About the firm
A private investment firm backing early stage technology
Lawrence Investment Holdings Limited provides management and corporate governance to businesses inside and outside its holding group, and holds interests across finance, technology, healthcare, recruitment and retail.
Founded in 2008, LIH has had its finger on the pulse of startup investment and administration across Europe and the USA since inception, and now invests into Africa and Asia as well. We acquire equity for cash and for service investment, reduce overheads and mistakes, and give leadership support to teams that are scaling faster than their back office.
The firm is directed by Leroy Lawrence and works with a small operating bench of finance, engineering and governance specialists drawn from the holding group.
Method
How we work
We are a family investment office, not a fund with a clock on it. That changes what we can hold and how long we can hold it.
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We write the first institutional cheque
Most of our entries are at seed, before a company has the reporting discipline an institutional round will demand. We build that discipline with the team rather than asking for it up front.
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We invest services at cost
Finance, governance, hiring and engineering are supplied from the holding group and priced into the equity. It lowers cash burn in the months where burn matters most.
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We hold, and we exit deliberately
No forced sale at the end of a fund life. Positions are marked, reviewed annually and exited when the buyer, not the calendar, is right.
Portfolio
Positions held today
The current group, with entry stage and geography.
- Pigee Inc.AI shipping assistant and multi product SaaS platform for global delivery.SectorEntrySeed 2021GeographyUnited Kingdom, Kenya, NigeriaHeld
- HeyKangaroo IncAffordable connected home security hardware and monitoring.SectorEntrySeries A 2018GeographyUnited StatesHeld
- The BunchHousehold bill management and shared payment accounts.SectorEntrySeed 2019GeographyUnited KingdomHeld
- WOMBPrivate ultrasound and early pregnancy imaging clinics.SectorEntrySeed 2022GeographyUnited KingdomHeld
- EsookoCross border marketplace for African fashion and lifestyle brands.SectorEntryPre Seed 2020GeographyNigeria, United KingdomHeld
- Roo Inc.In group product and engineering capacity for portfolio companies.SectorEntrySeed 2017GeographyUnited StatesHeld
Straight answers
Questions founders ask first
What do you invest, and at what stage?
Seed and early stage, with follow on capacity through to a growth round. We invest cash and services together, so the headline number on a term sheet is rarely the whole of what arrives.
Do you lead rounds?
Sometimes. We are comfortable writing the first cheque and setting terms, and equally comfortable coming in alongside a venture or private equity lead where that gets the company a better round.
Which sectors do you look at?
Financial services and payments, logistics and global trade, healthcare and clinics, and software across TMT. If the business is not technology led we are usually the wrong holder for it.
Where do you invest geographically?
Europe and the USA since 2008, and Africa and Asia more recently. We need a route to governance in the jurisdiction before we commit.
What does the operational support actually mean?
A named board appointment, monthly reporting we help build, and access to the holding group for finance, engineering, hiring and corporate governance work. It is real work delivered against a plan, not advisory hours on a retainer.
How long does a decision take?
A first read within a week. Where there is a fit, three to six weeks to a signed term sheet depending on how ready the data room is.
Raising, or looking for an operator on the board?
Send the company. One page is enough to start. We read everything and reply to what fits the mandate.