Investments
11Portfolio Exits
3About Simon Murdoch
Simon Murdoch is an angel investor who generally invests in young, emerging companies with a focus on UK-based companies with early traction. Murdoch aims to assist portfolio companies through efforts and expertise focused onadvising UK-based start up businesses on funding, business model. Murdoch founded Bookpages which was sold to Amazon in 1998. Simon is founder and CEO of FriendsAbroad.com Ltd, a company running two language-related web services: doyouspeak.com and friendsabroad.com. doyouspeak.com is on online English language school providing multimedia language lessons given by native English-speaking teachers. friendsabroad.com is a language exchange website for people who want to practice their language skills and develop friendships with people from other parts of the world. Previously, Simon was VP Europe of Amazon.com. He managed huge growth from start up in late 1996 through to multimillion turnover and hundreds of staff, ie from founding of his own Internet bookselling company Bookpages in late 1996, through acquisition by Amazon.com in April 1998, launch of Amazon.co.uk in October 1998 and ultra-high growth through 1999. He is also co-founder and partner of Episode 1 Partners Ltd, an early stage technology investment company. Episode 1 invested and managed the $100m Chase Episode 1 Fund which was launched in early 2000 to invest at start up or early stage in Internet and technology businesses such as Betfair. Simon has also invested directly as a business angel and advised as non-executive chairman or director a number of software technology and Internet businesses based in the UK including LoveFilm (DVD rental), Shazam Entertainment (music recognition) and Commerce Decisions (e-sourcing solutions).
Latest Simon Murdoch News
Mar 20, 2023
Patch , a London, UK-based company providing neighbourhood space for work, community, and events, raised £3M in funding. The round was led by JamJar Investments, Blue Wire Capital, Vectr7 Investment Partners LLP, Active Partners and Triple Point Ventures, with participation from Matt Clifford, Peter Roberts, Emma Woods, Jeremy Sanders, Wendy Becker, Simon Murdoch, Zoe Jervier and Caroline Plumb. Founded in 2020 by Freddie Fforde, Patch is on a mission to create workspaces that offer shared office spaces which sit alongside spaces for community and cultural activities, local businesses and events. The company has also created Patch Academy, which facilitates a range of activities, from educational talks, roundtable discussions, networking events, workshops and away days, and Patch Market, which hosts more informal, interactive events, including talks, screenings and pop-up markets. The company intends to use the funds to grow the team, and expand its network of spaces. With a Patch already up and running in Chelmsford, Essex, the company is set to launch two new locations in Summer 2023; unveiling sites in Twickenham, Greater London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. More launches are planned for 2023 and beyond, with the team aiming to open up to 100 sites over the coming years. FinSMEs 20/03/2023
Simon Murdoch Investments
11 Investments
Simon Murdoch has made 11 investments. Their latest investment was in Peek Home as part of their Seed VC on February 2, 2023.
Simon Murdoch Investments Activity
Date | Round | Company | Amount | New? | Co-Investors | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2/27/2023 | Seed VC | Peek Home | $0.68M | Yes | 2 | |
8/23/2021 | Seed VC | Narchie | $0.65M | Yes | 4 | |
4/7/2021 | Seed - II | Hearby | $1.5M | Yes | 9 | |
4/25/2019 | Seed VC | |||||
4/25/2019 | Seed VC |
Date | 2/27/2023 | 8/23/2021 | 4/7/2021 | 4/25/2019 | 4/25/2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Round | Seed VC | Seed VC | Seed - II | Seed VC | Seed VC |
Company | Peek Home | Narchie | Hearby | ||
Amount | $0.68M | $0.65M | $1.5M | ||
New? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Co-Investors | |||||
Sources | 2 | 4 | 9 |
Simon Murdoch Portfolio Exits
3 Portfolio Exits
Simon Murdoch has 3 portfolio exits. Their latest portfolio exit was Fluidly on December 13, 2021.
Date | Exit | Companies | Valuation Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. | Acquirer | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
12/13/2021 | Acquired | 10 | |||
Date | 12/13/2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Exit | Acquired | ||
Companies | |||
Valuation | |||
Acquirer | |||
Sources | 10 |
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