Octopus Investments : Octopus Blog

All full of Glee

2010-07-23T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

American television series seem to arrive with alarming regularity on these shores conquering all before them. From the early days of Twin Peaks, Fraiser, and Friends through to 24, The West Wing a... (more)

The importance of government intervention to smaller companies

2010-07-22T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

The recent emergency Budget served to emphasise the importance of Government intervention in supporting the provision of ‘risk finance' to th... (more)

A welcome budget for small enterprise

2010-06-22T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

The Budget has brought few real surprises. Mixed news for investors, with CGT rises albeit less than expected, but some really good news for small and growing businesses. As an investor in this sec... (more)

Supporting entrepreneurs

2010-06-14T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

Supporting the work of entrepreneurs is integral to what we do at Octopus Ventures. And having an understanding of the different skills and talents that entrepreneurs bring to a business is vital i... (more)

How smaller companies are surviving

2010-05-14T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

Recent figures show that in the wake of the economic crisis, there have been relatively few failures of small companies, decreasi... (more)

Is the non-executive director non-essential?

2010-03-30T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

Traditional thinking about the role of a non-executive director tends towards the belief that a medium to long-term, permanent commitment from a person will bring the best results for a company. Bu... (more)

Exciting times for Zoopla!

2010-02-15T00:00:00.0000000+00:00

One of the most exciting things about investing in small, growing companies is watching them make progress and have an impact on their market. In the world of venture capital this means a business'... (more)

A Life in the Day: Octopus and Peter Mandelson

2009-08-14T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

It's been a whirlwind week in British politics with Peter Mandelson taking the reins of Government in Gordon Brown's absence. As managers of one of the Government's Capital for Enterprise ... (more)

The youth of today are the entrepreneurs of tomorrow

2009-08-05T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

It's established that historically, entrepreneurship, the practice of being an entrepreneur, is counter-cyclical. In other words, entrepreneurship has been shown to be at its best when the econ... (more)

Venture Capital - how do we pick the star companies of the future?

2009-07-17T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

Our work in Ventures, by its very name, is all about unchartered territory and new horizons. The companies that we're interested in are those that have taken a fresh perspective creating the poten... (more)

VCTs - a vital source of funding for UK PLC

2009-06-19T00:00:00.0000000+01:00

A certain wartime spirit has emerged in the investment world. Aside from the general tightening of purse strings, there's a realisation that everyone's actions, from business owners to investo... (more)