Our Head of Venture Capital and Growth in EMEA Dylan Doran Kennett talks through which sectors are emerging as high-growth areas, how private capital is recasting the sports industry, and how AI is changing deal flow and valuations.
The Perspective with Dylan Doran Kennett
Can you walk us through your route into private capital. Was it a deliberate choice or did you find yourself drawn to it over time?
My route into the sector came by way of wanting to work with founders doing interesting things in start-ups and scale-ups and the investors that worked with them. As such, it was always going to be on the private capital side given the nascent level of many of the businesses.
The speed with which they operate as opposed to their public counterparts was fun to work with and I found I could add a lot more value to those companies at a junior level. It was where I had the opportunity to cut my teeth as a lawyer alongside the founders, developing both my business development and legal skills.
How has the private capital landscape changed most significantly since you started out, and how have you adapted alongside it?
The influx of US capital across the UK and Europe has been a substantive change. When I started, a Series A deal was tiny and we'd still be negotiating for far too long, trying to moderate downside risk with European investors, who were the only game in town. Companies were also looking to constantly flip into the US as that was just the obvious option and US investors were less inclined to invest in a foreign company. Nowadays it’s completely normal to see US capital on our cap tables given the opportunity on quality versus valuation. Competition is real.
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