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B2B — Software

INVESTING & SUPPORTING IMMIGRANT FOUNDERS

WITH GLOBAL AMBITIONS

More about our approach

Pre-Seed — Seed

WHO 
WE ARE

We find and back extraordinary immigrant founders in the UK, in the b-2-b, software space

Immigrants ourselves, we speak your ‘language’,  our mission is to help you to achieve your full potential in the UK and globally

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WE SUPPORT WITH

UK-focused or based

SEIS/EIS

B-2-B

Pre-Seed/Seed

Software

International Founders

Sector agnostic

Why immigrant founders?

It is a self-selecting group that achieves outsized success and is frequently overlooked by investors at early stages. It's time for a change.

OUR 
TEAM

Blue Lake consists of the core team and the advisory board. Additionally, we are supported by a wide network of mentors and advisors in the United Kingdom and internationally

DAVID GILGUR

Founding Partner

Prior to Blue Lake VC, David founded an international trade consultancy and before that worked in Global Data at Bloomberg in the City of London. His vision is to foster a more diverse and inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem where talent and innovation are celebrated regardless of their origin.

LYUBOV GUK

Lyubov started her career in Ukraine in corporate finance before launching Blue Lake VC and moving to London. Lyubov knows first-hand what it is like to be an immigrant founder and what it takes to grow and support international talent in the UK.

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Founding Partner

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OUR 
WALL OF FAME

The startups we invest in are at the core of Blue Lake VC. We are very proud to be part of the journey of the following teams

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Google Forms on steroids including data and AI analysis of user's mouse and trackpad movements​.

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An exciting neo bank with a vision to provide individual entrepreneurs and small teams with tools to grow and scale their businesses. Why we invested?: GoSolo's determined founder and a unique niche in neo-banking created a compelling opportunity in the industry.

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An simple and scalable way of storage and for home and SMEs. Why we invested?: We had a chance to observe and communicate with the founder for a while before making the decision to invest. We were impressed with his focus, grit and the ability to execute.

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The world's leading platform for early-stage funding. Connectd links early-stage startups with investors and advisors. Why we invested?: Startup - Investor platforms are generally a hard play. The founder, his team and advisors convinced us that this was the right deal.

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Move over RightMove and Zoopla! SearchSmartly is an AI driven, hyper-personalised home rentals and purchasing search engine.  Why we invested?: Real estate is a traditional behemoth that seemingly refuses to yield to startup innovation. We have known the founder for a while and observed his approach and progress before building conviction that he is the right person to tackle this market.

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The team is on a mission to reduce the environmental impact of video streaming and enable significant cost reductions for their customers. Why we invested?: Environmental and cost forces are driving cloud usage towards greater efficiency. Outstanding team that can deliver a solution to this space.

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Cogniss offers both technology and regulatory solutions for developers looking to launch apps in the health sector. Why we Invested?: We can see a great combination of a niche play with huge upside potential backed by a great team with grit, technical talent and sales acumen

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Smart software for Electric Vehicle home charging points allowing for more efficient charging for EV owners. Why we invested?: The car industry is firmly on the path of electrification creating an exciting and growing market for supporting infrastructure and services.

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Fast, secure and scalable digital product creation, data collaboration and enterprise level data access and sharing. Why we invested?: Team, team, team. Every so often we come across a team of founders that have the combination of track, record, complementary skills and temperament that make you want to take a bet on them there and then. The fact that we have knows the founders for number of years and that they are tackling a huge market has helped as well of course.

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Inploi is leading HR and Candidate Experience Platform providing both the candidates and HR managers cutting edge, sleek and intuitive experience. Why we Invested? What truly made inploi stand out is a clear go-to-market strategy, a client base that is passionate about the product, significant potential for growth, and an outstanding, well-balanced team. Visiting their offices and meeting the four legged team members was also a plus

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Imaginario offers in-video search, spotting an exact moment you are after just by describing it. If you are a company and still spending a tonne of time doing manual searches of your video archives you should be speaking with Imaginario. Why we Invested? : For us this is yet another validation of our thesis that immigrant founders offer an outsized opportunity for the investors, particularly at early stages.

