Focal

What they do

Onstage (formerly Focal) positions itself as "Europe’s answer to Y Combinator, without the accelerator." Founded by two active VCs, Hector Mason and Taos Edmondson, it has grown into one of Europe's largest startup discovery engines. Unlike traditional accelerators, Onstage does not require equity for participation in its Demo Days. In November 2025, the firm evolved from a pure connector to an active investor with the launch of Onstage Fund I, a £10M vehicle designed to invest directly in high-signal companies.

What they look for

Onstage believes the traditional fundraising process is inefficient and biased. Their model is designed to "cut the fat" from fundraising, allowing founders to access hundreds of investors via a single application, regardless of their network or background. They use their bi-annual Demo Days to aggregate deal flow and data-driven selection, validated by their network of 300+ VC partners, to identify the top 1% of startups for direct investment.

Stage

Pre-seed, Seed

Sectors

SaaS, AI, Consumer, Fintech, Climate, Deeptech

Based

London, GB