Octopus Ventures Reaches First Close for First Cheque II

Onstage's portfolio companies are getting a different institution behind their earliest backing. Octopus Ventures has acquired the early-stage platform's fund and portfolio through First Cheque II, bringing existing founder relationships into its second dedicated pre-seed vehicle. The firm announced the fund's first close on November 5, 2026, and says it is actively investing across the UK and Europe.

The First Cheque II announcement leaves the amount secured at that close undisclosed. It describes a fundraising target more than twice the £10M predecessor fund. For founders, the useful development is the continuation of a programme built to combine early investment decisions with the resources of an established institution, including help with hiring and later financing conversations.

First Cheque II enters at the company-building stage

A pre-seed investor joins a business while its working relationships are still being formed. The first employee, customer conversation and financing introduction can influence which version of the company survives long enough to be evaluated by the next investor. That makes the person doing the early investing part of the operating story, even when the fund itself is relatively small.

Octopus Ventures' pre-seed proposition includes introductions to potential hires, customers and subsequent investors. The proposition reaches beyond selecting a company and transferring money. Its usefulness depends on whether the people behind those introductions understand what the founder needs at a particular moment, and can find someone whose experience fits the problem.

First Cheque II extends that approach across AI, biotech and healthcare, deeptech, fintech, robotics and industrial technology. Those sectors demand different kinds of help. A team developing a physical product may need manufacturing experience before it can make a credible customer commitment; a software business may be trying to identify the buyer who can approve a pilot. These are examples of the operating questions an early institutional relationship can carry, rather than services or outcomes promised to every First Cheque company.

The investors bring histories of working before scale

Kirsten Connell is a Partner at Octopus Ventures and the First Cheque II manager. Her official biography records that she joined in 2021 to launch First Cheque, following work as managing director of CyLon and as part of the original Seedcamp investment team. That background puts accelerator and early investment experience inside the fund's assessment of founders.

Tilly Fleming joined the pre-seed team in 2023 after investing at Venrex, where her work included boards and portfolio support. The firm's current biography lists her as an Associate. Experience supporting a young company is relevant to the same investor's decision about whether to back the next one: the questions asked before investment can be informed by what became difficult afterward.

Connell's biography places particular emphasis on founders' commitment to the problem they are solving and their ability to execute. At this stage, an investor has to make judgments before a long financial record exists. For founders considering the fund, that emphasis gives the pitch a practical centre: explain the problem, the decisions already made and the evidence that has changed the team's thinking. A polished description of the product leaves much of that conversation unfinished.

Onstage's portfolio moves with an ongoing relationship

The acquisition brings First Cheque II a portfolio that existed before this fund's new investments. Onstage co-founders Taos Edmondson and Hector Mason describe seeking a permanent home for the platform's fund in the announcement. Edmondson is continuing as a Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures, preserving a connection with the people who built those earlier investment relationships.

For a portfolio founder, changing the institution behind an investment can raise very ordinary questions. Who understands the history of the company? Who can introduce the next adviser? Who takes responsibility for helping when the hiring plan changes? A continuing investor can carry that context into a new organisation, although the announcement does not disclose contractual support commitments or acquisition economics.

Octopus Ventures' broader People + Talent support model covers hiring, culture and organisational structure. That gives the acquired relationships a relevant institutional setting without establishing that every company receives an identical service package. As analysis, the opportunity is to connect knowledge of a particular founder with more specialised help. The practical work lies in getting the right people into the same conversation while the company still has a decision to make.

A second vehicle builds on a specific pre-seed history

The original pre-seed launch in June 2022 introduced a £10M fund and standard £100K investments. Those figures describe that earlier programme. They should not be carried forward as First Cheque II's current cheque size or treated as the amount now committed to the second fund.

The distinction matters when founders assess the scale of a potential investor's participation. First-close commitments, a fundraising target and the predecessor's size answer different questions. The November announcement establishes that First Cheque II is operating, while leaving its close amount, named limited partners and detailed financing terms outside the public record. A founder preparing a round will still need to discuss the proposed investment directly with the team.

Erin Platts, CEO of Octopus Investments and Octopus Ventures, places early backing within the institution's ambition to support European entrepreneurs through growth. That gives Connell and Fleming an assignment extending beyond finding the next investment. The founder who arrives with an unresolved hiring decision or a difficult customer introduction will need that institutional promise translated into somebody's time, knowledge and willingness to make the call.