Episode 1 (company)


Episode 1 is a venture fund set up to invest in early-stage technology companies based in the UK. The three partners behind the fund – Simon Murdoch, Damien Lane and Adrian Lloyd – are experienced entrepreneurs and investors, and have been through every stage of the start-up process, from inception to initial public offering. The firm invests between £250,000 and £2 million in UK based early-stage companies. Episode 1's first fund was launched in 2013 and totalled £37.5m. Its objective is to give a better start to the next generation of British tech ventures than their predecessors. It was created with a mixture of public and private money, including backing from Alex Chesterman of Zoopla Property Group. It is one of the UK Government's Enterprise Capital Funds – set up to support fund managers who invest in small, high-growth businesses. The £12.5 million of private investment was matched with £25 million of public money. The government's Business Secretary Vince Cable endorsed the launch of the fund, saying it 'will target a serious gap in the equity market for high-growth small firms'.
The firm launched a totalling £60m in November 2017. The focus of the second fund is also early stage UK based businesses.
The team at Episode 1 made early investments in a number of technology businesses including Betfair, LoveFilm, Natural Motion, ScanSafe, Shazam and Zoopla.
Two of the three partners – Simon Murdoch and Damien Lane – previously worked at Octopus Investments.

Investments

Investments made by Episode 1 include the following software-driven businesses: