Charles Seely
Early-stage investor & entrepreneur

Charles Seely

An early-stage investor and entrepreneur in AI, quantum and frontier technology, and the founder of Esos Ventures.

Silicon Valley & London · backing early-stage founders
Charles Seely, early-stage investor and founder of Esos Ventures

About Charles Seely

Charles Seely is an early-stage investor and entrepreneur focused on AI, quantum and frontier technology. Over the past two decades he has been an early backer of more than sixty companies, several of which went on to become category-defining businesses.

He spent close to twenty years in the United States, much of it in Silicon Valley, before relocating to the United Kingdom. Across that time his work has spanned prediction markets, healthcare, logistics, consumer, fintech and quantum computing.

He is the founder of Esos Ventures, the private investment and advisory company that was the vehicle for much of his early-stage investing and advisory work.

Selected investments & roles

Quantum computing
Cambridge Quantum / Quantinuum
From 2019 to 2021, Esos Ventures advised Cambridge Quantum and became an early shareholder, supporting the founder and management team pre-merger. Cambridge Quantum merged with Honeywell Quantum Solutions to form Quantinuum, now the world's largest standalone quantum computing company (Nasdaq: QNT).
Public policy · advisory
UK Government — venture capital advisory (2013–2016)
Advised the UK Government on the venture capital industry, and co-founded its VC "Afterburner" programme with Russell Buckley, founding partner of Kindred Capital. Advised and mentored leading UK technology companies, supporting more than $150 million in fundraising.
Prediction markets
Kalshi
Pre-seed investment sourced and led at SGH Capital in Kalshi, the regulated prediction-market exchange.
Healthcare
Maven Clinic
Seed investment sourced and led at SGH Capital in Maven Clinic, the women's and family health platform.
Logistics
Zipline
Series B investment sourced and led at SGH Capital in the autonomous logistics and drone-delivery company.
Automotive · acquired
BacklotCars
Seed investment sourced and led at SGH Capital in the wholesale used-car marketplace, acquired by KAR Global for approximately $425 million.
Fintech · acquired
Returnly
Seed investment sourced and led at SGH Capital in the returns-and-payments platform, acquired by Affirm for approximately $300 million.
Consumer · acquired
Bonobos
Shareholder and advisor. Acquired by Walmart in 2017.
Media · acquired
Qwiki
Shareholder and advisor. Acquired by Yahoo in 2013.

For the fuller record and Charles Seely's writing, see charles-seely.com.

Esos Ventures

Esos Ventures is a private investment and advisory company founded by Charles Seely. It was the vehicle for much of his early-stage investing and advisory work — including his early shareholding in and advisory work with Cambridge Quantum, now Quantinuum, and advisory work supporting a U.S. early-stage investment platform.

Contact

Reach Charles Seely at charles@esosventures.com.