By <a style="color: #4bbb87;" href="https://augmentum.vc/">Augmentum Fintech</a>

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A virtual internship in Venture Capital for teenagers 
How entrepreneurs attract finance - a taster study programme for teenagers
London 30th March 2020: Augmentum Fintech (“Augmentum” or the “Company”), the UK’s only publicly listed fintech venture capital fund, announces the launch of its TeenVC programme. 

TeenVC seeks to engage teenagers (target age range 14-18 years) in a distance learning programme throughout April in which students can learn the basics of venture capital and how investment decisions are made by VCs, via a free digital education platform: <a style="color: #4bbb87;" href="http://www.teen-vc.com">www.teen-vc.com</a>. 

The programme involves ten modules comprising videos, articles and quizzes covering different elements of the VC industry, with a new module being released every Tuesday and Thursday throughout April. The programme will seek to both educate and entertain participants and will cover topics such as the fundraising process, what VCs look for in businesses, and careers. The content will be complimented by videos from individuals across the industry sharing their thoughts and experiences in an easily digestible manner, and virtual Q&amp;As. 

We hope as many as possible will complete the program but also have created an element of competition as well. The initiative will close with "The TeenVC Challenge", a deal-sourcing exercise that students can complete for their chance to be selected for an exclusive “VC Insights Experience” with Augmentum Fintech this year. 

Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech, said: “At a time when teenagers are at home with more time on their hands, we thought we’d help break the boredom in an engaging, educational manner, helping teens from all walks of life learn about VC, tech and entrepreneurship. We had several educational initiatives planned this year that we have modified in light of COVID-19, including working with social mobility charity The Sutton Trust. We decided to launch TeenVC to continue the work digitally, educating young people about an industry rarely talked about in careers education in schools and colleges. This programme will also be of benefit to those thinking of starting their own business when they finish full- time education – knowing how start-ups can pitch for and win investment is key to any successful entrepreneur”. 

Ends 

For further information: Nigel Szembel <a style="color: #4bbb87;" href="mailto:nigel@augmentum.vc">nigel@augmentum.vc </a>or +44 (0)7802 362088 

Augmentum invests in fast growing fintech businesses that are disrupting the financial services sector. Augmentum is the UK’s only publicly listed investment company focusing on the fintech sector in the UK and wider Europe, having launched on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018, giving businesses access to patient capital and support, unrestricted by conventional fund timelines and giving public markets investors access to a largely privately held investment sector during its main period of growth.

Augmentum Fintech Launches “TeenVC”

Posted by Augmentum Fintech: 08/05/19

CEO and Founder of machine learning supplier payments firm <a href="https://augmentum.vc/our-portfolio/previse/">Previse</a>, Paul Christensen, discusses the importance of innovation in supplier payments in this <a href="https://www.paymenteye.com/2019/05/03/supplier-payments-decades-old-culture-in-desperate-need-of-innovation/">PaymentEye</a> article:

“The zeitgeist has changed. Slow payments are not acceptable socially, economically or politically. Yet we probably need to do more and really look at practical solutions because the problem hasn’t been fixed. Something needs to change or we will end up with more Carillions.”

“We’re changing a culture and a system that’s decades old, and that’s not easy,” says Christensen. “It’s a process. These organisations have hundreds of people in accounts payable departments checking invoices, it’s a very manual cumbersome process that often takes months. It’s such a huge global problem that has such a negative impact on millions of small businesses, yet at the same time, it’s actually very easy to fix.”

Supplier payments’ “decades old” culture in desperate need of innovation

Posted by Augmentum Fintech: 17/05/19

The Future of Finance podcast hosted Tim Levene, Partner &amp; CEO at Augmentum Fintech. They talked through his entrepreneurial journey from a juice bar in Canary Wharf to the first publicly traded fintech-focused VC in the UK and the sheer scale of opportunity in fintech today.

