Early stage financier Triple Point has launched a new Kickstart Fund competition to invest up to £150,000 apiece in London-based tech start-ups.

Six tech millionaires have also pledged to co-invest in some of the winning start-ups with their own money as angel investors, also offering their experience as mentors.

All said they were backing the Kickstart Fund because they see the London’s tech start-ups being the driving force to power the capital’s recovery from the coronavirus economic crisis.

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Founders offering investment and expertise include Alex Chesterman, who founded Zoopla, LoveFilm and Cazoo, and Michael Pennington, creator of Gumtree.

Chesterman said: “Some of the best businesses are created in the most challenging times. I’m pleased to be working with the Kickstart Fund to help find and support the next generation of London entrepreneurs and leading UK businesses.”

Plus Amazon is offering £80,000 worth of services to the Kickstart competition.

In exchange for its investment, Triple Point will want 10 per cent of equity and a seat on the board as an observer.

Daniel Cardenas-Clark of Triple Point said: “For a start-up in its infancy, the guidance of someone who has already successfully been on that journey is invaluable. We are excited to be working together with the group to give these young companies every chance of being a success.”

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Founders supporting the Kickstart Fund are:

• Alex Chesterman OBE, one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs and founder of online car retailer Cazoo, property giant Zoopla and DVD rental service LoveFilm
• Michael Pennington, founder of global classified ads star Gumtree
• Charles Delingpole, founder of tech firms including The Student Room online community for students and online business finance firm MarketFinance
• Will Neale, founder of payments company Fonix and live video business Grabyo, used by sports federations and broadcasters to put events on YouTube, Facebook, etc.
• Christian Faes, founder of LendInvest, the online platform for property finance
• Eamon Jubbawy, COO and co-founder of ID verification platform Onfido

Kickstart says thousands of entrepreneurs have visited the site, despite only launching two weeks ago, with more than 100 business plans uploaded, ranging from artificial intelligence ideas and video to financial technology.

Triple Point has been an early stage business investor for over 15 years, with investments ranging from £300,00 at seed stage to £1.5m at Series A.

Overall, Triple Point has over £1.5bn of assets under management.

You can apply for the Kickstart fund here.

Further reading

UK accounts for almost one third of foreign investment in European tech