Venture Builder
We don't simply invest in companies. We build them.
GCV Labs combines strategy, people, product, technology, capital and growth in one operating model, and applies it venture by venture.
What is venture building?
A better way to build startups.
A venture builder creates companies. It holds the capabilities a startup needs permanently, then deploys them around each new venture rather than assembling them from scratch every time.
Most models support companies that already exist. An accelerator compresses a founding team's learning. A fund provides capital and governance. A venture builder starts earlier - at the point where an opportunity is still an observation about a market - and stays involved through launch, acceleration and scale.
GCV Labs is a UK venture builder. We work with founders, corporates and investors across the UK from our London and North East bases, and the companies we create are UK-based, and many have qualified for schemes such as EIS and SEIS. If you are comparing UK venture builders, the questions worth asking are how early the model engages, how much of the company it actually builds, and how long it stays.
For the thinking behind the model, read why GCV Labs exists.
- Idea
- Validation
- Business
- Product
- Capital
- Growth
- Scale
How the models differ
Venture builder, venture studio, accelerator or fund?
The terms are used loosely. The difference that matters is how early the model engages and how much of the company it helps build.
Venture builder vs venture studio
The two terms describe the same activity: creating companies rather than only funding them. GCV Labs uses builder because we stay involved through growth.
Venture builder vs venture capital
A fund provides capital and governance to a company that already exists. A venture builder starts before the company does, and contributes the work as well as the money. The two are complements: most venture-built companies raise from funds later.
Venture builder vs accelerator
An accelerator compresses a founding team's learning over a fixed programme, then hands the company back. A venture builder has no cohort and no end date. It holds the strategy, product, technology and commercial capability permanently and deploys it venture by venture.
The GCV Labs model
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 process
From idea to scale.
Seven stages, each with defined activities, outcomes and - from incubation onwards - a typical funding stage.
How ventures progress
Capital staged against evidence.
Pre-seed
Typically £50k
Build and test the MVP
Seed
Typically £200k
Launch and prove the model
Super seed
Typically £500k
Build the commercial engine
Series A
Typically £1m
Scale the business
Funding stages are indicative and drawn from the GCV Labs Venture Builder Process document. They are typical, not commitments.
Who we build with
Three routes into the venture builder.
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.
- Opportunity identification and validation
- Proposition, brand and product built in-house
- A dedicated team assembled around each venture
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.
- Strategy, product, technology and talent
- Shared roadmap and commercial model
- Support at every stage of the journey
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.
- Research, discovery and ideation
- Business model development and validation
- An experienced delivery team alongside yours
In practice
Ventures we've built.
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.
FAQs