The Quiet Force in Cambridge’s Start-Up Scene: A Conversation with Simon Blakey

With a career that spans biochemistry, property development, and more than two decades of startup investing, Simon Blakey defies the typical investor mould. A founding figure in the UK’s angel scene and now a board member of Cambridge Angels, Simon has quietly built a reputation as both a thoughtful backer of deep tech and an advocate for greater inclusivity in the investment world. We sat down with Simon to talk about his unusual path into angel investing, what’s changed in the ecosystem since the early 2000s, and why being both an angel and a VC gives him a unique perspective on startup growth.

Can you give us a bit of background on yourself?

I studied Biochemistry at Birmingham University but was probably too impatient for science and research back then, so joined Sainsburys in the mid ‘90s to train as management accountant, latterly helping with Sainsbury’s Bank, Afterwards I moved to Arthur Andersen, focusing on retail financial services.

On the side I ventured into property development in west London in the late 1990s which introduced me to the start-up world. I started angel investing in 2000 at the tail end of the dotcom boom – unaware at the time that being a full-time angel investor in your 20s was almost unheard of. To be taken seriously, on occasion I even pretended I was an analyst working for a fund called ‘Avonmore Developments’ ….

I fortunately had beginner’s luck with an early investment I made; 18 months in and out, which made me think that angel investing was easy (wrong…!) but it set me on a journey. Over the last 25 years I have invested in over 100 individual funding rounds and currently have a personal portfolio of >35 companies. I also wear a VC hat as I chair the investment committee at Playfair, currently investing out of its £50M Fund III and am on the investment committee of the Angel CoFund, both now corporate partners of Cambridge Angels. My focus areas are B2B SaaS and deep tech.

What made you apply to join Cambridge Angels originally and then join our board last year?

By 2015, I had noticed that good early-stage SaaS deals were increasingly being snapped up by top-tier VCs, making it harder for individual angels like me to access the best opportunities. However, deeper tech deals were still underappreciated, which coincided with Peter Cowley inviting me to join Cambridge Angels.

I had been part of several Angel groups and already knew that Cambridge Angels had become the centre of excellence for deep tech, with members much cleverer than me to learn from and partner with, so this was fortunate timing.

I joined the Cambridge Angel board in 2023 and took on the task of improving our social media presence; in the ever more competitive early-stage funding market, the board recognised that CA was not pulling its weight in this area. I’m also passionate about promoting diversity in an industry historically dominated by a specific demographic. As an openly gay investor and with Pam as our chair, I see room to foster even greater inclusivity.

Can you share a couple of exciting investments from your portfolio?

Xampla is a Cambridge Angel-back company deal creating plant-based alternatives to single use plastics. I initially invested in 2019, followed by 2021 and will invest again. Their 2023 licensing deal with 2M is a game-changer and they have a very impressive commercial pipeline.

Ventrata, in the b2b ticketing space, is also an interesting one as it raised just £800k in angel funding in 2016 but had a £1.25bn GMV in 2024, more than 100 staff and is profitable, showing that not all high growth companies need VC funding.

Slightly unusually you’re both an angel investor and a VC, can you give a difference between the approaches?

VCs sometimes can be tempted to prioritize quick returns and aggressive funding cycles for their most successful portfolio companies; this, in the absence of exits, is a good way to demonstrate success to their LPs (and their likelihood of raising another VC fund). Care must be taken though as pushing for fast growth might not always align with longer-term stability for the business.

In contrast, Angels are generally more capital constrained and have longer time horizons. Some successful angel investments don’t involve VC-type valuations but are into companies that have not needed multiple rounds and have reached profitability quickly. I have found that Angels and VCs can collaborate perfectly effectively, although tensions can arise when strategies diverge.

What have you learnt about being an Angel investor since you started?

Back in 2020 I wrote an article “20 lessons from 20 years of angel investing” – it is long overdue an update, but here are a few:

• “Lemons ripen fastest” – investment failures typically manifest themselves before the successes become apparent.

• The relationship between an investor and entrepreneur can last longer than many marriages - is this a person you want to be dealing with for the next 10+ years?!

• Similarly, given the timescales and high-risk nature, it is important to enjoy the journey and the challenges of growing a business as much as the financial returns for your investment, which may be few and far between.

• Always be responsive with advice when an entrepreneur requests it, but also respect their time and that it is their company. Being on whatsapp is probably more helpful that formal board positions, which I now tend to avoid.