Octopus Ventures
Established in 2000, Octopus is a group of businesses investing in people, ideas and industries that change the world. You can learn more about us at octopusgroup.com.
At Octopus Investments, we’re experts in financial services and we’re also a certified B Corp, meaning we care as much about the impact of our investments as the returns they generate. Today we manage more than £12.4* billion on behalf of retail and institutional investors.
*Funds Under Management data includes undrawn commitments, funds under advisory mandates, funds monitored and the Octopus Cash service as of 31st December 2021
Job Description
Octopus Ventures
With £1.9 billion under management and investing over £200m a year, Octopus Ventures is one of the largest and most active venture investors in Europe. We back businesses from an idea on a page all the way through a business’s journey to exit. Our typical investment is from £100k at pre-seed to £15 million+ for Series B and beyond.
Our investment team is built to specialise in the areas we believe will change the world for the better: B2B software, consumer, biotech, deeptech, fintech, health and climate. We back ‘pioneers’ and use the term very deliberately to carve out that subset of entrepreneurs who are truly breaking new ground. Since 2008 we have backed more than 180 teams, including Zoopla, Depop, WaveOptics, Elvie, ManyPets, Permutive, Quit Genius, Secret Escapes and Cazoo.
We are based in London and New York with a network spanning from San Francisco to China. The companies we back become a part of this network, with access to a formidable resource of experience and expertise.
The Health Team
The Octopus Ventures Health team comprises of a mixture of clinicians, academics, and experienced commercial operators with experience working at companies such as Google, McKinsey, Schroders, and Legal and General. The team are currently the most active lead investor into UK-based health companies and are involved in scaling some of the most valuable health companies in Europe including BigHealth, QuitGenuis, Skin and Me, Ibex and over 20 others.
Our long-term goal is to invest in companies that improve the lives of a billion+ people, and across the team we have specific research interests in:
- Taboo-busting companies such as LVNDR (LGBTQ sexual health), Vira (menopause) and Overture (fertility & embryology)
- Hyper-personalised diagnostics to unlock superior outcomes such as Ibex (AI for digital pathology)
- Precision psychology and using quantitative approaches to understanding neurology such as Mindstep (understanding neurodegenerative conditions)
- Emerging infrastructure to support the next generation of health companies from a regulatory, risk and data perspective
Job Description
Investment Managers are a core part of the team, helping to identify and partner with the most exciting health start-ups from across the European ecosystem as well as supporting the growth of our existing portfolio companies. The role will include but not limited to the below:
- Making new investments:
- Compiling research on exciting industry sectors to identify new opportunities
- Analysing and performing due diligence on companies that fall within our investment criteria
- Scrutinising large volumes of financial information, including interrogation, and building of company financial models
- If not on day one, quickly become an autonomous decision maker, and lead your own investments with the expectation of leading 2-4 new investments per year
- Supporting portfolio companies
- Helping portfolio companies on specific commercial projects and identifying on-going initiatives to support portfolio companies (e.g. funding rounds or interfacing with our specialist talent team)
- Within 6 months of joining, taking on Board Observer and Director roles and work through common Board topics such as setting budgets, discussing strategy or performance management
- Supporting Octopus Ventures
- Establishing and leading strategic initiatives across the investment team
- Increasingly taking a key role in developing and supporting others in the team
Qualifications
While each successful candidate will bring their own experience and personality into the role, we expect you will likely:
- Have a robust track record as a key contributor in an environment such as large tech, start-ups, finance, academia, strategy consulting, law, etc.
- Have an ability to demonstrate Health sector knowledge and passion such that you would be seen as a “specialist”
- Ideally have experience or exposure to making venture capital investments
- Have a demonstrated appetite for accountability and self-reliance
- Exhibit an abnormally high level of curiosity about how the world works
- Have a proven ability to ingest and process large amounts of nebulous information quickly
- Have a proven ability to build trust and rapport with others
- Be commercially-minded and financially literate, albeit formal financial training is not a requirement
In return, Octopus Ventures offers exciting breadth and depth to the role:
- An opportunity to work with some of the most pioneering entrepreneurs in the world and build out a personal network in the ecosystem, supported by a strong brand name
- An incredible learning environment. You will be part of a team that raises and invests hundreds of millions annually. Each year you will be exposed to multiple new/follow-on investments and all sorts of portfolio puzzles
Additional Information
What we offer
💰 A competitive salary, bonus, pension and share incentive plan
✈️ Take what you need holiday
🏡 Flexible working
⚓ Anchor (our wellness hub) which includes Headspace, one to one coaching through Wellness Cloud, Parent Cloud, Digital GP & more
👪 Enhanced family leave policies
❤️ Life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection
🏥 Private medical insurance for you and your family
🚗 Electric vehicle leasing
🌍 The option to work overseas up to a month per year