Dermot Campbell, founder and MD of SEEIO, on the guidance provided by Sturgeon Ventures to navigate the tricky waters of the financial services industry
For startups, effective governance is about ensuring sustainable growth and avoiding costly mistakes. By streamlining governance processes and leveraging technology, start-ups can focus on what they do best, innovating and growing. However, they also need to focus on compliance and regulation which can be a distraction from the job in hand, but one that Sturgeon Ventures can manage in a variety of ways.
Dermot Campbell is founder and MD of SEEIO, a platform designed to streamline and automate governance tasks making them more accessible and manageable for businesses of all sizes. A chartered wealth manager and former director at UBS Wealth Management USB, his company Kuber Ventures, a platform for wealth managers to invest in EIS funds, was an AR with Sturgeon Ventures.
He went on to found SEEIO, a SAAS solution, after a realisation that startups often fail to focus on governance, leading to problems when they come to exit. His product automates and simplifies the board meeting preparation and administration, the cash flow and runway monitoring, the risk register and framework, and the compliance tasks. It also gives visibility and insights to the stakeholders. SEEIO is a registered trademark of Board Originator Limited, a UK company.
What are the advantages of being an Appointed Representative (AR) with Sturgeon Ventures?
I had done a lot of compliance and regulation when I was in a senior role at UBs and I thought I understood it. Seonaid Mackenzie inspired me into the world of governance following her training sessions and guidance whilst I was an Approved Person within a past appointed representative firm of Sturgeon Ventures. So Sturgeon was very supportive organisation for us, very much a partner. Seonaid was incredibly helpful and guided me through all the requirements. She also alsoused to sit on our investment committee that would make decisions about which funds we allowed to promote themselves on our platform. In that way we avoided a lot of unsavoury people. It’s important to have such expertise in navigating the unknowns of the regulatory environment, particularly if heavily involved in regulated activities.
What are the pitfalls in starting a venture in financial services?
Most people don’t realise the extent of the personal liabilities involved. For instance, if a co-director takes a loan from the company, other directors may be held personally liable. You might think you’ve got a limited company, but actually the limited liability is very muted down in a financial services venture. The FCA has quite a significant stick and it expects you to get out your chequebook and inject personal funds. It’s a non-negotiable requirement.
As you can imagine, the FCA’s enforcement power in the financial services sector is far-reaching. If you make a false statement in a regulated business, the FCA will come after you. The distinction between regulated and non-regulated activities is often clear-cut and the FCA has established stringent guidelines. However, having a company such as Sturgeon Ventures by your side makes the journey much easier. Sturgeon gave us all the support we needed to ensure compliance, avoiding potential pitfalls. Seonaid is also very creative, offering marketing ideas and strategies that go beyond just ticking regulatory boxes.
What are the main values of working with Sturgeon Ventures?
There are three major values that Sturgeon bring you. Firstly, their combined experience and knowledge that they’ve built up over the years, some through sweat, blood and tears, some of it through bitter experience and some through the life knowledge of the team which is important. They provide the framework and support needed to operate within regulated fields safely. And the third that they keep you out of jail which is a real thing.
What inspired you to found SEEIO?
My business partner Freya and I were working to help an organisation gain charitable status and we realised there was no technology suitable for small organisations, so we decided to pivot from consultancy to becoming a tech platform. SEEIO software tracks metrics and risks, provides a structured record store, and automates board meetings; all of which feeds a contemporaneous data room evidencing good quality governance. The starting point was board minutes – no one reads them. But if someone is doing due diligence or if there is an FCA enquiry, then it’s very important that you have well-written minutes and the right type of minutes. The software is intuitive for startups and it’s designed to be stage appropriate. In this way the founders can grow the company knowing the governance is in hand.
How can your software help SMEs to achieve asset raises by one of Sturgeon’s ventures or AR?
The SEEIO platform helps the portfolio company to manage all their governance and their stakeholder relationship with the VC; it will make sure they get things right and it will help them grow. It will help themprepare for the next round of funding or the next corporate action. Our dashboard allows the VCto see where companies are not on top of their governance or where they are about to run out of money, among many other things. They can dig through the dashboard to find all the detail they require. VCstell me it’s the only portfolio management platform out there.
What is your vision for SEEIO?
The core of governance is about management systems and controls and it’s not just British companies that need them. It’s every company on the planet so our ambitions are to expand internationally.
Website: https://seeio.co.uk
For further information on any of our ARs or ventures, please email hello@sturgeonventures.com
