of L.F.Rothschild,
Unterberg, Towbin, an American investment bank before returning in 1986.
Harry was educated at Harvard College and Trinity College, Oxford and is a
graduate of Harvard Law School. After briefly practising law in New York,
he served as an officer with the United States Special Forces and with the
Department of State, Washington DC. Before joining Hambros in 1972, he was
an international banker for four years with Lehman Brothers in New York.
Magnus Goodlad, Investment Director.
mg@toptechnology.co.uk
Magnus joined Top Technology Ventures in June 2000 after four and a half
years with Slaughter and May practising a wide range of corporate, banking
and finance law. He has worked for Jardine Matheson in Hong Kong and China
and as a consultant to URI Inc, a software services provider based in
Seoul, and to Lobster.co.uk, an online fine food and wine retailer. Magnus
has a first class degree in Law from Oriel College, Oxford. He is a
director of Commerce Decisions Ltd, OneClickHR plc and Nanotecture Ltd.
Charles Winward, Investment Manager.
charles.winward@ipgroupplc.com
Charles joined IP Group plc in April 2007 to manage investments in Top
Technology Ventures, the Group’s venture capital fund management
subsidiary. Previously Charles was Vice President Technology Infrastructure
at JPMorgan Chase & Co, where he worked in a variety of roles in London,
New York and Brussels,
and Investment Manager at Axiomlab, an AIM-listed early stage investment
specialist. Charles has an MBA from the University
of California at Berkeley and a
Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from the University
of Bristol.
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When
we review investment opportunities we are looking for businesses which
possess the following characteristics:
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a
strong management team with the breadth of skills and ability to grow the
company quickly. Not all of the elements of the team need to be in place
at the time of investment. We can help build the team as required
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a
focus on under-served, growing and potentially substantial markets
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products
with international potential
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a
scaleable business model
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proprietary
technology with strong IPR and a defensible technological advantage over
the competition
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market-driven
rather than technology-led development
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product
at prototype / beta-testing stage
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potential
to achieve an exit for investors within four to six years
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Top Technology Ventures expects to invest between £400,000 and £1.0
million at the time of a first investment and will follow on where
appropriate in subsequent funding rounds.
We are happy either to act as lead investor or to participate in
syndicates raising larger amounts (usually up to a maximum of £3 million).
Top Technology Ventures will normally look to invest in the first
"institutional" round of financing, following earlier angel
and/or "friends and family" financing.
We aim to keep financing structures simple in order to align our
interests with the entrepreneurs as far as possible.
Top Technology Ventures focuses on computer hardware and software,
internet tools and infrastructure, communications, networking and electronics
as well as medical equipment, diagnostics and other technology based
businesses.
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If you believe that you have an investment opportunity which meets our
investment criteria please either contact one of the investment team.
Alternatively, you can e-mail ttv@toptechnology.co.uk or send us a hard
copy of your executive summary and/or business plan by post. All business
plans received will be treated in strict confidence.
There are some relevant articles in the Business Plans section on our
Links page, but the questions below are those we always expect to be
addressed :
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What
is your product and who are you selling it to?
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Why
will your customers buy it and what problems does it solve?
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What
are the competitive advantages of your product?
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What
is the size of your potential market (in the United Kingdom, Europe and
worldwide)?
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How
are you selling your product (in the UK and overseas) and how is it
priced?
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Who
are your current and likely competitors and why will you stay ahead of
them?
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What
other risks does your business face?
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Why
are you and your team qualified to execute the business plan?
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What
stage is your business at and what will you use the funding for?
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What
milestones will you achieve with the money you are raising?
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What
intellectual property protection do you have?
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What
financial performance are you forecasting?
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includes
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Commerce
Decisions Limited
Sadler
Building
Heatley Road
Oxford Science Park
Oxford
OX4 4GA
Tel: 01865 784350
Fax: 01865 784351
www.commercedecisions.com
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Complex procurement software solutions provider.
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Foviance
14
Bonhill Street
London
EC2A 4BX
Tel: +44 (0)8450 546 500
www.foviance.com
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Foviance
is a ground-breaking customer experience consultancy.
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IP
Group plc
24
Cornhill
London
EC3V 3ND
Tel: 0207 444 0050
Fax: 0845 074 2928
www.ipgroupplc.com
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An
intellectual property business establishing long-term partnerships with
universities, becoming a stakeholder in their intellectual property and
enhancing the way in which the intellectual property is commercialized.
Floated on AIM October 2003.
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Netronome
Systems
Betjeman
House
104 Hills Road
Cambridge
CB2 1LQ
Tel: 44 1223 372460
Fax: 44 8701 991231
http://netronome.com
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Netronome
Systems develops high-performance network flow processing, deep packet
inspection and application acceleration solutions for networking,
communications and security appliance manufacturers and the IT
organizations that use them.
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ANT
plc
Cambridge
Business Park
Cowley Road
Cambridge CB4 0WZ
Tel: 01223 716400
Fax: 01223 716401
www.antlimited.com
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ANT
is a leading provider of browser, user interface and content rendering
software solutions for interactive TV, STBs, DVD and other consumer
electronics devices, industrial appliances, service operators and silicon
vendors. It floated on AIM in March 2005
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Nanotecture
Limited
Epsilon
House,
Chilworth Science Park, Southampton, SO16 7NS
Tel: +44 23 8076 7074
Fax: +44 23 8076 9918
www.nanotecture.co.uk
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A
development stage company with a unique and distinctive nano-materials platform
technology. The technology has a variety of potential applications but is
currently focused on power sources, filtration / separation media and
sensors.
