Why back immigrant Founders?
Whilst immigrants make up 13 % of the UK population, they founded 36% of all unicorns.
Note: Non-EU 1st and 2nd generation. Source: ONS, NLV research
Whilst immigrants make up 13 % of the UK population, they founded 36% of all unicorns.
Note: Non-EU 1st and 2nd generation. Source: ONS, NLV research
% of unicorns founded by immigrants
Source: NLV research
% unicorns founded by immigrants
Number of unicorns
Source: NLV research
Ramzi Rafih is the General Partner of No Label Ventures. Having started his career at J.P. Morgan, he has more than ten years of investing experience as an angel at the early stage and as a late-stage investor at KKR and Silver Lake.
Ramzi is originally from Lebanon born to immigrant parents during the Lebanese civil war. He immigrated to France for his studies and later to the UK for his career. He’s a mechanical engineer by training and is fluent in French, Arabic, and English.
We engage with founders early, often being the first to invest, and we help founders close their funding rounds.
Each founder we back becomes an owner in our fund and receives a share of the carried interest generated by No Label Ventures
We help when we can. And we get out of the way when we can't.
We believe that investing in European immigrant-founded startups is an over-performing, yet often overlooked, strategy. In the US, 55% of unicorns are founded by immigrants, compared to 25% in Europe. As the European tech ecosystem matures over the next decade, we predict that two out of three new unicorns will be founded by immigrants. The UK, Europe's most mature tech ecosystem, already has 36% of its unicorns founded by immigrants, up from 14% a decade ago.
No, we only require one founder in the team to be an immigrant.
We support immigrants in Western Europe, who have migrated from any country outside of Western Europe. We back first and second-generation immigrants.
It's never too early for founders to reach out to us. We frequently collaborate with founders who are still employed, working on an idea, looking for a co-founder, or building a minimum viable product (MVP). We often invest before a product or revenue is generated.
We invest capital, provide visa/immigration support and make beneficial introductions to the founders we back, namely to angels, VCs and target clients.
We're the only VC fund in the UK and Europe to help the founders we back in every step of the visa process. We partner with a top law firm to ensure our founders get the best visa under UK & EU regs. We cover all visa costs & provide this service free of charge – it's part of our value-add to founders.
We believe that investing in European immigrant-founded startups is an over-performing, yet often overlooked, strategy. In the US, 55% of unicorns are founded by immigrants, compared to 25% in Europe. As the European tech ecosystem matures over the next decade, we predict that two out of three new unicorns will be founded by immigrants. The UK, Europe's most mature tech ecosystem, already has 36% of its unicorns founded by immigrants, up from 14% a decade ago.
No, we only require one founder in the team to be an immigrant.
We support immigrants in Western Europe, who have migrated from any country outside of Western Europe. We back first and second-generation immigrants.
It's never too early for founders to reach out to us. We frequently collaborate with founders who are still employed, working on an idea, looking for a co-founder, or building a minimum viable product (MVP). We often invest before a product or revenue is generated.
We invest capital, provide visa/immigration support and make beneficial introductions to the founders we back, namely to angels, VCs and target clients.
We're the only VC fund in the UK and Europe to help the founders we back in every step of the visa process. We partner with a top law firm to ensure our founders get the best visa under UK & EU regs. We cover all visa costs & provide this service free of charge – it's part of our value-add to founders.
We are sector agnostic.
We are seeking exceptional founders. Those who have the vision and ability to build startups that can become very large companies in 5, 7 or 10 years. And those founders with a unique and unconventional view on the future of the industry or the problem they are tackling.
We are currently focusing on immigrant founders who are already in Western Europe and creating startups there.
We invest between $150k and $250k in each round, and can often invest more in collaboration with our investors/limited partners. We are also able to provide follow-on investments.
We co-invest with other VCs. In fact, we often help the founders we back raise capital from VCs who lead rounds. We lead by "conviction"; that is, we are often the first to invest in a round, helping other investors build conviction in the founders we support.
We are sector agnostic.
We are seeking exceptional founders. Those who have the vision and ability to build startups that can become very large companies in 5, 7 or 10 years. And those founders with a unique and unconventional view on the future of the industry or the problem they are tackling.
We are currently focusing on immigrant founders who are already in Western Europe and creating startups there.
We invest between $150k and $250k in each round, and can often invest more in collaboration with our investors/limited partners. We are also able to provide follow-on investments.
We co-invest with other VCs. In fact, we often help the founders we back raise capital from VCs who lead rounds. We lead by "conviction"; that is, we are often the first to invest in a round, helping other investors build conviction in the founders we support.