Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett, who found his fortune after dropping out of the University of Manchester, has launched a $100m fund to find the next $1bn European business.
The entrepreneur hosts the popular The Diary of a CEO podcast and co-founded Social Chain in Manchester with Dominic McGregor.
Mr Bartlett said the Flight Story Fund 'has been timed to exploit the dislocation and disruption in the economy' and will invest in companies in the 'best position to navigate the next decade and require investment and/or expertise to scale their businesses, those that are focussed on innovation in rapidly emerging sectors'.
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It will be targeting individual investments between $1m-$10m in companies in six emerging categories - blockchain, biotech, health and wellbeing, commerce, technology and space.
The business also 'must have the potential to become Europe’s next unicorn'.
Mr Bartlett said: "Throughout the last decade, I developed an immense network of the most successful entrepreneurs in Europe.
"Flight Story Fund connects the founders to the investment and tools they need to catapult them through their growth trajectory to accelerate their timeline to Unicorn status.
"I’ve been on the journey myself and now I am helping other skilled founders succeed in the same way. The launch of the Flight Story Fund is an invitation to Europe's best entrepreneurs from Europe's best companies - come and take flight with us."
Mr Bartlett co-founded Flight Story with Oliver Yonchev towards the end of 2021.
The company, which has offices in London and Manchester, provides public companies with the "people, process and technology they need to build a resilient retail investor community around their story".
Mr Bartlett also co-founded thirdweb and has investments in the likes of Huel, Vivino and Isar Aerospace as well as more than 20 other businesses and smaller investments made through Dragons’ Den.
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