Experienced venture capital lawyers for emerging and growth companies and investors, from incorporation through to exit
Osborne Clarke’s emerging companies and venture capital team is our dedicated multi-disciplinary team for high-growth companies and venture capital and growth equity investors. We bring together corporate, regulatory, commercial, IP, incentives, employment and tax specialists to support innovation‑driven businesses and their investors throughout their life-cycle, from inception to liquidity.
Technological and societal transformation – from digitalisation and the use of data, to decarbonisation, energy innovation and advances in life sciences and digital health – continues to drive demand for capital and specialist advice. Emerging companies and investors need lawyers who understand both the venture ecosystem and the realities of building and scaling a business.
Our emerging companies and venture capital team focuses on venture capital and growth equity transactions and life-cycle advice for companies across Europe and beyond as they grow. We support innovators, investors and institutions from pre‑spin‑out and start‑up, through fundraising, international expansion and growth, all the way to exit.
The team is the best there is when it comes to venture capital. They combine outstanding, clear legal advice with practical, commercial solutions in everything they do. The team has tremendous experience across all stages of a company’s life – from spin-out, to series A and all the way through to exit, and understand the constraints and considerations for each type of investor. A one-of-a-kind.
Full lifecycle support
We work with emerging companies and investors at every stage of growth, offering truly full lifecycle support:
- Starting up and pre‑spin‑out. We advise on structuring ideas and research projects, spin‑out planning, IP strategy and ownership, and agreements between founders, universities, research institutions and early investors. We also assist with incorporation, founder and shareholder arrangements, early hires and initial commercial contracts.
- Governance and incentives. We design and implement board governance structures, shareholder arrangements, constitutional documents and investor rights, and, together with our incentives and employment teams, option schemes and other incentive arrangements that support growth and help attract and retain key people.
- Fundraising and growth. Our core focus is on investor fundraising and related strategic transactions, from seed and Series A through to larger institutional and growth rounds. We advise on term sheets, valuation mechanics, investment structures, investor rights and governance, coordinating with tax, incentives, regulatory and commercial specialists so that fundraising supports, rather than disrupts, your business model.
- Business operations and expansion. As ventures scale, we support commercial agreements, data and AI use, regulatory compliance (including financial services, life sciences and other regulated sectors), real estate needs, disputes, joint ventures and acquisitions. We help structure international expansion using Osborne Clarke’s UK and European network, and wider international reach.
- Mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and exit. We guide clients through secondary transactions, strategic M&A, private equity processes, joint ventures, and work as advisers for IPOs. Our aim is to support you from the earliest stages through to a successful liquidity event – and beyond, where the journey continues in a new form.
Throughout this lifecycle you benefit from a single, joined‑up team that understands your history, cap table, risk profile and strategy.
Deep ventures ecosystem experience
Our emerging companies and venture capital team is one of the largest and most experienced in the UK and European legal market. Acting for both companies and investors gives us a clear view of what is “market”, where there is genuine room to negotiate and how to get deals done quickly and efficiently. We have deep commercial and regulatory expertise, and our use of technology in drafting, project management and e-signing helps reduce execution risk, shorten transaction timetables and control costs.
We advise on hundreds of venture and growth transactions each year, from early-stage pre-seed financings through to large late-stage growth rounds, and support clients across the full spectrum of their legal needs between these milestone events, as well as on their eventual exits and liquidity events.
- Who our venture capital lawyers act for
Operating across the ventures ecosystem, we have a long-standing reputation for bringing together our corporate, IP, commercial and regulatory expertise to advise:
- Emerging and high‑growth companies including pre‑seed and seed stage ventures, series A and growth‑stage businesses, as well as scale‑ups and later‑stage venture‑backed companies
- Founders, management teams and entrepreneurs, from student founders to serial entrepreneurs and management teams in buy‑and‑build or secondary processes
- Investors from venture capital and growth funds, to corporate investors, angel syndicates, private investors and EIS/VCT managers
- Universities and research institutions such as technology transfer offices, research centres and medical charities
Our balanced company‑side and investor‑side practice gives us a rounded perspective on risk allocation, market terms and deal dynamics across the venture market.
- Sector‑led advice
We focus on the sectors driving technological and societal change, including:
- Technology (AI, deeptech, fintech, Saas platforms, cleantech)
- Life sciences and medtech
- Energy and energy transition
- Defence
This sector insight allows us to give grounded, commercial advice that reflects the realities of your market.
- How our venture capital lawyers can help you
Whether you are a founder, an emerging company, a university or a VC fund, our EC/VC team can:
- Review your current position and help you become investor‑ready
- Support your next fundraising – from term sheet to completion
- Design incentive and workforce strategies that attract and retain talent
- Protect and commercialise your IP and data assets
- Guide you through acquisitions, joint ventures, international expansion or exit
Tools
- Guides to VC fundraising, including documentation and tax considerations.
- Workshops for preparing for VC investment
- Template cap tables (UK and DE)
- On‑demand webinars on governance, compliance and VC issues
- Bespoke training on data protection, IP in commercial contracts, protecting your business, ESG, digitalisation and more.
Experience
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