Smart Anchor Ventures was established to work with entrepreneurial founders of innovative companies, helping them to achieve greater success by offering them our experience, stability and confidence in scaling their business.
Growth and Value Creation is our core objective, and we manifest this through the approach we take, processes we’ve developed, our investment philosophy and the results we deliver.
Crewyr Tyfiant A Gwerth
Growth & Value Creators
“Smart Anchor Ventures have provided the Tazio management team with the know-how, show-how and guidance to get the company investor ready. They take a hands-on strategic approach and even before we formally engaged they committed significant time whilst getting to know us, the dynamics of our business, and potential of our technology platform.”
Tom Stroud: Managing Director – Tazio
Investing & Accelerating
Smart Anchor Ventures works with and invests in UK businesses that have the potential to scale globally, particularly those located in the Welsh regions.
Our multi-disciplined team offer a hands on approach to enabling and facilitating growth acceleration and value creation. We’ve co-founded, run and successfully exited numerous businesses.
We possess extensive operational, commercial and financial expertise enabling us to advise and assist with preparing for capital fund raising, new product commercialisation, company growth development and succession or exit planning.
Businesses That Get Us Excited
Smart Anchor Ventures looks for early stage and established UK businesses led by exceptional management teams who have a realistic plan to deliver new growth and scale. Whilst sector agnostic we like technology-enabled companies that can differentiate themselves from their competitors and which are able to optimise their market position through successful commercialisation of their differentiation.
We love ambition, big thinking, a can do attitude and teams that listen.
Early Stage
- 6-12 months trading
- Minimum Viable Product
- Strong market differentiator
- Pilot clients in beta tests
- Disruptive with mass market appeal
- Scaleable
Growth
- 12-24 months trading
- Sales history with case studies
- Recurring Monthly Revenue
- Proven opportunity to scale
- Growth capital required to scale
- Defendable market position
Exit Ready
- Trading 5-20+years
- Experienced management team
- Established market share & presence
- Historical pedigree & profitable
- Succession Management (Retirement/New Leadership)
- Merger/Acquisition/Buy-Out Opportunity
“In a short period of time the team at Smart Anchor Ventures have helped us to restructure and prepare Ramp for a capital raise, whilst at the same time have opened their little black books and introduced several new global business opportunities that have the potential to seriously scale our company. We value them as a shareholder and their continued contribution to our future growth”
Neil Cocker: Co-Founder & CEO – Ramp Commerce
Creating Value Throughout the Business Lifecycle
Over the last 20+ years we’ve experienced most of the pain points and have faced many of the challenges of launching and growing companies, raising capital, hiring teams, entering new markets and even closing down businesses. During our own journeys we’ve amassed a wealth of knowledge that’s been refined over many years within our own companies or whilst working for others. This collective know-how means that we are able to bring to the table specialist areas of domain expertise and draw upon an extensive network of service provider relationships in order to help our portfolio clients achieve their goals and success.
Growth Strategy
Mentoring
Funding & Investment
IP & Licensing
Board Advisory
Partnership Development
“As young founders of a new fast growth start-up we recognised the need early on to surround ourselves with experienced individuals, people who’ve been there and done it. The guys at Smart Anchor Ventures have so far exceeded our expectations on a number of levels and their on-going guidance, mentorship and assistance in raising new capital will help us take Nudjed to the next phase of our development”
Warren Fauvel: Co-Founder & CEO – Nudjed
The Team
As an entrepreneurial business we understand the challenges fellow entrepreneurs face. In fact each of our team have built their own businesses and along the way have gained 60+ collective years of extensive experience having been involved in start-ups, fund raising, mergers & acquisitions and other crucial aspects of business lifecycle development.
Mark Hindmarsh
Mark has 20+ years of high-level experience operating as an entrepreneur, investor and commercialisation expert in the technology and digital media sectors.
In 2006 he and Peter Jones co-founded Versatile Connections, a London based specialist advisory firm that has invested in, launched and exited from several technology companies, collectively creating over $80m in shareholder value.
Mark currently holds Board Advisor / Investment positions in a range of growing UK and US based businesses.
An adopted Welshman, Mark lives in the Gower, South Wales with his wife and two daughters. Despite his growing waistline and greying hair he’s a keen mountain biker, enjoys fishing (well telling stories about the one that got away) and for his sins is a Swansea City FC supporter
Peter Jones
Peter has over 20 years experience working as an entrepreneur, marketer, advisor and expert in technology commercialisation, digital marketing and new product launches.
A digital pioneer Peter helped launch and manage three digital agencies; Holmes & Marchant Digital, Arc Worldwide and TBWA-GGT Digital, strategising for Global brands such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Procter & Gamble and News International.
Peter currently holds Board Advisor / Investment positions in a range of growing UK and US based businesses.
An Englishman, with mix of French, Polish and Welsh, Peter lives in London. He’s the creative of the team and not surprising considering his great, great grandfather was Sir Roland Hill (inventor of the postage stamp) and his grandfather RG Jones invented the column speaker. A keen cyclist, he most definitely fits into the MAMIL (middle-age man in lycra) category.
“We first met Smart Anchor Ventures via our mutual shared interests in Nudjed. It quickly became apparent that we shared the same ethos and forward thinking approach to working with and supporting fellow entrepreneurs. As a result we’re now collaborating on a number of projects and investment opportunities.”
Ashley Cooper: Founding Director – Catalyst Growth Partners
Our Portfolio
Our growing portfolio consists of early stage and growth businesses lead by inspiring and ambitious founders. All are geared towards delivering future success through the commercialisation of the innovative technology solutions that they have developed.
Contact Us
If you think that Smart Anchor Ventures could help your business, then please get in touch.
Cardiff Head Office:
Capital Building, 1st Floor
Tyndall Street
Cardiff
CF10 4AZ
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