VC Associate @ Octopus Ventures in London, England

IF THIS OPPORTUNITY SOUNDS COMPELLING TO YOU, PLEASE APPLY HERE:

https://octopusventures.typeform.com/to/a471MD

PLEASE DO NOT PRESS THE “I’M INTERESTED” BUTTON AND ONLY APPLY THROUGH THE ABOVE LINK.

We are accepting applications until 10th February 2020. 

At this stage we will not require you to provide a CV, just your thoughts on a few questions and your email address so we can get in touch.

We are anticipating lots of interest so we will aim to come back to you by the 24th February 2020. 

At Octopus we’re transforming the industries we operate in and improving the lives of millions of people. We’ve built market-leading positions in a number of specialist sectors, including smaller company financing, renewable energy, healthcare and property finance. We employ in excess of 800 people and manage more than £8.5 billion on behalf of over 50,000 investors. Our products don’t just help real people solve real life problems, they also make a positive impact on the world around us.

The Octopus Group incorporates Octopus Energy, Octopus Real Estate, Octopus Investments, Octopus Ventures, Octopus Wealth and Octopus Renewables. Our aim is to have an impact in everything we do, and to make a vital contribution to the UK economy by helping people, companies and institutions generate wealth. And we’re always on the look-out for smart, talented people who share our values.

Job Description

About the Role

Octopus Ventures is one of Europe’s largest venture capital funds, with £1.2 billion under management.  We can invest from £250,000 to £25 million in a first round of funding and will look to follow in subsequent rounds. We are proud to be known as one of the most entrepreneur friendly investors in Europe. The pioneers we back dare to reimagine the future of health, the future of money and deep tech.

About the role

Our Investment Associates are core to our investment team, helping to identify, select and due diligence the most exciting startups from across the UK ecosystem as well as support the growth of our portfolio companies. Each new Investment Associate will be part of one of our pods focusing on the Future of Money, the Future of Health, Deep Tech and Growth stage companies.

The day-to-day can vary a lot, but will involve:

  • Making investments:
    • Representing Octopus Ventures at industry events to build relationships with entrepreneurs and other investors
    • Building a personal network through which to source deals
    • Compiling research on exciting industry sectors to identify new opportunities
    • Track and pursue entrepreneurs and companies that really excite us
    • Analysing and performing due diligence on companies that fall within our investment criteria
    • Helping to build and present investment theses for new deals and follow-on investments
  • Supporting portfolio companies
    • Helping portfolio companies on specific commercial projects and identifying on-going initiatives to build Octopus’ portfolio offering
  • Supporting Octopus Ventures
    • Preparing deal- and fund-related analyses and presentations for the team
    • Contribute to on-going development of strategy for the pod you are in

IF THIS OPPORTUNITY SOUNDS COMPELLING TO YOU, PLEASE APPLY HERE:

https://octopusventures.typeform.com/to/a471MD

PLEASE DO NOT PRESS THE “I’M INTERESTED” BUTTON AND ONLY APPLY THROUGH THE ABOVE LINK.

We are accepting applications until 10th February 2020. 

At this stage we will not require you to provide a CV, just your thoughts on a few questions and your email address so we can get in touch.

We are anticipating lots of interest so we will aim to come back to you by the 24th February 2020. 

Qualifications

About you

While each successful candidate will bring her/his own experience and personality into the role, we expect every new Investment Associate will likely:

  • Have a robust track record as a strong contributor in a professional environment such as large tech, startups, finance, academia, strategy consulting, law, etc – the arena in which you made your contribution is less important than the skills you honed there
  • 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 a wide variety of founders and other investors

In return, Octopus Ventures has a track record in offering to its Associates:

  • A hands on & practical role within the venture capital industry inside one of Europe’s largest and most active early stage funds
  • An accelerated path towards taking ownership of sourcing and diligencing early stage investments and presenting investment theses in front of Partners and peers
  • An opportunity to work with some of the strongest entrepreneurs in the UK and build out a personal network in the ecosystem, supported by a strong brand name

Additional Information

More about Octopus Ventures

Octopus Ventures, part of Octopus Group, is one of the largest VCs in Europe. We invest in the pioneers who will create the next $1 billion companies in health, money and deep tech. We know that being bold and generous with our time, our network and our knowledge works for everyone. We draw on the diversity of our experience to help the companies we back get better, faster, whether that involves building teams, developing their CEOs or scaling internationally.

We aim to be helpful and straightforward, committed to shaping an ecosystem where the brightest entrepreneurs can make a meaningful contribution to society. We know that companies that embrace diversity, including our own, perform better, which is why we’ve joined others and signed up to #movingforward.

Octopus Ventures has backed the founding teams of nearly 100 companies including Zoopla, Secret Escapes, Elvie, Depop, Sofar Sounds and Cazoo. Some of our portfolio companies have gone on to join forces with the world’s largest businesses including Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter.”

Our Values and DNA 

At Octopus we don’t just focus on what we do but also how we do it. Everyone shares our values of being straightforward, helpful and bold. And while these are the principles that guide us as an organisation, our DNA goes even further, by revealing our inner strength: 

We are loyal: we fully buy-in to the company’s vision and believe in everything that Octopus stands for. We are respectful: we live and breathe the Octopus values of being helpful, straightforward and bold. We are resilient: we have an inner strength that means we never give in We are intellectually curious: we seek to understand how the world works and we’re always learning, adapting and improving We understand who our customers are: and because we know them really well, we always give them our very best. 

What we offer 

Octopus has built an exciting and inclusive high-performance culture where employees feel empowered. This means we welcome discussions around flexible working hours. We also understand the value of diversity, and we have a team dedicated to promoting gender, ethnic, socio-economic, LGBT and disability equality, to make sure we back up our words with actions. All Octopus employees are given the opportunity to develop new skills, aim higher and accelerate their careers.

 

If interested, please apply here.

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