Investor profile
Concept Ventures (formerly RLC Ventures)
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Concept Ventures is Europe's largest dedicated pre-seed fund, investing up to $1.5m in first rounds as a stage-specialist. The firm backs pre-seed founders reshaping how we 'work, play, and learn', centring decision-making around founder personality and deploying a data-led approach to identify traits key to entrepreneurial success — looking beyond narrow parameters of work history, education, and networks to access a wider range of entrepreneurial potential. Founded by industry outsiders, Concept champions both first-time and repeat founders with conviction, leading or co-leading pre-seed rounds and offering follow-on support through Series A and beyond. For 90% of the startups it backs, Concept is the founder's first VC conversation. The firm is sector-agnostic but stage-specialist, and pledges 1% of its total carry pool to charities of a founder's choosing.
Notable quotes
“To have 70% of our portfolio founders now backing us as LPs is a further validation of the people-centric approach we've worked so hard to develop and deploy. This close cements our position as Europe's largest dedicated pre-seed fund and gives us the firepower to keep saying 'yes' at the very beginning of a founder's journey.”
“There is a major gap in the pre-seed ecosystem, with too few funds offering dedicated pre-seed expertise. We are completely focused on this critical stage of a company's life cycle and are able to provide the funding, expertise and network they need to succeed.”
“The biggest risk for us are the founders. The number one reason why a company in our portfolio ends is the founders falling out with each other. So when we see a dynamic team, who are entrenched in a problem, who have worked together for a long period of time, who are full-time — I think that really gets us excited.”
Recent investments
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| Index Ventures | 2 |
| Creator Fund | 2 |
| Seedcamp | 2 |
| Lakestar | 1 |
| Venrex | 1 |
| Project A Ventures | 1 |
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