Investor Circle
Building better relationships between founders and investors.
That's the mission behind Canopy Community and the Investor Circle podcast.
We believe great founders can come from anywhere.
But too often, investment feels confusing, inaccessible or reserved for people with the right networks, introductions or experience.
We're here to change that.
In each episode, host Stewart Noakes sits down with angel investors, venture capitalists, family offices, fund managers and leaders from across the startup ecosystem to explore what really happens behind investment decisions.
Together they uncover the conversations that rarely happen in public.
- What makes an investor believe in a founder?
- Why do some startups raise funding while others don't?
- How do experienced investors assess opportunity, risk and character?
- What does a great investment relationship actually look like?
These aren't pitch competitions. They're honest conversations about trust.
Every guest brings a different perspective. Some have built and exited companies before becoming investors. Others manage funds, support founders or shape the wider investment ecosystem.
Each conversation reveals how experience, judgement and empathy influence every investment decision.
Our hope is simple.
One conversation at a time, we want founders to better understand investors, and investors to better understand founders.
Because raising investment isn't simply about finding capital.
It's about building confidence. Building credibility. And building relationships that can last for many years.
Whether you're validating your MVP, finding customers, preparing your first funding round, investing through SEIS, launching your own fund or simply curious about how early-stage investing really works, Investor Circle shares practical lessons from people who have built businesses, invested their own money and experienced both sides of the table.
The conversations go beyond term sheets and valuations.
They explore integrity, due diligence, storytelling, resilience, customer validation, exits, AI, governance, failure, and the decisions that shape successful companies long before the investment is made.
Produced by Canopy Community, one of Europe's leading startup communities, Investor Circle is part of a bigger mission:
To leverage entrepreneurship as a tool for social mobility by making investment more transparent, more relatable and more accessible to the next generation of founders and investors.
Because every investment starts long before money changes hands.
It starts with curiosity.
It grows through trust.
And sometimes, one conversation is all it takes for a founder to find belief, or for an investor to discover the person they've been looking for all along.
🎙️ Follow Investor Circle for new episodes as they drop.
🌱 Learn more about Canopy Community: https://www.canopy.community/
👋 Connect with Stewart Noakes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartnoakes/
📺 Watch every episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@canopycommunity617
#InvestorCircle #AngelInvesting #EarlyStageInvesting #SEIS #FounderFriendly #StartupInvestment #FirstTimeFounder #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #CanopyCommunity #SocialMobility #Innovation #MVP #Validation #FollowYourDreams #IfNotNowThenWhen #Tribe
Investor Circle
Are You VC-able? Hard Truths About Startup Funding
This episode is only available to subscribers.
Investor Circle +
Get access to our entire back catalogueOli from Fuel Ventures unpacks the firm's investment strategy across their pre-seed and seed funds, sharing his personal "Venture Playbook" that guides their decision-making process. He reveals counterintuitive insights about founder profiles and what makes a business truly "VC-able" in today's funding landscape.
• Fuel Ventures operates two vehicles: a pre-seed fund (30-40 deals yearly at £250k max) and their flagship seed fund (10-12 deals yearly at £1-2.5 million)
• Their investment remit covers marketplaces, platforms and SaaS model businesses across B2B and B2C sectors
• Oli's "Venture Playbook" includes eight rules developed through investment experience, including avoiding "mediocre founders with good ideas" and requiring total founder commitment
• Previously successful founders often make better investments as they can take bigger risks without worrying about basic financial security
• Fuel Ventures prefers observation rights over board seats to better allocate resources across their portfolio
• Not all businesses are "VC-able" - venture funding requires potential for £50-100M+ in annual revenue and comfort with burning capital
• Different funding sources (angels, corporate ventures, VCs) have fundamentally different expectations and criteria for investment
Know what you're trying to achieve before approaching investors. Save yourself time and effort by understanding if your business truly matches what VCs are looking for or if another funding path might be more appropriate.
Virtual Incubation for new and emerging Founders. Zero to One.
#TRIBE
Community Membership at Canopy
Scribe
Find and connect with angel investors in the UK Founded by Rob Cossins
Revolut
Business banking from Revolut
SeedLegals
The platform for Startup Legals including SEIS Advance Assurance.
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Note: you can also watch these episodes on youtube.com/@canopycommunity617