Listen to the episode <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/061-tim-levene-first-publicly-traded-financial-technology/id1339206941?i=1000438143168">here</a>, and other Future of Finance episodes <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-future-of-finance/id1339206941?mt=2&amp;utm_campaign=Brainfood&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=Revue%20newsletter">here</a>

Podcast: The Future of Finance with Augmentum CEO Tim Levene

<div class="post-title-div">Augmentum Fintech is Europe's only listed fintech fund. They invest in exceptional, fast growing UK and European Fintech businesses at Series A and B investment stage and their portfolio includes companies such as Tide, Seedrs, iwoca, Zopa, interactive investor, DueDil and Monese. Being publicly listed means Augmentum have a unique flexibility to be opportunistic in their investments and invest for the long term, unrestrained by conventional fund dynamics. Learn more about Augmentum <a href="https://augmentum.vc/about-us/">here</a></div>

Augmentum Fintech

<div class="post-title-div">Augmentum Fintech is Europe's only listed fintech fund. They invest in exceptional, fast growing UK and European Fintech businesses at Series A and B investment stage and their portfolio includes companies such as Tide, Seedrs, iwoca, Zopa, interactive investor, DueDil and Monese. Being publicly listed means Augmentum have a unique flexibility to be opportunistic in their investments and invest for the long term, unrestrained by conventional fund dynamics. Learn more about Augmentum <a href="https://augmentum.vc/about-us/">here</a></div>

Partner and COO

Richard has 17 years venture capital and private equity experience in the technology, retail and leisure sectors on both sides of the fence. Having studied economics at the University of Manchester, Richard started his career as a Chartered Accountant at Coopers &amp; Lybrand before leaving in 1999 to join Tim at Flutter.com (now Betfair) as CFO.
In 2002 following the merger with Betfair he left to join Benchmark Capital Europe (now Balderton Capital), one of the early investors in Betfair. At Benchmark he worked on early stage technology investments both in the investment phase and assisting the investee companies post funding. He then joined Manzanita Capital in 2005, where he spent 5 years investing in the retail and leisure sectors globally before leaving to form Augmentum Capital. In 2018 Richard and Tim successfully launched Augmentum Fintech on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, in the process becoming the first Fintech focused public VC in Europe.
Away from the office Richard enjoys spending time with his family, watching Arsenal and playing golf, though in the case of the latter 2 the word “enjoys” is used in its loosest sense.

Richard Matthews

CEO & Partner, Augmentum Fintech

Tim graduated in Russian Studies from The University of Manchester in 1994 and joined Bain &amp; Company, working for them in Moscow, Boston, Sydney and London.
Early in 1998 Tim left Bain &amp; Company and embarked on what was to become an entrepreneurial career. He created a new retail concept when he opened his first Juice bar (Fresh n Smooth) in Canary Wharf. The business, called Crussh, has since grown into a 31-store business across London.
In late 1999, Tim joined three former colleagues from Bain &amp; Company and launched <a href="http://flutter.com">Flutter.com</a>. Flutter became one of the highest profile internet businesses in the UK after it merged with <a href="http://betfair.com">Betfair.com</a> in 2001. Tim became the Commercial Director of the newly merged business and launched Betfair globally. 
In 2009, Tim returned to London from Asia, having launched Betfair’s international strategy, to start his next venture. Together with Richard Matthews and ex colleague from Flutter.com and Betfair Tim founded Augmentum Capital which had the backing of RIT Capital and Lord Rothschild. Augmentum Capital focused on finding talented entrepreneurial teams in the Fintech industry that were bringing fundamentally disruptive products or platforms to the European market.
In 2018, Tim and Richard successfully launched Augmentum Fintech plc on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, in the process becoming the first publicly listed Fintech fund in the UK.
Tim was made a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and for several years advised The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry on digital strategy and innovation. In March 2017 Tim was elected (as an Independent) to The Court of Common Council in the City of London to represent the Ward of Bridge.