AI team member that is integrated with all communication tools, and becomes an indispensable assistant to any developer

To be announced

Don't miss out on the opportunity to have Blue Lake as an early stage investor. The team is a rare breed among investors: thoughtful, kind and respectful on the one hand and dynamic, sharp and driven on the other. If you would like to have a true and honest relationship with your investor, this is the right address.

JAN WYRWIŃSKI

Trusted Twin

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It was clear to us well before they invested in SearchSmartly, that David and Lyuba live and breathe supporting founders. From proactively connecting the dots to make helpful introductions, to picking up the phone whenever we needed their advice - Blue Lake has in many ways been the ideal partner for our journey as a startup.

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TAHA DAR

Search Smartly

HNR were fortunate to meet David and Lyuba when we took part in the first Blue Lake accelerator program. Conversations with Blue Lake are always knowledgeable, passionate, thoughtful and challenging. We especially like being challenged as it helps to build our skills, knowledge and ensure we are taking the business in the right direction for success!

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KRISTAN BULLETT

Humans Not Robots 

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IN THE MEDIA

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Why VCs invest in diaspora founders

Beyond networking: What immigrant founders in the
UK want from
VC office hours

Op-ed: Ukrainian Startups. Investment Not Charity

Ready to take your startup to the next level?

GET IN TOUCH

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Blue Lake VC

hello@bluelakevc.com

© 2023 Blue Lake VC

Blue Lake is a trading name of AQ1443 Ltd. AQ1443 Ltd is a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 13994528 with its registered address at 843 Finchley Road, London, NW11 8NA. AQ1443 Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Firm Reference Number 978496 www.fca.gov.uk/register​ This website is for information only. The wording contained in this website is not to be construed as advice or an offer, advice, invitation or solicitation to enter into any financial obligation, activity or promotion of any kind. The provision of any investment services and products, whether or not mentioned in this website, may not always be suitable for an investor, and we recommend that any potential investor consults a financial adviser before entering into any investment contract. Performance comparisons may not take into account any transaction costs, commissions or personal taxes. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results and no assurance can be given that any structure described herein would yield favourable investment results, or that the investment objectives of the Funds or Investments will be achieved, or that the investor will receive a return of all or part of their investment. Blue Lake VC will not be responsible for any liability or loss of any kind which either directly or indirectly arises from the use of the enclosed information. The Funds or Investments may not be a suitable investment for you and could involve important legal, financial, fiscal and tax consequences and investment risks, which should be discussed with your professional adviser. Please remember that all investments are subject to some degree of risk and that investment value and performance may go up as well as down. You may not always get back all of your investment and there will always be a cost associated with any product which you may purchase or sell. Past performance is not always an indication of future performance. The contents of this website have been approved for communication in the UK by AQ1443 Limited in reference to Professional Clients and Eligible Counterparties only. Blue Lake will not transact with or provide services to Retail Clients. For the purposes of this paragraph, the terms “Professional Clients”, “Eligible counterparties” and “Retail Clients” are defined within the FCA Rules. Blue Lake VC takes considerable care to ensure that the information contained in this website is accurate as of the date of publication. However, no warranty is given as to the accuracy of completeness of any such information and no liability is accepted for any errors or omissions contained therein. Blue Lake Solution  accepts no legal liability for any loss, damages or expenses which you may suffer or incur directly or indirectly by you accessing this website or any third party website which has a link to this website. The website is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any individuals or entities in any jurisdiction where such distribution would be contrary to the laws of that jurisdiction or Blue lake VC to any registration requirements. Blue Lake VC cannot accept any liability for information contained in third party websites which may have links from and to our website.

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