| Industry | Venture Capital |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013; 12 years ago |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
Key people | Federico Pirzio-Biroli, Chris Smith, Henrik Wetter Sanchez |
Number of employees | 10 |
| Website | playfair |
Playfair Capital is a British venture capital firm, focused exclusively on pre-seed investing. The headquarters are located in 8 Warner Yard, Clerkenwell, London. [1]
Their high-conviction, low-volume approach leads Playfair to invest in 6-8 startups per year [2] across all sectors and verticals, as long as there is a technology element. Their geographical focus is on the UK and Europe.
Playfair Capital was founded in 2013 by Federico Pirzio-Biroli. [3] The company is incorporated as Playfair Capital Investments Limited with registered office in London. [4] Playfair Capital was realised out of the angel investing career of Federico Pirzio-Biroli which began two years prior in 2011. He had made 21 investments [5] during that time while serving as an angel investor-in-residence in White Bear Yard. [6]
Playfair Capital has invested in three companies that have achieved unicorn status (i.e., valuations of US $1 billion+);Stripe, Andela and Thought Machine. Other portfolio firms have raised follow-on rounds or achieved acquisitions, including AeroCloud Systems, which raised US $12.6 million in 2023, and Ravelin Technology, announced for acquisition by Worldpay in 2025. [7]
In 2016, Playfair Capital announced its decision to close the co-working business at Warner Yard, its London-based office building and previous office of Techstars London. [8] [9] The co-working space operation transitioned to a single-tenant leasing model, with the top floor retained for Playfair's own use. [10]
The Female Founder Office Hours (FFOH) initiative, launched in 2019 by Playfair Capital, is a programme oriented to female-led, technology-based companies headquartered in Europe. [11] [12] Each edition of this initiative matches participating female founders with investors for one-to-one mentoring or pitching sessions. For example, one edition brought together over 300 founders and 200 investors. [13] Applications for the initiative require that the company is tech-based, headquartered in Europe, women-led, and generally in the pre-Series A stage. [14] In previous editions, Playfair have held the initiative with other partners including Google for Startups and Tech Nation. [15]
The fund has made over 120 investments [16] over it Some publicly mentioned companies include Ravelin, [17] Thought Machine, [18] ProtexAI, [19] Nory, [20] Orca AI, [21] AeroCloud Systems [22] and StackOne. [23]
Playfair Capital's leadership includes Managing Partner Chris Smith, [24] and General Partner, Henrik Wetter Sanchez. [25]
Playfair Capital's original funding came from its founder Federico Pirzio-Biroli and his previous activities. In March 2019, Playfair Capital raised a new $32 million fund, [26] [27] where Pirzio-Biroli was sole LP, [28] to continue investing in promising early-stage tech startups. In March 2023, Playfair closed $70m for its pre-seed fund, [29] [30] [31] taking its total raised to $102m.