Do we shut up shop on investment until times get better?

John Stapleton, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and speaker, provides smart money strategies for today’s investors.

A fund manager I know well has described the investment market as ‘carnage’. The cost of capital is through the roof and availability is very scarce. The rest of us are seeing this in a variety of ways – start-ups are having a difficult time raising funds (certainly at the inflated valuations they have become recently used to) and more established businesses are shelving plans to invest in growth even when they can demonstrate a tried and tested business model to justify it.

Soup tasted so much better after New Covent Garden canned the can: The Times

John Stapleton was studying for a master’s degree in food science at Reading University when he went to the meeting that changed his life. It was the late 1980s and it happened in a pub.

Over a lunchtime pint, Andrew Palmer — a London stockbroker interested in the food industry — outlined his idea for a fresh soup brand sold in a carton rather than a can. He needed a co-founder with scientific expertise and Stapleton fitted the bill.

Q&A with Angel Investor John Stapleton – The Sunday Times

Every week we talk to a business angel, one of the early-stage investors who collectively inject £1.5bn a year into British start-up companies.

John Stapleton: ‘I invest in businesses only where I think I can add value’

John Stapleton, 54, co-founded the New Covent Garden Soup Co straight after graduating from Reading University in 1987. After 11 years and with sales of £20m, he sold it to Daniels, a London-listed food company. He later started Little Dish, which makes children’s snacks, and sold that last year.

Stapleton started angel investing two years ago and backs food and drink start-ups including Capsicana, which makes Latin American sauces, and Spoon Cereals, a health food maker.

Stapleton typically funds founders with £100,000.

Why I invest
When you start your own business, you go very deep into a lot of detail — but it’s only one business. Investing gives me a breadth of experience I never had before, and keeps me in touch with the market.

The secrets to business growth – The Telegraph

John Stapleton’s toddler food business Little Dish sold to US Private Equity firm – The Irish Times

The Irish Times covered Profile Capital's acquisition of toddler food brand Little Dish, which John co-founded. 

John Stapleton: The Entrepreneurial Journey – The Irish Times

The serial food entrepreneur who invented fresh chilled soup worries that UK business is not ready for Brexit.

How to exit a Food & Drink Business – Entrepreneur & Investor

Entrepreneur and Investor Magazine spoke to John Stapleton about his expertise in exiting an FMCG business. His interview based on his expertise appeared in the latest edition of the magazine here

John Stapleton – Meet the Champion of SMEs and passionate advocate of facing Brexit head on - Speciality Food Magazine

John Stapleton was recently interviewed by Speciality Food Magazine where he spoke about his passion for Getting Brexit Ready and how he is helping SMEs face it head on.