Venture and growth capital

Technological transformation continues to drive international demand for venture capital

There has been sustained optimism in and around venture and growth capital investment, not least in Europe. The pandemic has accelerated the need for technology and increased the demand for venture capital (VC) activity worldwide. Technological transformation has continued to advance and growth companies continue to need capital.

Many tech sectors, such as fintech “green” innovation and healthcare, and have a growing need for capital access – and VC funding will be critical in the race to carbon net zero. VC support offers an opportunity for growth and for shareholder and stakeholder alignment.

The OC team is the best there is when it comes to venture capital. They combine outstanding, clear legal advice with practical, commercial solutions in everything they do. The team has tremendous experience across all stages of a company’s life – from spin-out, to series A and all the way through to exit, and understand the constraints and considerations for each type of investor. A one-of-a-kind.

The Legal 500

Market leader

Osborne Clarke's venture and growth capital practice is a market leader in technology, financial services, renewable energy and life sciences across Europe. Whether acting on fund establishment or investments across the corporate lifecycle, we support growth – no matter what is needed.

For companies and management teams, we advise on large venture and growth rounds, usually between £10m to £100m, handling 400-plus investment rounds a year. We also help with venture debt facilities, convertible loans and alternative finance, and advise on incentives, employment, share options, regulatory and IP for those looking to transform markets through technology.

For  start-ups, we advise on earlier and smaller seed rounds offering support to more than 100 sub-£5 million investments a year.

University spin-outs and research commercialisation 

Our expertise includes advising on spin-outs, technology transfer, commercialisation and investment transactions. We work with world-leading organisations, including Imperial College, King’s College London, UCL, Oxford and Cambridge. We advise spin-out companies, investors, founders, universities and research institutions. 

International know-how

Top-tier international funds and corporate investors on international venture and growth capital investments turn to us for our market knowledge and hands-on experience. Our venture funds formation practice supports our institutional client base, advising on VC with legal, regulatory and tax support.

And, with exits, we are there to help companies and investors get the best terms possible – whether a trade sale or initial public offering. This includes advice to numerous VC-backed companies on trade sales to global technology acquirers such as Cisco, Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.