The Ledger

Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.

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why aren't all 33 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 2 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Deliveroo altered legal docs to strip Hoxton's pro-rata rights
“And then we had a weird scenario in that particular company where our pro rata rights got taken away from us, and in the legal documents, they changed the definition of who would get the pro rata, To basically, I mean, basically singling us out.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 13:27 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Female VC partners are hard to poach due to high retention pay
“There are some great women who are very capable. It is hard for me to poach them because they're very well taken care of in their existing funds for very good reasons, because there's a shortage of them.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 1:05:12 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Kanji: VCs Should Sell Post-IPO Stock via a Three-Tranche Formula
“And so I think the formula that we now have is at the time of the IPO, as soon as you're out of lockup, A third of it you sell, a third of it you sell six months later, and then a third of it you sell another six to 12 months after that. Just make it a formula…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 17:33 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Open
Kanji: Brexit's Article 50 wiped out EIF commitments to UK venture funds
“Article 50 got invoked, and everyone who had a check or a commitment from EIF at that point felt it. Seedcamp got one of the first calls, they tore up the document, and all of us lost the EIF commitment because they were no longer able to invest in the UK.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 35:27 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
What-if
Kanji: Hoxton Would Have Been a 10X Net Fund on Darktrace at Peak
“We, that would have been, we would have been a 10 X net fund on, on, on, on Darktrace at the, at its peak.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 16:42 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Partly supported
Kanji: Darktrace Reached $732M Revenue at Take-Private From $10K at Seed
“The company, when it got privatized, did seven hundred thirty two million of revenue. I mean, we, but when we invested, it was doing like 10 K.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 24:57 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures exited the J-curve within two years
“We're out of the J curve, which means we're kind of, you know, in the money now on, on the fund, you know, for a fund that's just going to become two years old in two weeks.”
Hussein Kanji Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 11:14 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton led $10M check into AI foundational model startup
“We put in 10. It was an AI company, a foundational model, didn't necessarily need all the money on compute, so 10 in a foundational model, and 10 is a really large number, but 10 in foundational model land is still a small number. We took it off the table, and…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 46:24 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Contradicted
Kanji: European VC market grew from $1B to $30B
“When we first started, there was about a billion that went into European venture. These days, about thirty billion that goes into European venture.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 49:29 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton portfolio company with $150M+ revenue is hiring bankers for IPO
“We have a company in our portfolio, It's about two years away from IPO. It's appointing bankers right now. One hundred fifty million net, one hundred sixty million net revenue right now on a run rate basis.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 58:33 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures will not invest via uncapped notes
“No not an uncap note.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 15:46 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures achieved a 34x realized return on Deliveroo
“The best investment on paper was, I mean, not paper, like, realized was Deliveroo. It was about 34 X on the first check.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 10:52 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton is price-sensitive on ownership target, not check size
“Yes, because we care about ownership, but no when it comes to the check.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 43:04 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not publicly verifiable
Kanji: Hoxton's Darktrace SPVs achieved 66% to 154% realized net IRR
“So in the run-up to the Darktrace IPO, we did a bunch of SPVs with our investors. We put more money to work in Darktrace than the fund size of Fund One. And we think the lowest performing IRR for us was net 66%. This is all realized, by the way. Net 66%. And t…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 22:42 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Hoxton maintains quarterly acquisition buyer lists for portfolio companies in crisis
“And so every, every quarter we have like an immediate shopping list, which is if this company falls into trouble, I'm picking up the phone, I'm calling this person At this buyer in this level of the organization who wants this kind of product technology, techn…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 6:30 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton concentrates over 60% of Fund III into top third
“In the second fund, that's now shifted to a little bit over 50% of our capital is in the top third of the fund. And in the third fund, it's getting closer to about 60, 65% of the top, like, The money's going into the best companies.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 19:10 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures targets 15% to 20% ownership in top portfolio companies
“So if we see early traction in any one of our companies, we will figure out a way to put more capital in, and these days for our best companies, and our best companies are much higher concentrations than our average company. We're getting closer to like 15, 20…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 14:40 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures limits capital concentration to 10% per company
“10%.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 47:21 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Kanji: Optimal seed fund size today is $150M to $250M
“We now think the closer number is like a 150 to two 50, but back then it was about a hundred. And if you're going to play this game well, that's about the size that you need to be.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 35:03 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton invested reserves in AI startup CUSP for 11% stake
“And then CUSP walked in the door, which is this foundational model for material science, and we wrote down a double check. Like, we took our reserves and did one big investment, own 11%, decent sized investment”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 1:09:42 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Held up
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures will remain a small, early-stage focused firm
“We're always going to be a small firm, but I think we can be a little bit bigger so that we can support our entrepreneurs the best way. But, you know, we want to be, I don't think we want to be a big firm. I don't think we want to be and doing growth deals. We…”
Hussein Kanji Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 28:00 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Sold Out of Deliveroo Fully at IPO
“We sold out a delivery at the IPO. We thought it was a, we thought it was like very Fairly valued at the time.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 17:59 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Uses Unbiased Team Members to Evaluate Follow-On Deals
“So we have a fairly trained growth investor on our team who is not in these companies, who can look at the data just on pure databases and give a view. So we basically assemble a different team other than the person leading the investment, saying take a look a…”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 23:57 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Prediction Open · timeframe Jan 2035
Kanji: I plan to hand over Hoxton Ventures leadership within a decade
“I would love for us to have built a partnership, and I'm thinking actively about this, and I can hand the reins over where I'm just one of a few, and someone else is running the firm. If I can do that successfully over the next decade, I know I have a durable …”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 1:15:47 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton invested $35M to $40M into Darktrace via SPVs
“40. At 35 or 40, something like that.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 23:02 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton invested approximately £1M in Deliveroo's initial round
“We put in just around a million of that first round.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 11:03 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures spent 39 months raising its debut fund
“Fun one was 39 months for us to get going. Like three nine, like over three years.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 7:36 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Hoxton Ventures' early portfolio includes Deliveroo, Darktrace, and Campana
“Despite Hoxton's age, their portfolio is immense, with the likes of Deliveroo, Darktrace by the famous Mike Lynch from Autonomy, and Campania, recently acquired by a twenty-four-seven customer.”
Harry Stebbings Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 0:40 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures co-invested in Darktrace alongside family office Talos
“Through a family office called Talus we bumped into Darktrace. And together, Talos and us ended up investing in Darktrace, and that clearly is turning into a cybersecurity winner.”
Hussein Kanji Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 24:15 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Assertion Supported
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures took 39 months to raise its debut fund
“It took us 39 months to do this.”
Hussein Kanji Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 9:36 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Disclosure
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures deploys capital into only 4 to 6 deals annually
“The only time we probably maybe sped up was like, 20, 21, but I think the whole industry was speeding up at that point, and then we slowed down intentionally in 22. So we do, we used to do about four to six a year.”
Hussein Kanji Jan 20, 2025 ▶ 10:33 Hussein Kanji, Founder @Hoxton Ventures: Why AI Means London Can Compete with the US | E1248 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Assertion Supported
Kanji: Hoxton Ventures manages $40 million in its debut fund
“Following such success, Hussain set out to raise his own fund, and is now the founder of Hoxton Ventures, a 2013 fund with forty million under management.”
Harry Stebbings Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 0:29 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Kanji: Hoxton partners travel to Silicon Valley every six to eight weeks
“For us, we go there every, like, six to eight weeks, you know, you get back into the flow of information”
Hussein Kanji Nov 9, 2015 ▶ 16:15 20 VC 086: Starting A New Venture Fund and How London Compares To The US with Hussein Kanji @ Hoxton Ventures
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