Experts in investment and growth
Power up with investment
What We Do
Toki Ventures provides strategic advisory services, helping organizations refine their approach to investment strategy, commercialization, and stakeholder engagement. By conducting market research, assessing deal flow, mining contacts and opportunities and facilitating key stakeholder feedback, Toki delivers insights that empower clients to make informed decisions.
Toki’s expertise serves various client groups and sectors, including venture capital and angel investment, academic commercialization, local authority ecosystem development and research-driven innovation. Toki ensures that clients adopt the most effective strategies to achieve sustainable growth, impact and investment.
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Toki also provides training and mentoring services for founders and academics looking to raise investment, or new angel investors looking to develop robust deal evaluation skills and processes.
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Toki's sister organisation, Toki Mindset and Talent (www.tokitalent.com), provides mindset, career and executive coaching for founders and other executives embarking on new difficult journeys.
Case studies
City Region Seed Fund
Toki Ventures conducted primary market research and engaged with key stakeholders to advise the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority on the structure and strategy for an ideal seed-stage VC fund and Angel Network. By understanding local dynamics and investment needs, Toki provided actionable insights to support the creation of a more effective funding model for early-stage startups in the region. Toki also designed the procurement process for a new fund manager
Medical R&D funding organisation
Toki Ventures conducted primary market research for Prostate Cancer Research, assessing the investment landscape and interviewing CEOs to understand key challenges. While the charity initially aimed to raise a VC fund, Toki's research revealed that investment wasn’t the primary obstacle. Instead, non-financial barriers—such as access to research samples—were more critical to advancing translational research. By shifting focus, Toki helped the charity develop a more effective strategy for impact.
VC Transaction
Support for a Fund Manager
Toki Ventures conducted detailed research on an investment opportunity for an investor, assessing the potential of a university spin-out. Toki delivered a comprehensive presentation, outlining both the merits and risks of the investment, helping the investor make an informed decision on whether to move forward with funding the company.
University investment fund establishment
Toki Ventures advised a university on the strategic advantages and practicalities of establishing a new VC fund and fund manager dedicated to investing in university spin-outs. Toki helped assess the feasibility and long-term impact of such an initiative, guiding the university through the decision-making process to ensure alignment with the university’s innovation goals.
Training
Toki Ventures offers training on the venture capital ecosystem and decision-making processes, helping founders and investors make better choices. The approach encourages participants to document concisely how their company will meet their objectives. This exercise serves as a reflective tool, identifying risks and allowing for the evaluation and optimization of the business plan, ultimately improving strategic decision-making and increasing the chances of success in the VC world.
Spin-out deal flow evaluation
Toki Ventures reviewed the available deal flow for a proposed VC fund, assessing investment opportunities across a defined territory. Toki identified the best investment strategy and compiled a detailed dossier of 20 high-potential university spin-outs, providing a clear picture of the fund’s viability and prospects for success.
Fund Manager repositioning
Toki Ventures advised a fund manager on its strategic direction when considering the launch of a new institutional GP/LP fund. Through in-depth analysis, Toki identified challenges that helped them reassess their objectives and adopt a more suitable approach.
Academic equity policy
Toki Ventures conducted in-depth research on university academic equity policies, providing a Russell Group university with tailored recommendations to develop a policy aligned with its institutional goals. By analyzing best practices and sector trends, Toki helped the university refine its approach to academic equity, ensuring a sustainable and effective framework.
Academic spin-out investment strategy
Toki Ventures supported Russel Group university in commercialisation strategy for three innovative technologies: water purification, quantum clocks and gravitometers, and lithium-ion battery recycling. Through desk research, interviews with industry experts, and attendance at key conferences and exhibitions, Toki provided strategic insights to help the university understand the market potential and funding pathways for these technologies.
Contact Us
Toki Ventures is based in North England, equidistant from Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
We operate locally, nationally and internationally.