Linking new business with new funding

Success in entrepreneurship is often about serendipity – and great founders seem to know instinctively how to capitalise on good fortune.

Yet there is still a market for anyone who can help to cut the element of chance.

Fundraising is one area that seems to involve a high degree of luck, which is why the service created by London-based Match Capital is likely to appeal to many businesses.

Its platform aims to pair those with a brilliant idea with those who have the money to make it happen.

Once an entrepreneur has found all their potential matches, Match Capital tells them how they, or anyone in their company, might be linked to each investment group or platform through the social media website LinkedIn.

To date, Match Capital has used its algorithm to help early stage companies raise more than £5 million in funding.

The company makes its money through a monthly subscription of £29.99 rather than a percentage fee, which implies independence on specific deals.

Its co-founders, Peter Walsh and Matt Hobbis, met at brokerage firm ICAP.

They spent the best part of two years tracking the investment activity of relevant names and funding platforms, from venture capitalists to crowd-funding websites, angel networks to wealthy individuals.

“Our mission is to provide a simple, inexpensive tool for [founders] to engage with the maximum relevant investor audience we can find,” Walsh says.

“We believe that using data science to actually identify relevant investors, in conjunction with an entrepreneur’s LinkedIn network, will significantly increase his chances of funding.”

Active investment groups and platforms are updated daily, which, if all goes to plan, will allow start-ups to match up with potential suitors in seconds. – Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 2014