The winners of the 15th annual Investor Allstars awards were announced this week, with Funding Circle co-founder and CEO Samir Desai being crowned Entrepreneur of the Year and CoderDojo winning the Tech4Good award.
The prestigious ceremony celebrated the investors, entrepreneurs and advisers that have “shaped the exceptional growth of the European digital economy” in the past year.
The event was organised by European technology investment bank GP Bullhound and GrowthBusiness.co.uk, a Vitesse Media publication, and brought together hundreds of digital entrepreneurs and leading figures from every stage of the investment cycle.
The Entrepreneur of the Year award went to Samir Desai of Funding Circle and online property lending and investment platform LendInvest was announced as Europe’s Allstar Company.
This year’s event also saw the introduction of a new category, the Tech4Good award, which was won by CoderDojo, the volunteer-led global network providing free computer programming clubs for young people.
“The awards demonstrate that European tech is becoming a powerful force on the global stage,” GP Bullhound managing partner Manish Madhvani said.
“The collective ambition, talent, and innovation of the leaders gathered last night will drive the industry to new milestones in the year to come.”
Christian Faes, co-founder and CEO of LendInvest, added: “We are delighted to receive this recognition of the growth, success and ambition of LendInvest. The level of competition shown by each of the Allstar companies reflects the exceptional talent that is thriving throughout European tech.”
The full list of award winners is:
Exit of the Year: Skyscanner (Scottish Equity Partners)
Growth and Buyout Fund of the Year: Livingbridge
Entrepreneur of the Year: Samir Desai (Funding Circle)
VC Fund of the Year: Idinvest Partners
Europe’s Allstar Company: LendInvest
Corporate Development Team of the Year: Sage Group
Investor of the Year: Benoist Grossmann (Idinvest Partners)
VCT of the Year: Octopus Ventures Specialist
Debt Provider of the Year: Kreos Capital
Seed Fund of the Year: LocalGlobe
Service Provider of the Year: Orrick
Tech4Good Award: CoderDojo Foundation (part of Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Digital Innovation in Art: Articheck
The Investor Allstars Awards 2017 are sponsored by Orrick, .ART, Barclays, Berenberg, Bird & Bird, Calibre One, Cooley, JAG Shaw Baker, Shoosmiths and Taylor Wessing, alongside a media partnership with CNBC.