Seed VC, London
Hoxton Ventures
Venture capital firm · London · Founded 2013
Quick read
Hoxton Ventures is a seed and early-stage VC firm founded in 2013, headquartered in London. It backs technical or domain-expert founders building companies that disrupt large industries or create new market categories, with a particular focus on European founders targeting the US market. Its portfolio includes breakout companies like Darktrace, Deliveroo, and GoCardless.
Key facts
- Founded
- 2013
- Founders
- Hussein Kanji, Rob Kniaz
- Employees
- 5
- Sectors
- generalist, saas, ai
- Website
- hoxtonventures.com/
Investment thesis
Hoxton backs technical or domain-expert founders — including young and first-time founders — building companies that disrupt large existing industries or create entirely new market categories. The firm invests $500K–$5M at pre-seed through Series A, typically as the first institutional cheque, and prioritises European companies that target the US market early.
Recent activity
- Jun 2026fundraiseHoxton Ventures IV, L.P. secured $60M in an initial close toward a $125M target, per an SEC regulatory filing. The fund continues the firm's seed-stage strategy with initial checks of $500K–$5M. vcwire.tech
- Jun 2026investmentCuspAI, a Hoxton portfolio company, is reported to be raising $400M in a funding round backed by investors including Jeff Bezos's Bezos Expeditions and Kleiner Perkins. tracxn.com
- May 2026investmentPortfolio company Avantia, an AI-native legal-tech firm, was acquired by Carta, the agentic ERP platform for private capital serving over 50,000 companies and investors. cityam.com
- Sep 2025pressHoxton Ventures participated in NVIDIA's £2 billion UK AI investment initiative, one of five firms selected to help accelerate the UK's AI startup base. zoominfo.com
- 2025investmentHoxton invested in the $21M Series A round for Formance, an open-source financial infrastructure company. zoominfo.com
- 2025investmentHoxton backed Malted AI, a Scottish firm building smaller, focused AI models for enterprises, in a seed round. zoominfo.com
- Jun 2026fundraiseSEC filing confirmed Hoxton Ventures IV, L.P. has raised $60M toward a $125M target, continuing the firm's seed-stage strategy of writing $500K–$5M initial checks targeting 10–20% ownership. everythingstartups.com
- Aug 2025leadershipSkyla McDonald joined Hoxton Ventures as Executive Assistant, working directly with partners Bryan Gartner and Isabel Fox. She brings 12 years of experience in executive support and global events, previously at Fenergo and Xero. hoxtonventures.com
- 2023leadershipRob Kniaz departed as co-founding Partner to launch a new deep tech-focused VC fund. He retains the title of Partner Emeritus. superscout.co
- 2023leadershipBryan Gartner joined as Partner from Khosla Ventures in Menlo Park, expanding Hoxton's US presence. He focuses on mobile, edtech, fintech, data and analytics, and vertical SaaS. hoxtonventures.com
- 2023pressHoxton was selected as one of five firms by NVIDIA to accelerate the UK's AI startup ecosystem, and ranks in the top 10 globally on the Founders Choice VC leaderboard. everythingstartups.com
- Jan 2026pressHoxton Ventures published a Founder Spotlight interview with Finster AI founder Sid Jayakumar, covering his path from Google DeepMind to building an AI-native platform for finance. finster.ai
Notable investments
- CuspAISeed (Hoxton entry); $400M round in progressJun 2026tracxn.com
- AvantiaAcquired by CartaMay 2026cityam.com
- FormanceSeries A ($21M)2025zoominfo.com
- Malted AISeed2025zoominfo.com
- Milvus AdvancedSeed2025uk.linkedin.com
- BaseimmuneSeries AUnknownseedtable.com
- Pear BioSeries AUnknownseedtable.com
- CognaSeedUnknownseedtable.com
- AvantiaSeedMay 2026cityam.com
- CuspAISeedUnknownseedtable.com
- Multiomic HealthSeedUnknownseedtable.com
- DeblockSeedUnknownseedtable.com
Key people
Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.
- Hussein Kanji · Co-Founder & Partner
- Rob Kniaz · Co-Founder & Partner
- Payton Dobbs · Partner
- Rishabh Kaul · Venture Partner
- Charles Songhurst · Venture Partner
Sources
- Hoxton Ventures – Official Website
- Hoxton Ventures | LinkedIn
- Hoxton Ventures – Tracxn Profile
- Hoxton Ventures – Crunchbase
- Hoxton Ventures – CB Insights
- Vishnu Amble on Hoxton Ventures Fund III
- https://finster.ai/resources/insights/founder-spotlight-hoxton-ventures-google-deepmind-finster-building-ai-that-works-for-finance
- https://hoxtonventures.com/portfolio/deep-opinion/
- https://hoxtonventures.com/team-member/skyla-mcdonald/
- https://inoviv.com/press-release-funding/
- https://hoxtonventures.com/latest/
- https://www.everythingstartups.com/vc-funds/hoxton-ventures
- https://www.cityam.com/avantia-hoxton-ventures-portfolio-company-acquired-by-carta/
- https://superscout.co/investor/hoxton-ventures
- https://hoxtonventures.com/team-member/bryan-gartner/
- https://vcwire.tech/2026/06/22/hoxton-ventures-secures-60m-for-fourth-fund/
- https://tracxn.com/d/venture-capital/hoxton-ventures/__yOlY9ekcp3XeH36icXjSo_t-Ho5XDcPV9ggzWUktwZU
- https://www.zoominfo.com/c/hoxton-ventures-llp/347922100
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Frequently asked
What is Hoxton Ventures?+
Hoxton Ventures is a seed and early-stage VC firm founded in 2013, headquartered in London. It backs technical or domain-expert founders building companies that disrupt large industries or create new market categories, with a particular focus on European founders targeting the US market.
Where is Hoxton Ventures headquartered?+
Hoxton Ventures is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
When was Hoxton Ventures founded?+
Hoxton Ventures was founded in 2013 by Hussein Kanji, Rob Kniaz.
What sectors does Hoxton Ventures invest in?+
Hoxton Ventures focuses on generalist, saas, ai. They primarily invest in these sectors.
How do I prepare for a meeting with Hoxton Ventures?+
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