Guinness Ventures

Guinness Ventures is a London-based venture capital firm founded in 2010 and part of the Guinness Group alongside Guinness Global Investors. Headquartered at 18 Smith Square, Westminster, the firm has invested more than £340 million into over 200 EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme), VCT (Venture Capital Trust), and IHT-qualifying companies across the United Kingdom. Tim Guinness serves as Chief Investment Officer, and the broader Guinness Global Investors team comprises 44 people including 9 partners. The firm specializes in Series A funding for UK-based scale-up companies, leads rounds, and looks for businesses with at least £1 million in revenue, strong month-on-month growth, exceptional management teams, and highly defensible business models. Typical check sizes range from £1 million to several million pounds. The firm operates multiple tax-efficient vehicles including the Guinness EIS Fund, Guinness Knowledge Intensive EIS, Guinness VCT, and the Guinness Founders SEIS service. The portfolio spans SaaS, health technology, e-commerce, and business services. Notable investments include Doctify (online medical reviews, £3.8 million total invested since 2019), Shot Scope Technologies (golf performance tech, $4 million contributed to its $8.5 million Series B led by Guinness in July 2024), Popsa (photo books), Fifty (audience intelligence), Wolf & Badger (luxury marketplace), and Cera Care (healthcare and homecare). The firm has achieved seven exits — including Plotbox, Pasta Evangelists, Imagen, ContentCal, Jones Food, and Aptem — returning £34.3 million to investors at an average 2.6x realized return before tax reliefs. Gibson Ventures targets companies with strong fundamentals that also qualify for UK tax-advantaged investment schemes, pairing rigorous investment criteria with the additional investor incentive of SEIS, EIS, and VCT relief to create a compelling proposition for both founders and LPs.