Don't miss the next pre-seed unicorn from the UK!
Pre-seed startups are difficult to define. At Startupmag we use the amount of their latest fundraise as the criteria. Any startups that raise less than £1M are pre-seed.
If startups have raised funds it’s easy, but what if startups haven’t raised funds yet?
Without a recent funding round, 'pre-seed startups' can also refer to early-stage companies that are in the very initial phases of development, typically before they have secured significant external funding from traditional venture capitalists.
In terms of actual business, being pre-seed generally means you have an idea that you’re trying to validate. You may be building an MVP and you’re trying to get as many stats as possible that validate your product market-fit.
Date | Startup | Funding | Sector | Round | Contact details | Location | Investor1 | Investor2 | Investor3 | Investor4 | Investor5 | Founder 1 | Founder 2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23-07-2024 | ![]() | £581,000 | HRtech | Pre-seed | Tommie Edwards | Damilola Ogunmoye | |||||||
22-07-2024 | ![]() | £200,000 | HRTech | Pre-seed | Carla Hoppe | ||||||||
22-07-2024 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Robotics | Pre-seed | Nottingham ![]() | Roger Holden | |||||||
18-07-2024 | ![]() | £920,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Harry Coe | |||||||
17-07-2024 | ![]() | £125,000 | AI | Pre-seed | Dr. Martin Fergie | Prof. Richard Byers | |||||||
09-07-2024 | ![]() | £5 | Greentech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
09-07-2024 | ![]() | £625,000 | Pre-seed | none | |||||||||
08-07-2024 | ![]() | €1,000,000 | AI | Pre-seed | none | George Proud | Will Jones | ||||||
05-07-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Healthcare | Pre-seed | The founders of PreActiv are Rebecca and Alec. | ||||||||
04-07-2024 | ![]() | £575,000 | Pre-seed | Debi Lester | Darren Lester | ||||||||
02-07-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Bijan Morvaridi | |||||||
02-07-2024 | ![]() | £790,000 | AI | Pre-seed | Susant Kumar Patro | ||||||||
18-06-2024 | ![]() | £250,000 | Gaming | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Nikolaus Oldendorff | |||||||
17-06-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Media | Pre-seed | Bristol ![]() | none | |||||||
10-06-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Energy | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Sheng Liu | |||||||
03-06-2024 | ![]() | £775,000 | Edtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
03-06-2024 | ![]() | £650,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Anna Sandgren | Vineet Ahuja | ||||||
30-05-2024 | ![]() | £250,000 | Healthcare | Pre-seed | Liverpool ![]() | Adam Galloway | |||||||
28-05-2024 | ![]() | £550,000 | Healthcare | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Anna Muñoz Farré | Jack Eckersley | ||||||
27-05-2024 | ![]() | £320,000 | Space | Pre-seed | Edinburgh ![]() | Oren Smith-Carpenter | Rowland Fraser | ||||||
22-05-2024 | ![]() | £775,000 | Edtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
20-05-2024 | ![]() | £2 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Sally Chalk | Ben Saunders | ||||||
15-05-2024 | ![]() | US$1,000,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Yaseen Rostom | |||||||
14-05-2024 | ![]() | £650,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | ||||||||
10-05-2024 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Matthew Shribman | |||||||
02-05-2024 | ![]() | £750,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | David Newman | Anna Curtis | ||||||
02-05-2024 | ![]() | £112,000 | HRtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Sophie OBrien | |||||||
26-04-2024 | ![]() | £710,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | Newcastle ![]() | Evangeline Atkinson | Laura Mills | ||||||
24-04-2024 | ![]() | £310,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
21-04-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | Matt Bird | |||||||
18-04-2024 | ![]() | £884,000 | Mobility | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Gary Izunwa | |||||||
17-04-2024 | ![]() | £150,000 | Martech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Ali Sohail | Saad Sohail | ||||||
17-04-2024 | ![]() | £400,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Richard Collins | Beverly Collins | ||||||
17-04-2024 | ![]() | US$150,000 | Web 3 | Pre-seed | Edinburgh ![]() | Derek Nisbet | |||||||
