Houghton Street Ventures

What is Houghton Street Ventures?

Houghton Street Ventures is a venture capital fund with a unique focus on leveraging the London School of Economics' (LSE) network. It invests specifically in the students and alumni of LSE, recognizing that these individuals have historically raised significant venture capital and founded successful companies.

Houghton Street Ventures operates with the philosophy that the community of the LSE, having produced global leaders across various disciplines such as industry, politics, science, and the arts, offers a fertile ground for innovative and high-potential entrepreneurial endeavors. The fund primarily targets companies at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Early Stage, and Series A phases of growth, committing to investments with a minimum of 250,000 and a maximum of 500,000, while its sweet spot for investment lies at 350,000. Their investment thesis, dubbed 'Critical Capital,' is characterized by a strategic and targeted approach to funding companies whose foundations are built on a powerful combination of humanities, social sciences, and technology.

Houghton Street Ventures emphasizes the importance of supporting founders during the early and critical stages of a company's development, where the impact of capital, networking, and strategic guidance can be profound. In terms of industry focus, the fund has a broad reach, covering sectors such as Software, FinTech, Retail, CleanTech, A.I., HealthTech, Blockchain, Future of Work, Logistics, Aerospace, Mobility, and Women Focused initiatives.

By leveraging the extensive LSE community and network, Houghton Street Ventures provides its portfolio companies with support in various critical areas such as market entry, funding extension, talent acquisition, and operational expansion. This holistic approach aims to not only accelerate the growth of the ventures they back but also to contribute meaningfully to the potential societal impact these companies can have.

What they say:

We invest in students and alumni of the London School of Economics, globally, at Seed and Series A.