AVCP is based in Cambridge UK and was established by Chris Poulton and Dr Matthew Gaved in 1999. In 2000, AVCP opened Downing Park Innovation Centre in Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridge. This has provided a highly supportive environment for AVCP Portfolio Companies and daily contact with AVCP partners.

AVCP investments have focused on companies which provide high added-value infrastructure, information services and solutions to business customers. The AVCP team has achieved a number of successful full and partial exits including ActiveHotels, Antenova, Netcentric, Nomad Software and Torstar.

Over the past twelve years, AVCP has made around twenty investments. Fifteen of these have subsequently received one or more rounds of venture capital funding, seven have been sold to trade or private equity buyers and one has achieved an IPO.

AVCP works very closely with portfolio companies both before and after investing. This allows the team to fully understand the business opportunity and define how it can add value to the company and its management. AVCP’s skills and contribution include helping to:

• Identify customers and their requirements
• Accelerate customer acquisition and revenues
• Build the core management team
• Reduce business and financial risk
• Define objectives, strategy and funding requirements
• Obtain follow on venture capital funding

AVCP is normally directly represented on the boards of its Portfolio Companies.