SyndicateRoom has been named Fintech Company of the Year at the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology awards. This achievement follows a period of growth and transformation for the business as it continues to support the British startup sector.
The company credits their success to a dedicated team and the guidance of their parent company, Smith Brothers Ltd. In particular, the leadership highlighted the support of Martin Heatlie, Graham Inglis, and Christopher Smith. These board members provided essential backing as the firm navigated a changing venture capital landscape following the pandemic.
Over the last eighteen months, partnership has resulted in the launch of three new funds and a significant increase in activity. The firm has nearly doubled the amount of capital it deployed compared to the previous year and has updated the strategy for its original investment product.
The foundation of the business
The starting point for the success of SyndicateRoom was its first product, the Access EIS Fund. This fund introduced a unique way of handling venture capital that sets it apart from traditional firms.
While many investment businesses rely on personal networks or intuition to decide which startups to back, the Access EIS Fund uses a data driven approach. It employs a mathematical model to track the performance of some of the most successful private investors in the UK. By co-investing alongside these experts, the fund seeks to remove much of the guesswork associated with early stage investing. This evidence based method was the foundation of the business and continues to be a core part of its reputation for innovation.
Another key element of the Access EIS Fund is diversification. By building substantially larger portfolios than most funds – 30+ companies, instead of circa 10 – Access EIS aims to capture a larger portion of top-quality startups. In a sector where returns fall into a power law distribution, with a tiny fraction of startups accounting for the lion’s share of venture capital returns.
2013: SyndicateRoom is founded as an equity crowdfunding platform.
2020: The firm shifts its focus to fund management with the launch of the Access EIS Fund.
2024: Smith Brothers Ltd acquires the company in December, providing fresh backing and resources.
2025: The business launches the Angel Academe EIS Fund in May.
2025: The first joint fund with Carbon13, the Carbon13 SEIS Fund VII, is launched and closed in April.
2025: The Carbon13 SEIS Fund VIII is launched in July.
2026: The Carbon13 SEIS Fund IX is launched in January.
2026: SyndicateRoom wins Fintech Company of the Year in May.
Building on the success of its data-driven origins, SyndicateRoom has expanded its reach by launching and managing new funds that target specific areas of need in the market.
The Angel Academe EIS Fund
SyndicateRoom launched the first EIS fund in the UK focused specifically on female founders. This fund was designed to address the lack of capital available to women in the tech and biotech industries. The project recently reached a major milestone when it attracted investment from the British Business Bank, providing a strong endorsement of its mission to support female entrepreneurs.
The Carbon13 SEIS Funds
The firm has also successfully launched and closed three SEIS funds in partnership with Carbon13. These funds focus on climatetech innovation, providing essential early stage funding to startups that are developing technologies to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions.
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