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Arieso
Limited
Strawberry
Hill House
Old Bath Road
Newbury
Berkshire
RG14 1JU
Tel: +44 (0) 1635 232 470
Fax: +44 (0) 1635 232 471
www.arieso.com
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Provider
of advanced optimization and network planning solutions primarily for 3G
cellular networks.
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Oxford
RF Sensors Ltd
Unit
14A, Oddington Grange
Weston on the Green, Oxfordshire, OX25 3QW
Tel: (1)1865 331 000
Fax: (1)1865 331 002
www.oxfordrfsensors.com
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Oxford
RF Sensors designs non-contact electromagnetic sensors based on patented
RF technology developed at the University of Oxford. It specialises in
providing innovative solutions to measurement problems that existing
sensor technologies can't solve.
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Oxford
Nanopore Technologies Ltd
Begbroke
Science Park, Sandy Lane
Kiddlington,
OX5 1PF
Tel: +44 (0) 870 486 1966
Fax: +44 (0) 1865 854 830
www.oxfordnanolabs.com/
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Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd
is developing nanopore technology, a revolutionary method of molecular detection
and analysis with potential applications in DNA sequencing, diagnostics,
drug development and defence.
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Oxford
Catalysts
115e
Milton Park
Oxford
OX14 4RZ
Tel: +44 (0)1235 841 700
F: +44 (0)1235 841 701
www.oxfordcatalysts.com/
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Oxford
Catalysts, which was listed on AIM in April 2005, produces specialty
catalysts for the generation of clean fuels, from both conventional
fossil fuels and renewable sources such as biomass.
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Revolymer
Ltd
Dock
Road
Mostyn, Flintshire
CH8 9HE
Tel: +44 1745 562301
www.revolymer.com
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Revolymer
has developed and licensed technology for non-stick clean chewing gum.
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Perpetuum
Ltd
Epsilon
House,
Southampton Science Park, Southampton
SO16 7NS
Tel: +44 (0)23 8076 5888
Fax: +44 (0)23 8076 5889
www.perpetuum.com
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PMG
Perpetuum’s vibration energy-harvesting microgenerators are an enabling
technology, making wireless, battery-free sensors a reality. The
high-performance microgenerators convert vibrations into useable
electrical energy to power sensors, microprocessors and RF systems.
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Oxford Immunotec Ltd
94C Milton Park,
Abingdon, Oxon
OX14 4RY
Tel: +44 (0)1235 442780
Fax: +44 (0)1235 442781
www.oxfordimmunotec.com
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Oxford Immunotec is developing novel products based
on its patented T-SPOT technology, opening new ways to diagnose and
monitor infection and disease. The development of our lead product, T‑SPOT.TB is a major advance in the fight against the global
resurgence of tuberculosis.
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Legal Notices
Except where otherwise expressly stated the information on
this Site has been issued and approved for the purposes of the UK Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000 by Top Technology Ventures which is regulated
by the FSA.
None of the statements on this Site excludes or restricts any duty or
liability that Top Technology Ventures has under the FSA rules or the UK
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
Funds managed by Top Technology Ventures are not available to members of
the general public. In addition, the funds referred to in this Site are not
available for distribution to or investment in by US investors.
Nothing on this Site is intended to constitute an offer or solicitation to
buy or sell investments of any description in any jurisdiction. Top
Technology Ventures makes no representation that the information or
materials on this Site are appropriate for use in all locations, or that
any Investments or services which are referred to on this Site are
available in all jurisdictions, to everyone, or at all. In accessing this
Site, you are responsible for compliance with local laws or regulations and
for obtaining your own legal, tax and financial advice before entering into
any transaction with Top Technology Ventures.
Owing to the nature of this Site, and the nature of electronic distribution
via the world wide web, Top Technology Ventures will not have any liability
(whether in contract or tort, for negligence or otherwise) for any losses,
costs or damages resulting from or related to use of or inability to use
any material posted or transmitted on or via this Site to the fullest
extent to which such liability may be excluded or avoided by law and in no
event shall Top Technology Ventures be liable to anyone for lost profits or
for indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages
arising out of or in relation to the material posted or transmitted or
access to, use or performance of, or browsing in this Site or any linked
Site.
This Site is protected by the laws of copyright with all rights reserved
and is provided for lawful purposes only. You may not copy, print,
download, sell, redistribute or reproduce the material other than for your
personal use. TTV makes no warranties in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or completeness of any of the information contained on this
site.
TTV does not guarantee that this site is free from any virus or other
harmful element and will not be responsible for any damage you may suffer
from any such virus or material. This Website is intended for non-private
customers only.
The links contained on this site to material on other sites
are for your ease of access only. The presence of such links does not
represent any approval or endorsement by TTV or any association with the
proprietors of such other sites. TTV is not responsible for the content
available on any other internet sites linked to this site, and makes no
representations or warranties as to the accuracy of or any other aspect
relating to those sites or the information contained on them. The views
expressed in those sites are the views of the proprietors of the site or
the contributors to it and not of TTV. Access to any other internet sites
linked to this site is at the user's own risk.
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