44. Diving into a case study and corporate partners with Parminder Basran of VGC

Unusually for an EIS fund manager, VGC has moved it the market from the institutional end. Their focus on consumer and digital media is somewhat unusual in the sector and we effectively do a case study on one of their investments. Kick Game is a premium sneaker retailer. Parminder talks about how they identified the company as the right player in a market and stalked it to invest. He also discusses what they did after investing, how they developed its retail and marketing strategy to enable its growth. We also look at how corporate partners fit into the venture landscape. We talk about the benefits for corporates and startups, finding the right partner and how to avoid problems that may arise. VGC Partners website: https://vgcp.co.uk/ (https://vgcp.co.uk/) Suggested books: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Great-Jim-Collins/dp/0712676090/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3U2V5267UEERB&keywords=good+to+great+jim+collins&qid=1643906641&sprefix=good+to%2Caps%2C270&sr=8-1 (Good to Great) by Jim Collins Bio Parminder Basran, Founding Partner and CEO, VGC Partners Parminder worked in FMCG for 7 years before attending business school, subsequently founding VGC in 2011. The first investments were made on a deal-by-deal basis, and these included Metropolis London, a music studio, production, publishing and agency business. Subsequent investments included Round World Entertainment, the holding company of 10Ten Talent, the football and talent management business, Iconic Images, the owner of the photographic archive of Terry O’Neill and Super Awesome, the fast-growing kid tech business based in London. In March 2019 the team achieved a final close of VGC Partners Fund I, backed by institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals, to focus on growth companies in the consumer and media sectors in the U.K. Parminder attended Rutgers University in New Jersey and has a BA in Management Studies from the University of Leeds. He also holds an MBA from London Business School.