Independent rating of Fidelity International VC fund
Overall rating:
22 reviews
About Fidelity International VC fund
Founded:
1969
Number of investments:
30
Number of exits:
9
Headquarters:
Organization type:
Venture Capital
How Fidelity International VC fund invests
Rounds:
Average ticket size:
86.9M USD
Smallest investment:
7.14M USD
Biggest investment:
371M USD
Would lead round:
Yes
Would coinvest:
Yes
Countries where invested:
Sectors of interest:
Information Technology, Financial Services, Fashion, E-Commerce, Biotechnology, Wealth Management, Software, Social Shopping, Shopping, Semiconductor, Search Engine, Same Day Delivery, Recruiting, Personal Finance, Marketplace, Manufacturing, Machine Learning, Life Science, Hotel, FinTech, Enterprise Software, E-Commerce Platforms, Developer APIs, Delivery Service, Customer Service, Consulting, Cloud Infrastructure, Building Material, Biopharma, Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Materials
Founders' reviews of Fidelity International VC fund
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Older than a year by non-portfolio founder
Good Team Worth It
The team at Fidelity is knowledgeable and supportive. They are transparent when concerns exist and act professionally in resolving any issues. I would not hesitate to work with Fidelity on future projects.
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Pitching Efficiency Good, Everything Else Bad
Not a good outfit to work with. Our company was funded by them. Neither Robert Weisskoff nor Tom Beck provided any additional value except for self serving suggestions and actions - the management and staff ended up hating them both. Definitely worth due diligence regarding who you get. For instance we didn't know that Tom Beck was fired within a year from Dyax for being such an arrogant jerk. I would never work with them again.
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Lack of Operational Experience, Provably Questionable Ethics
Fidelity Biosciences is a small part of the Fidelity Empire - a family owned mega financial business. The Biosciences area is run by an ex MD with the arrogance that comes with that. Members of the team are in the same mold. They talk big but the team have little to no practical operational management experience. Most are inexperienced overcredentialed academics. Biosciences 'value add' to commercially oriented companies is negligable. Their manipulation of portfolio companies for the sake of greed at the expense of good business is unbelievable. Avoid.
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Good Experience and Great Contacts From Simon Clark and His Team
In my experience, Simon and his team have a great grasp, and knowledge of both end users and industry folks who they are not at all precious about. It is rare that such unfettered access can be given to those of us both seeking funding and sometimes introductory opportunities. Having come from a company with 5 separate VCs on our Board, it was refreshing to have Fidelity in their role as an advisor-impartial and extremely bright & savvy people
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Strange Pitch to Simon
I had a very strange pitch to Simon. All the good things that people are saying about him seemed to be accurate. And yet ...
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Realistic Expectations
Unlike many funds out there these guys are well funded and they understand the amount of money you need to pour in a company if it becomes successful and global.
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Ethically Challenged
Low ethics, even for VCs - and that is saying a lot!
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Loyal and Calm in the Face of Adversity
Simon Clark led our A round and continued to invest in subsequent rounds through to our successful exit; a total of 8 years.
When the going became tough, Simon and the team remained loyal and helped provide guidance that ensured sensible decisions were made with the end result being broadly positive
As with many VCs they claim to be able to provide access to clients and talented staff. This was true when it came to non-exec board members and chairmen, less so for other positions. Simon is an excellent board member.
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Focused and Delivered
Fidelity saw the opportunity with our business very quickly. They also quickly identified the questions/hurdles and made quick work of addressing them one by one. This is a no-BS group. They acted like a heat-seeking missle.
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Open, Supportive and in for the Long Term
Although not investors in our Series A, Simon Clarke and his team in London recommended us to our eventual Series A partners - and have remained in close contact with us. They run great events that are geniuinely useful both in terms of advice and the contacts you make, and are happy to put you in touch with their enviable 'black book'. As a result we're more likely to be successful and they're more likely to be our partners in the future.
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Think about the Post Financing Phase
I am new to this site, but most of the comments I see are focused on the financing process. I believe that entrepreneurs should be considering above all the VC's value add post financing. Fidelity was a major investor in my company and helped in good times AND in bad right through to successful acquisition. They have an excellent network. Simon Clark did a great job adding value as an active board member who works with you to achieve a common agreed goal.
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Pragmatic and Supportive
Fidelity were an A round investor and participated also in later rounds. Simon Clark is on our Board and has always been a strong challenger of company strategy (good), but has also engaged with operational pragmatism when circumstances demanded it (really good!). Their profile and access to large client/partner/acquirer organisations can be very useful ..... these are available to you as a portfolio company but they are not forced on you - they recognise that it is management's job to run the company, not the investors!
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Larry Cheng
Larry led a round of financing at a previous company of mine. Larry was aggressive in winning the deal and served as a value-added Board member. He provided several helpful prospect and partner introductions to us. He provided good stategic thinking and was very helpful and instrumental in the sale of the company to a NYSE listed company.
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Deep Commitment to Portfolio Companies
As the CEO of a former Fidelity Ventures portfolio company (we recently sold to a public company) I have only good things to say about the entire Fidelity team. We worked primarily with Larry Cheng on the ventures team, and bought a valuable perspective to the Board. What really separated Fidelity for us was their ability to draw upon the entire Fidelity cadre of resources to help our organization. For example we were able to get unique assistance from the FMR technology team on best practices for replication of data across multiple hosted environments. That is not the kind of input you typically get from a VC, yet Fidelity is able to tap into that very deep and large organization, and actually get you the help you need.
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Great Investors
Fidelity has been an investor for 1 1/2 years - they've been terrific partners. The venture team's relationship with Fidelity's operating companies is as advertised. Very strong on tech and security knowledge. A must have partner for anything in fin tech.
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A Very Good Partner
They are a terrific group to work with overall. They collaborate more as a team on deals than many firms I've seen. A big plus is that the nature of their fund lets them take on different deals and be patient.
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Great Board Member
Larry Cheng is on my board. He's a great contributor, and an invaluable resource to the company.
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No Bull
I have found Fidelity Ventures to be a very straight forward team that doesnt drag a company through a bunch of unnecessary processes if not needed. I have worked with Larry Cheng in the past and found him to be one of the most prepared board members.
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Excellent New Partner
I have worked with recently named partner Larry Cheng at a previous venture firm, and found him to be an excellent resource. He always was well connected into the latest technology and offered a great operational perspective. They made a outstanding choice in promoting him to partner.
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Very Focused
Seem to have a good track record w/financial services investments. But really don't get the internet marketing or Web2.0 space.
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Like 'Em
Only recently started doing financial services deals (when Phil joined). Have potential to become a force in that sector if Phil stays.
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