GCV Labs / Venture Builder
We create, launch and scale startups that transform industries.
From idea to scale, GCV Labs combines strategy, talent, technology, capital and growth expertise to build ambitious companies with the potential to transform industries.
What is a venture builder?
A better way to build startups.
Great businesses rarely emerge from an idea alone. They require the right opportunity, the right people, the right product, the right technology, the right capital and an effective route to market.
GCV Labs brings those capabilities together within one venture builder. We systematically identify opportunities, validate them, build the business around them and provide the resources required to launch, accelerate and scale.
The value chain
- 01IdeaOpportunities identified from real market gaps.
- 02ValidationEvidence gathered before capital is committed.
- 03BusinessThe model, economics and route to market defined.
- 04ProductProposition and technology built in-house.
- 05CapitalFunding staged against evidence, round by round.
- 06GrowthLaunch, customer acquisition and acceleration.
- 07ScaleThe resources and support to expand and mature.
The Venture Builder Process
Seven stages, from idea to scale.
A structured approach to creating, launching and scaling high-growth businesses, with capital staged against evidence at every stage.
01
Ideate
We generate ideas where technology or regulatory change creates opportunities for disruption.
02
Evaluate
We test whether an opportunity solves a genuine problem and assess its market potential.
03
Create
We form the project team, define the proposition and create the venture's foundations.
04
Incubate
We turn the validated proposition into a minimum viable product, ready for market.
05
Launch
We take the product to market and pursue product/market fit with real customers.
06
Accelerate
Once proven, we build the commercial marketing and sales engine for repeatable, scalable growth.
07
Scale
We build the team, infrastructure and capabilities to create sustained enterprise value.
Why GCV Labs
Everything a startup needs.
Built around one venture.
Strategy
We define the opportunity, the proposition and the business model, and set the route to value creation before anything is built.
Talent
We assemble multidisciplinary teams around each venture - strategy, product, design, marketing, sales and finance.
Brand & product
We create the brands, products and experiences customers want to use, and iterate them against real market feedback.
Technology
We architect and build scalable technology platforms, engineered to support each venture from MVP through to exit.
Go-to-market
We create the commercial engine - positioning, sales and marketing - required to acquire, convert and retain customers.
Capital
We provide access to investment throughout the company's development, with capital at every stage.
Growth
We use data, metrics and disciplined execution to accelerate growth and compound enterprise value creation.
Exit
We prepare each venture for a successful exit or independent future, realising value for the founders and investors behind it.
The GCV ecosystem
Labs creates. Invest connects.
Ideas become founders, founders become companies, and companies need capital to grow. GCV Labs builds the companies. GCV Invest, the regulated platform within the wider Growth Capital Ventures ecosystem, connects suitable investors to selected opportunities.
GCV Labs
Create
We identify opportunities, validate them and build companies around them, from the first idea through to scale.
Ventures
Grow
Each venture is supported by strategy, people, product, technology and growth capability throughout its development.
GCV Invest
Connect
GCV Invest provides suitable investors with access to carefully selected investment opportunities. Investment activity sits with GCV Invest, separate from the venture builder.
What changes for an investor when a company is built, not just funded
Who we build with
Building ambitious ventures with ambitious people.
01
We build our own ideas
GCV Spinouts
We identify opportunities where technology, changing markets or regulation can create significant value, then validate the opportunity, develop the proposition, assemble the team and build the company from the ground up.
02
We build with founders
Founder Partnerships
We partner with exceptional founders and domain experts who have insight, ambition and the potential to build category-defining businesses, bringing the venture building infrastructure around them.
03
We build with industry
Corporate Venture Building
We work with established businesses to identify, create and launch new products, services and ventures - from opportunity identification and validation through to product development, launch and scale.
Portfolio
Companies we've helped build.
Intelligence Fusion
SaaS · Threat intelligence & geopolitical risk
Co-founded with Michael McCabe and built through the full GCV Labs venture build process - from idea and proof of concept to launch and scale. Funded first by the GCV Invest network, then institutional investors as the business proved product-market fit and its revenue model. Acquired by Sigma7 and now operating as S7 One.
What GCV Labs did - Idea and validation, founding team, brand and product, technology build, go-to-market and successive funding rounds through to exit.
n-gage.io
SaaS · Attractions management
An attractions management platform with a powerful, highly customisable visitor-facing app, co-founded with Bryan Hoare. Now in its growth phase, with clients including Longleat Safari Park, Knowsley Safari Park and Jimmy's Farm.
What GCV Labs did - Proposition and validation, brand and product design, platform development, and commercial support through launch and growth.
Business Finance Market
Fintech · Commercial finance
A GCV Labs portfolio company with two brands: Finance Nation, the FCA-authorised commercial finance brokerage, and Xova, the commercial broker SaaS platform - piloted and used by Finance Nation, and built to be licensed to other commercial brokers, initially in the UK and then globally.
What GCV Labs did - Opportunity identification, business model design, brand and product for both Finance Nation and Xova, and the technology build behind the platform.
Valius Global
Marketplace · SME M&A
Valius is a modern digital marketplace connecting business owners with serious, verified buyers. The platform showcases over 1,000 UK businesses across a wide range of sectors. Smart matching helps buyers discover opportunities. End-to-end tools and support streamline the journey from discovery through to completion.
What GCV Labs did - Market opportunity work, proposition and brand, marketplace product and technology, and go-to-market through launch.
The team
Operators. Investors. Builders.
Successful ventures require more than capital. Our team brings together experience spanning entrepreneurship, investment, strategy, technology, product, marketing, sales, finance and operations.
- Entrepreneurship
- Investment
- Strategy
- Technology
- Product
- Marketing
- Sales
- Finance
- Operations
Insights
Thinking on venture building.
Venture Building
What is a venture builder?
A venture builder creates companies. It is not an incubator, an accelerator or a fund - it is an operating model for turning opportunities into businesses, and understanding that difference matters before you choose who to build with.
ReadInvesting in Ventures
Why invest in venture-built companies?
Early-stage investing is risky. Venture-built companies are not exempt, but a repeatable build process, shared operating capability and evidence-led capital allocation can create a different starting point for investors.
ReadVenture Building
Venture builder vs venture capital: what is the difference?
Venture builders create companies from the ground up. Venture capital firms invest in companies that already exist. The difference changes the work, the timing and the relationship with founders.
ReadWhat could we build together?
Whether you have identified an opportunity, are building an ambitious venture or want to explore how our venture builder model works, start a conversation with GCV Labs.