Playfair Capital
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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]
 | |
| 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 |
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.
History
Playfair Capital was founded in 2013 by Federico Pirzio-Biroli.[3] The company is incorporated as Playfair Capital LLP 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; 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] Some publicly mentioned companies include Ravelin,[17] Thought Machine,[18] ProtexAI,[19] Nory,[20] Orca AI,[21] AeroCloud Systems[22] and StackOne.[23]
Team
Funding
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] where Pirzio-Biroli was sole LP,[27] to continue investing in promising early-stage tech startups. In March 2023, Playfair closed $70m for its pre-seed fund,[28][29][30] taking its total raised to $102m.
Exits
- Trouva (acquired by MADE.com in May 2022[31][32])
- Mapillary (acquired by Meta Platforms, Inc. in June 2020[33])
- CryptoFacilities (acquired by Kraken in February 2019[34][35])
- Acasa (acquired by Goodlord in October 2021[36])
- Jukedeck (acquired by Bytedance in July 2019[37])
- Hassle.com (acquired by Helpling in July 2015[38][39])
- Gluru (acquired by Dialpad in September 2021[40])
- Ravelin (acquired by Worldpay, transaction announced February 2025[41])
- Omnipresent (acquired by Deel, in October 2025[42])