2025: A year in review

As investors, Octopus Ventures is privileged to support visionary founders – not only with capital, but with expertise, operational insight and a powerful network designed to give them the strongest possible foundations for growth. But it’s clear that even the best support isn’t enough if the ecosystem around them doesn’t offer opportunities equal to their ambition.

European tech has the potential to reshape global industries and cement its position as a world-leading force. But to unlock and secure this potential, stakeholders from across the ecosystem need to work together.

In 2025, collaboration was something of a theme here at Octopus Ventures. Against the backdrop of AI’s rapid evolution and its transformational impact on markets, we were reminded that people — and the relationships between them — remain at the core of everything we do.

Throughout the year, the team was out and about, building relationships across the ecosystem at some of the amazing events that bring us all together. Our investors launched new initiatives, from regular events to podcasts, designed to build community and foster an environment for collaboration. We connected entrepreneurs with seasoned operators through our leadership programme, as well as collaborations with enterprise-scale operations designed to build relationships that will turbo-charge growth.

Building on this momentum, our belief remains clear: community, collaboration and a multi‑stakeholder effort are essential to strengthening Europe’s position as a global tech leader – and to ensuring this ecosystem becomes the place where tomorrow’s category defining companies are built.

As we move into 2026, we’re taking that belief forward with renewed focus – ensuring founders across the UK and Europe have access to the connections, resources and support they need to turn ambition into impact.

With that lens on the year ahead, read on for some of 2025’s highlights – and as ever, if anything resonates and sparks a desire to connect as a founder, mentor or enterprise partner, reach out – you can contact the team here. After all, community starts with a conversation.

2025 in review

Starting at Octopus Ventures

Following an announcement in 2024, Erin Platts stepped into the role of CEO at Octopus Ventures in January.

A celebration of fintech

A host of our fintech-focussed investors made it along to UK FinTech Week, where we sponsored FinTech Alliance’s event series.

Uncertainty was a key macro theme of the last year, but from where we’re sitting, fintech stands to benefit, facilitating new trade paradigms and embracing the opportunities that come with AI. Back in May, Tosin Agbabiaka highlighted some of the reasons to be excited – and why the UK is the perfect place to be building a fintech solution.

Exercising community

Octopus Ventures B2B SaaS investor, Rich Bolton, decided to add a new event to the VC networking calendar: a weekly VC run club.

He wrote a blog explaining the reasoning behind it. In addition to the weekly, Tuesday morning park run, the club has popped up as a side event at both London Tech Week and SaaStock in Dublin.

‘My hope is that through connecting industry professionals we can continue to forge the partnerships we need to cement the UK’s reputation as the first choice for any founder hoping to build a world-changing business.’

Rich Bolton, Octopus Ventures B2B SaaS investor

Curious Customer

Our very own Matt Chandler launched a new podcast: Curious Customer. His aim? To look above the technical detail and engage in the kinds of conversations that really matter to customers.

Tune in every week on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

London Tech Week

Last year’s London Tech Week was, without question, a high point. Our CEO, Erin Platts, sat down for a fireside chat with Poppy Gustafsson, to discuss strategies for unlocking investment into the country, and the role of public/private partnerships in powering growth.

Erin also joined Tom Mackenzie, live on Bloomberg Daybreak, to explore the forces shaping the UK tech ecosystem, from AI to the availability of follow-on funding.

AI remained a critical theme throughout the year, and with the technology and its implications front-of-mind for everyone at London Tech Week, Octopus Ventures B2B SaaS investor, Adam Said, published his deep dive into the opportunities it presents to enterprising founders.

A legaltech milestone

In June, we joined pioneering AI-powered legaltech scale-up, Definely’s $30m Series B, following on from our Series A investment in 2024.

‘We followed on in Definely’s Series B, building on our conviction from the Series A. The team has continued to deliver exceptional growth, deepening adoption across global law firms and expanding into new markets. We were excited to back them again as they scale a category defining platform in legal tech.’

Edward Keenlan, Octopus Ventures partner

‘This year had a few big moments, but the one that really stands out for me is closing our Series B just 13 months after our Series A. It wasn’t just about the capital. It was the moment it became clear that what we’re building at Definely really resonates – with customers, with our team and with some of the most respected investors in our space. For me personally, 2026 feels like the shift from “laying the tracks” to really running the train – unlocking the value of everything we’ve quietly put in place over the last 12 months.’

Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, Definely co-founder

Backing revenue builders

We led Altura’s Series A, demonstrating our faith in the company’s revolutionary bid management solution.

‘Altura’s AI-powered bid management platform helps teams win more with less stress. Their collaborative workspace streamlines the entire bidding process, directly engaging with a key pain-point by making internal collaboration seamless. From identifying new opportunities to drafting winning proposals, Altura transforms fragmented processes into a single, connected workflow. We’re proud to join them on their journey.’

Constanza Diaz, Octopus Ventures investor

‘In 2025, we showed that AI doesn’t just offer an opportunity to automate bid management – it allows us to reimagine the whole process. In 2026, we’re excited to unlock the next leap with agent-driven workflows and deeper integrations across the procurement ecosystem.’

Matthijis Huiskamp , Altura co-founder

The next generation of brain health

We joined CoMind’s latest funding round, a milestone bringing the healthtech pioneer’s total funds raised to $102.5m.

‘Neurology is one of the most important clinical fields but it’s really hard to gain continuous data in a non-interventionist way. The current gold-standard for measuring intra-cranial pressure is through putting a bolt into a patient’s scull – an almost Victorian approach. Through its various stages of growth, CoMind has demonstrated that it can collect this crucial patient data without piercing a patient’s skin, which is new territory for the field.’

Will Gibbs, Octopus Ventures investor

CoMind said: ‘For decades, doctors treating critically ill patients have been forced to compromise when monitoring the brain. CoMind’s technology resolves this dilemma for the first time.

This funding round will support completion of additional clinical trials to advance regulatory approval of our first product, CoMind One.’