Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Edinburgh based Manager operating in the Venture Capital space. If you think a Manager is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Tom Croy
Investment Manager of Par Equity
Tom Croy is an Investment Manager at Par Equity.
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About Par Equity: Par Equity is a leading, early-stage venture capital firm, investing in innovative, high growth technology companies.
Martin McLaren
Investment Manager of Maven Capital Partners
Martin is an Investment Manager responsible for new Private Equity investments across Scotland. He joined Maven in September 2013 from Lloyds Banking Group, where he worked in the Equity Risk Management Division, providing risk oversight on the Bank’s equity portfolio, and then in the Corporate Real Estate Business Support Unit. Martin previously spent 5 years with Henderson Loggie CA, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ICAS) and worked in Corporate Finance. Martin graduated from Heriot Watt University in 2005 with a MA Honours in Economics and Business.
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About Maven Capital Partners: Maven Capital Partners is a private equity firm that provides a range of funding options to SMEs and investment opportunities.
Graeme Mckinstry
Investment Manager of Foresight Group
Graeme Mckinstry is an Investment Manager at Foresight.
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About Foresight Group: Foresight is an infrastructure and private equity investment manager that manages funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients.
David Stevenson
Fund Manager of Amati Global Investors
David Stevenson joined Amati in 2012. In 2005 he was a co-founding partner of investment boutique Cartesian Capital, which managed a range of retail and institutional UK equity funds in long only and long/short strategies. Prior to that he was Assistant Director at SVM, where he also managed equity products including the UK Opportunities small/midcap fund which was ranked top decile for the 5 year period from inception to 2005. David started his career at KPMG where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He latterly specialised in corporate finance, before moving into private equity with Dunedin Fund Managers. David has co-managed the TB Amati UK Smaller Companies Fund and the Amati VCTs since 2012 and the Amati AIM IHT Portfolio Service since 2014.
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About Amati Global Investors: Amati Global Investors is a specialist fund management business based in Edinburgh.
Rachel Le Derf
Investor Relations Manager of Amati Global Investors
Prior to joining Amati (previously Noble Fund Managers) in June 2007, Rachel worked as Desk Assistant to the UK Equities team at First State alongside Paul Jourdan. Before this Rachel has held various roles at the Financial Times in the Advertising Department, at a renewable energy consultancy in Edinburgh and also worked in Paris at The Institute of Educational Planning / UNESCO. Rachel holds the IAQ from the Securities & Investment Institute and is fluent in French.
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About Amati Global Investors: Amati Global Investors is a specialist fund management business based in Edinburgh.
Paul Devlin
Investment Manager of Mercia Fund Managers
Paul Devlin is based in Mercia’s Edinburgh office, and is building a team in Scotland to increase Mercia’s deal flow, providing the company with new and exciting investment opportunities. Paul has a strong track record as an entrepreneur and supporter of early stage businesses and has a wealth of expertise in market and technology assessment, academic and industrial collaborations, company formation and IP commercialisation. Paul has worked in innovative technical and commercial environments throughout his 16 year career, making the transition from an engineer, patent holding researcher and company founder to a commercially focused senior programme manager, consultant and advisor. Paul worked at Scottish Enterprise from 2009 to 2011 as a Senior Programme Manager, where he performed an extended ITI role which included commercialisation, research portfolio management and business process integration implemented to PRINCE2 and MSP guidelines. From there, he worked at New Media Partners as a Senior Consultant, before moving on to the University of Edinburgh, first as a Senior Company Formation Executive, then as a Student Company Formation Manager.
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About Mercia Fund Managers: Mercia Fund Managers helps to scale innovative businesses across the UK regions by providing debt, equity and growth capital.
