A venture model designed for acquisition.
A procurement friendly, governance led pathway for corporates in regulated markets to create new software businesses. Without consultancy innovation theatre, or startup drama.
You're not building a project. You're buying an outcome.
We build a separate venture with you, validate it with customers, and structure the path to majority ownership up front. So success doesn't trigger renegotiation.
Consultancies
Provide PowerPoint decks. The recommendations are sound. The execution never follows.
Dev shops
Deliver software, but you get the business risk. No entity, no governance, no commercial proof.
Startups & accelerators
Come with founder leverage, cap table complexity, funding treadmills and diluted control.
Two scenarios we hear every week.
“We see the gap, but our core business is stretched.”
BAU is full, in-house capability is stretched, and you don’t trust a vendor-led build to add to your risk.
“We’re too slow. The market is changing and we need new tools to keep up.”
You want to build the better solution. If it works for you, others in your sector will pay for it too.
Move fast without losing control.
A build-to-buy pathway that turns evidence into a acquisition decision.
- Stage gates
- Decision rights
- Measurable success metrics
The process
Three stages. One controlled outcome.
- Choose the market entry point
- Define buyer, user, and "what counts as proof"
- Build the validation plan (customers, pilots, distribution pathway)
- Set success metrics and kill criteria
- Agree the acquisition option framework and governance cadence
- Scope security/compliance needs where relevant
Fixed fee. Budgetable. Clear exit criteria.
- ISO 27001 ready architecture
- Security baseline: access control, auditability, data governance
- 1–3 pilot loops (ideally inside or adjacent to your network)
- Early commercial signals (conversion, retention, pricing reality)
- Operational foundations: monitoring, supportability, runbooks
- Go-to-market activity using your distribution advantage
- Hardening + compliance improvements
- Team transfer plan (or managed service)
- Acquisition trigger review and execution
Cadence beats chaos. Every time.
If decisions are slow, ventures die. We design around that.
Weekly Working Group
Unblock delivery decisions in real time, not in email threads.
Monthly Venture Board
Stage gates and go/no-go calls with the right people in the room.
Decision SLAs
Approvals in days, not weeks. Speed is a governance feature.
Transparent Reporting
Live dashboards and structured updates so every stakeholder sees the same picture.
Evidence based decision making.
At each gate, performance is assessed against objective success metrics and you choose the next move. No zombie projects. No sunk-cost hostage situation.
Go
Performance meets objective success metrics. Proceed to the next stage with confidence.
Build Evidence
Promising signals but not yet conclusive. Gather more data before committing to the next stage.
No-Go
Metrics fall short. You get a defined decision window to abandon or continue. Cleanly.
Commercial Mechanics
A staged investment with a clear path to ownership.
Budgetable investment to build and validate.
SMALL
£150k
ex VAT
- Lower complexity builds
- Fewer integrations
- Standard validation scope
MEDIUM
£250k
ex VAT
- Moderate complexity
- Multiple integrations
- Extended validation + compliance
LARGE
£500k
ex VAT
- High complexity builds
- Longer regulatory time-horizons
- Full compliance workstream
Based on project complexity, integrations, regulatory time-horizons, validation + compliance work.
Clear acquisition triggers. So “it worked” doesn’t become a new negotiation.
Acquisition readiness is defined up front across six categories.
Acquisition readiness is defined up front across six categories.
- Commercial traction
- Unit economics
- Product & operational readiness
- Governance & risk controls
- Strategic impact
Triggers can be thresholds, staged acquisition steps, or time boxed reviews with pre-agreed mechanics.
- Threshold based triggers with clear pass/fail criteria
- Staged acquisition steps that de-risk the transfer
- Time boxed reviews with pre-agreed commercial terms
Legal Structuring.
Tax efficient legal structures designed into the venture from the start. Not retrofitted after the fact.
Eligible software R&D work may qualify; evidence and cost capture can be built into delivery.
- Qualifying expenditure tracked from day one
- Technical narrative embedded in delivery process
- Cost allocation aligned with HMRC guidelines
Tax efficient venture jurisdictions for global commercialisation.
- Jurisdiction selection aligned to market strategy
- IP holding structures for cross-border licensing
- Transfer pricing documentation built in
This works when you want ownership. Not a new “CEO” fresh out of uni.
We partner with organisations that have distribution, domain knowledge, and the authority to act. Here’s how to tell if it’s a fit.
You want the right to buy majority control if it proves out
You have an internal sponsor who can decide
You can provide pilots and/or distribution access
You need execution in regulated environments
You are not the only customer who will use the end product
You are the only customer who will use the end product
You want a vendor to build your fixed spec and be done
Tangible assets at transfer.
Everything you need to run the venture independently from day one.
IP & Codebase
Full intellectual property, codebase, environments, and documentation transferred.
Security & Auditability
Security posture and auditability artefacts ready for due diligence.
Commercial Proof
Pilot outcomes, customer validation, and commercial traction evidence.
Operating Team
Key hires and the full operating model for day-one independence.
Ready to build
Have an opportunity you want to go after?
Bring the market gap, your distribution edge, and a sponsor with authority. We’ll map the fastest risk managed path to proof and acquisition.