11-04-2024 | ![]() | £580,000 | AI | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | Rishi Kapoor | Lucas Cazelli | ||||||
09-04-2024 | ![]() | US$530,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Jeremy Bensoussan | |||||||
04-04-2024 | ![]() | £100,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Shai Hill | |||||||
03-04-2024 | ![]() | US$1,000,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
26-03-2024 | ![]() | £900,000 | Cyber security | Pre-seed | Birmingham ![]() | The founder of Lexverify is not mentioned in the given text. | |||||||
26-03-2024 | ![]() | £560,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | Oxford ![]() | Max Zhurilo | |||||||
22-03-2024 | ![]() | £50,000 | Ecommerce | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Flinty Bane | Ben Barter | ||||||
18-03-2024 | ![]() | £250,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Oliver Crofton | Drew Rathbone | ||||||
18-03-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Biotech | Pre-seed | Newcastle ![]() | Daniel Todd | |||||||
18-03-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Biotech | Pre-seed | Coventry ![]() | Dr Tom Congdon | Prof Matt Gibson | ||||||
07-03-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Max Deeley | Alexandru Dobrescu | ||||||
29-02-2024 | ![]() | £850,000 | Ecommerce | Pre-seed | Elland ![]() | Simon Brown | |||||||
29-02-2024 | ![]() | £320,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Boy-Anthony Kuhne | |||||||
29-02-2024 | ![]() | £450,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | Eleanor Harry | |||||||
28-02-2024 | ![]() | £450,000 | AI | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | none | |||||||
21-02-2024 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Cyber security | Pre-seed | Cheltenham ![]() | Norman Shaw | |||||||
19-02-2024 | ![]() | £300,000 | Marketplace | Pre-seed | Edinburgh ![]() | Bob Corsie | |||||||
15-02-2024 | ![]() | £950,000 | Web 3 | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Rania Ajami | Rashid Ajami | ||||||
14-02-2024 | ![]() | £752,000 | Proptech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Dr. Kyriakos D. Kantarakias | Alexander Gillies | ||||||
13-02-2024 | ![]() | £200,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Stephen Mitchell | |||||||
07-02-2024 | ![]() | £300,000 | Marketplace | Pre-seed | Edinburgh ![]() | Bob Corsie | |||||||
07-02-2024 | ![]() | £200,000 | Foodtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | George Rice | |||||||
07-02-2024 | ![]() | £200,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | Newcastle ![]() | Stephen Mitchell | Brian Russell | ||||||
06-02-2024 | ![]() | £820,000 | Regtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Christopher Ansara | |||||||
02-02-2024 | ![]() | £800,000 | Healthcare | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Greg Ilsen | Nicholas Goldstein | ||||||
01-02-2024 | ![]() | £862,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Alex Marantelos | George Pastakas | ||||||
31-01-2024 | ![]() | £450,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
29-01-2024 | ![]() | £600,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Liverpool ![]() | Mike Darracott | |||||||
29-01-2024 | ![]() | £600,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Liverpool ![]() | Mike Darracott | |||||||
25-01-2024 | ![]() | £200,000 | Insurtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | James Lovett | |||||||
19-01-2024 | ![]() | £684,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Tsewang Wangkang | Frederick Szydlowski | ||||||
17-01-2024 | ![]() | £500,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Barbara Gottardi | |||||||
16-01-2024 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Gaming | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Lex Dromgoole | Gwilym Gold | ||||||
16-01-2024 | ![]() | £780,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
11-01-2024 | ![]() | £950,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Birmingham ![]() | Becky Lane | |||||||
04-01-2024 | ![]() | £430,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Alex Pourquery | |||||||
02-01-2024 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Glasgow ![]() | Russell Peterson | Ross Anderson | ||||||
31-12-2023 | ![]() | US$550,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Faisal Al-Rajhi | Alex Pourquery | ||||||
30-12-2023 | ![]() | £300,000 | Pre-seed | Burnley ![]() | Paul White | Conor Walsh | |||||||
20-12-2023 | ![]() | US$540,000 | Web 3 | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Grega Trobec | |||||||
