UK-based venture capital firm Haatch has partnered with Loughborough University to launch the Loughborough Venture Investor Network (LVIN), a new initiative connecting high-potential startups and spinouts from the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with alumni and other investors.
The network is designed to help founders secure funding and support at the pre-seed and seed stages, while giving Loughborough alumni and supporters a route to invest in emerging businesses linked to the university.
Specialising in early-stage businesses, Haatch will manage investments made through the network. The partnership is intended to address the funding gap faced by startups and spinouts at the earliest stages of development, when securing their first external investment can be particularly challenging.
Under the LVIN model, investors will receive a curated selection of investment opportunities each quarter. These ventures will first be assessed by a Nominations Panel, which will identify businesses considered investible before presenting them to network members.
Investors can then indicate which opportunities they are interested in backing. Where sufficient interest is generated, investments will be deployed through Haatch, an FCA-regulated alternative fund manager focused on pre-seed and seed-stage investment. Haatch will manage the deployed funds and provide investors with updates on their portfolios.
The network will focus on businesses emerging from the university’s research and startup programmes. Ventures linked to the university include BidScript, an AI platform designed to help organisations improve bids and tenders; Mo Time Family, which develops physiotherapy-focused products for children with learning and movement disabilities; and Adclear.ai, an alumni-founded AI-powered financial promotions compliance platform used by banks and fintechs.
The initiative builds on Loughborough’s existing programmes supporting founders through mentoring, expertise and professional networks, while providing an additional route to the capital required to develop products, enter new markets and scale. LVIN has been developed through collaboration between the university’s student services, research and innovation office and philanthropy teams, with support from its finance, legal and marketing functions.
Jonathan Keeling, partner at Haatch, said: “The hardest money to raise is the first cheque and it’s usually raised in a closed room. Universities like Loughborough are producing exactly the kind of founders who should be in that room and there’s a community of alumni who would genuinely back them if anyone made the introduction properly.”
Nick Jennings, vice-chancellor and professor at Loughborough University, added: "The launch of LVIN and our partnership with Haatch is incredibly exciting. It is integral to us being able to drive forward an inclusive, innovation-led community at Loughborough. We are passionate about nurturing emerging businesses, and being able to connect early-stage founders with alumni and University supporters will accelerate both growth for the businesses and the development of the University’s innovation ecosystem.”
