Venture capital and fundraising

Our highly-experienced venture capital team provides comprehensive, practical and thoughtful support on all aspects of venture capital investment and private company equity fundraising. With a particular focus on technology, life sciences businesses, and university spin-outs, we work with founders, entrepreneurs and investors at the cutting edge of technological developments addressing the challenges of the 21st century.

Supporting start-ups from seed to exit

Our venture capital team advises at all stages of the venture life cycle. We support start-up and spin-out companies and founders as they take the first steps. We advise companies and investors on fundraising transactions from start-up and pre-seed funding through larger venture and growth transactions. And we have advised many clients on successful exits following long-term relationships.

We cover all aspects of any funding deal including due diligence; structuring and term sheets, tax advice (including EIS, SEIS and VCT); investment documentation; warranties and disclosure.

Clients value our ability to provide a comprehensive offering of all legal services relevant to venture-backed businesses, with cross-practice teams working seamlessly to deliver successful transactions. The strength of our intellectual property team, in particular, and expertise in the technology and life sciences sectors makes us ideally positioned to support IP-rich businesses on their fundraising transactions and throughout their life cycle.

Our highly-regarded tax team stands out from the pack as experts in the EIS, SEIS and VCT reliefs available for venture capital fundraising and employee incentive schemes key to high growth venture-backed companies.

…particularly well equipped to deal with any kind of transaction in the VC arena.

We have a particular expertise in acting for university spin-out companies, including from the University of Oxford, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge. We also advise universities and other research institutions on their technology transfer activities. Our long-standing involvement with the world of technology transfer gives us a deep understanding of what is needed for successful ventures.

We appreciate that value for money is a key criteria for companies and investors, directing their resources to where they can make most impact. We are able to offer cost-effective, flexible and predictable fee arrangements to suit the specific needs of the VC market.

How we help our clients

Venture capital funding from pre-seed through Series A and beyond

University spin-outs and technology transfer

Start-ups and business angel funding

Exits through M&A or IPO

Secondary market transactions

Corporate governance and shareholder issues

Company secretarial services

Share options and employee incentives

Venture capital tax reliefs (SEIS, EIS, VCT)

National Security and Investment Act advice and notifications

Useful resources

Navigating the journey of growth: Key legal considerations for scaling up

Emerging Companies Workshops

PennStart – the legal support package designed specifically for start-ups and spin-outs

Very experienced and knowledgeable team. Offered practical solutions to issues. Collaborative approach, always met required timelines.

The VC tax team at Penningtons is the jewel in the crown and by far the most impressive VC tax team in the industry.

The Penningtons corporate team is outstanding – creative, diligent, highly responsive, always focused on working efficiently and effectively on behalf of clients – a delight to work with.

They have deep experience in understanding the requirements of both investors and investees and developing appropriate legal frameworks to meet these.

A laser-like focus on the desired outcome left me feeling like we got tremendous value.

Recent work highlights

Satellite technology financing

Advising advanced satellite technology company, Open Cosmos, on its US$50 million Series B funding round led by leading German, Spanish and UK impact investors – Trill Impact, A&G and ETF Partners.

First Light Fusion Series C

Representing Oxford spin-out First Light Fusion during its US$45 million Series C fundraising to accelerate the development of their unique inertial fusion technology. First Light Fusion is working towards commercially viable fusion energy to transform the world’s energy infrastructure.

Oxford Flow Series C

Advising Oxford Flow on its US$25 million Series C funding round led by bp Ventures and Energy Impact Partners. Oxford Flow is an Oxford University spin-out whose unique valve technology is enhancing valve reliability and reducing emissions in the energy sector.

Deep tech spin-out

Providing legal counsel to Matta Labs, a University of Cambridge spin-out developing AI copilots for advanced manufacturing, on its spin-out and pre-seed funding round led by Giant Ventures.

Hydrogen technology financing

Advising London-based fuel cell company Bramble Energy on its £35 million Series B fundraising led by HydrogenOne Capital Growth plc with existing institutional investors BGF, IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors and the UCL Technology Fund.

Oxford technology spin-out

Advising Seloxium, a University of Oxford spin-out purifying metals and water from industrial waste, on the completion of its spin-out and initial seed funding led by Oxford Science Enterprises.

AgTech financing

Representing Moa Technology during its £35 million Series B fundraising. Moa is an agricultural biotech firm spun out of Oxford University developing new herbicide modes of action to address weed resistance and protect global food security.

Medtech financing

Advising OrganOx, a leading medical technology company spun out of Oxford University, on its £25 million growth round led by Lauxera Capital Partners. OrganOx’s metra® normothermic machine perfusion device for liver transplantation has been used in over 5,000 transplants.

Life sciences spin-out

Advising MitoRx Therapeutics on its spin-out from Exeter University and seed funding. MitoRx is developing mitochondrial-targeted therapeutics with its first-in-class first-in-mechanism platform having the potential to address some of the most challenging diseases.

Life sciences partnership

Supporting SPARTA Biodiscovery, an Imperial College spin-out developing nanoparticle analysis methods, on its partnership with global life sciences group Sartorius, including an investment of up to £3.5 million.