15-12-2023 | ![]() | £800,000 | Web 3 | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Domenic Carosa | Andrew Smith | ||||||
05-12-2023 | ![]() | £700,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Dr. Nithin Thomas | |||||||
05-12-2023 | ![]() | £690,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Darren Smith | |||||||
21-11-2023 | ![]() | £800,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Joyeeta Das | Alex Facey | ||||||
09-11-2023 | ![]() | £550,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Lori Bolon | Matteo Grand | ||||||
09-11-2023 | ![]() | £750,000 | proptech | Pre-seed | Ian Yeo | Scott Pilgrim | |||||||
08-11-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | Newcastle ![]() | Ben Bennett | Ian Wilson | ||||||
31-10-2023 | ![]() | £620,000 | Insurtech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
25-10-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Travel | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Founder(s): none | |||||||
19-10-2023 | ![]() | £500,000 | HRTech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Theo-Lee Houston | |||||||
11-10-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Chris Jordan | Michael Paisley | |||||||
11-10-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Chris Jordan | Michael Paisley | |||||||
20-09-2023 | ![]() | £500,000 | Healthcare | Pre-seed | Manchester ![]() | James Burch | James Chapman | ||||||
15-09-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Media | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Matthew Goldhill | |||||||
12-09-2023 | ![]() | US$1,000,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Callum Rimmer | |||||||
05-09-2023 | ![]() | £440,000 | AI | Pre-seed | none | ||||||||
01-09-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Paula Sussex | |||||||
24-08-2023 | ![]() | £591,000 | Media | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Ferdinand Ahorner | |||||||
23-08-2023 | ![]() | £390,000 | AI | Pre-seed | Rami Akily | ||||||||
23-08-2023 | ![]() | £300,000 | Greentech | Pre-seed | Dr Johnson Fernandes | ||||||||
17-08-2023 | ![]() | £390,000 | Gaming | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Gary Palmer | |||||||
10-08-2023 | ![]() | £1,000,000 | SaaS | Pre-seed | Stuart Warrington | ||||||||
09-08-2023 | ![]() | £390,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Saad Adada | |||||||
09-08-2023 | ![]() | US$500,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | Saad Adada | |||||||
08-08-2023 | ![]() | £900,000 | AI | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none | |||||||
28-07-2023 | ![]() | £780,000 | Fintech | Pre-seed | London ![]() | none |
The startups in the above list have all raised just under £1M and we will be watching them closely as they move towards seed stages.
The term 'pre-seed' has gained popularity to distinguish the very early stages of startup development, often before a formal seed funding round.
During the pre-seed phase, founders typically focus on proving the viability of their business concept, developing a prototype, and gaining initial traction.
You may not have much traction at this stage but you will need to prepare a pre-seed pitch deck to show your plan to potential investors.
The best pitch decks generally have around 12-15 slides. And I tend to split these slides into 2 big sections:
section 1: What you are building and why you think it’s a good idea?
section 2: Why are you the right people to make this work?
Funding at this stage may come from personal savings, angel investors, pre-seed VC investors or small grants. The goal is to reach a point where the startup is attractive to seed investors who can provide more substantial funding for further growth. And that is exactly what you can showcase in your pitch deck.
The funding stages for startups generally progress in the following order:
Pre-seed: At this stage, founders may use personal savings or funds from friends and family to get their idea off the ground. The goal is often to develop a prototype or proof of concept.
Seed: Seed funding is the next stage and usually involves external investors providing capital in exchange for equity. This funding helps startups expand and refine their products, conduct further market research, and scale their operations.
Series A, B, C, etc.: These subsequent funding rounds involve larger sums of money and are intended to help the startup grow, enter new markets, and achieve greater scalability. Each round corresponds to a different stage of growth.