Main Set Research
Investment Thesis
Main Set is a London-based venture capital firm that backs category-defining companies at the technological frontier of financial services. Its stated mission is to invest in fintech and adjacent SaaS companies solving a real and significant customer problem, where the result at scale is a category and not a feature. The firm describes its approach as disciplined and data-led, drawing on proprietary research and data to find companies before the market reaches consensus. It makes minority investments in the UK, Europe and the US.
Main Set screens on four criteria published on its site: world-class people with deep domain knowledge, a business that is post-revenue and ready to scale, a genuine and significant problem within financial services, and a defensible moat built on technology, data, distribution, network effects or regulatory positioning.
Stage Focus
The site lists stage as Early & Growth. Third-party descriptions put the firm at late seed through early Series C. In practice the portfolio looks like seed to Series A entries (WealthOS seed in 2024, finmid Series A extension in 2026) into companies that already have revenue. Pre-revenue idea-stage companies are outside the stated criteria.
Check Size
The firm does not publish check sizes. The WealthOS seed was a GBP 4M round of which Main Set supplied about GBP 2M. The debut fund targets GBP 40M, so cheques are likely in the low single-digit millions of pounds. This is an inference, not a stated figure.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Main Set co-led the EUR 17M finmid Series A extension with Big Pi Ventures alongside Earlybird, and was the non-lead partner in the WealthOS seed, which Barclays led. It is best treated as a co-lead or lead-capable investor that is comfortable following a strategic or institutional lead.
Recent Activity
- October 2026: co-led finmid's EUR 17M Series A extension (embedded lending, vehicle and marketplace financing) with Big Pi Ventures, with Earlybird participating.
- April 2025: announced a GBP 14M first close of its debut fund, targeting GBP 40M, anchored by Capricorn Capital Partners. Before this the firm invested deal by deal.
- 2025 and 2026 entries on the portfolio page: Griffin Bank, ScaleUp Finance (Nume), Fintech Farm, finmid and Paypercut.
- Two exits listed from the earlier deal-by-deal book: WealthOS (acquired by J.P. Morgan) and Freetrade (acquired by IG Group).
The fund looks to be actively deploying, with at least five new names added across 2025 and 2026.
Portfolio Highlights
The site lists 10 companies, 2 exits, 5 geographies and 6 sectors:
- Griffin Bank: UK neobank and banking-as-a-service platform with a full UK banking licence (2025).
- Databento: institutional market data provider with 7,500+ clients (US, 2024).
- Anyfin: Stockholm-based AI lender refinancing consumer loans (2024).
- ScaleUp Finance (Nume): agentic AI CFO platform for scaleups and SMEs (UK, 2025).
- Sprout.ai: AI claims automation for insurers (UK, 2024).
- Fintech Farm: builds and operates neobanks in emerging markets for traditional banks (UK, 2026).
- finmid: embedded SME lending infrastructure with partners including Wolt, Glovo and Bolt (Germany, 2026).
- Paypercut: single-integration checkout and BNPL aggregation across CEE and Europe (Bulgaria, 2026).
- WealthOS: wealth management infrastructure, acquired by J.P. Morgan (exit).
- Freetrade: commission-free UK investing app, acquired by IG Group (exit).
Team
- Ioto Iotov, Founder and Managing Partner. Founded Main Set in 2023. Career across Capricorn Capital Partners UK, AfricInvest and Barclays. MBA Columbia, MSc Erasmus.
- Ivan Wong: leads sourcing and investment analysis. Previously a Vanguard index specialist and at Rockpool Capital in Hong Kong. MSc Data Science, Bath.
- Ross Conway: finance, investor relations and fund operations. Previously Deloitte financial advisory and audit.
- Rebecca Tse: portfolio development, ESG and operations. Wharton MBA, started at McKinsey in financial services strategy.
- Carl-Olav Scheible: 25+ years in payments, lending and financial infrastructure. Founding CEO of ClearPay Finance, early European BNPL. American Express and BCG alumnus.
The firm also uses a network of eight venture scouts and a dedicated venture partner, per the April 2025 fund announcement. Individual titles other than Iotov's are not published on the site; those shown are inferred from the role descriptions.
Decision Process
Not published. Iotov is General Partner and leads the fund, and the team is small, so decisions look concentrated in a lead partner with an analyst-driven sourcing process. Main Set is an Appointed Representative of The Fund Incubator (FCA FRN 208716) and is part of Capricorn Capital Group.
Founder Preferences
Founders with deep domain knowledge in financial services, a validated product with revenue, and a clear moat. Main Set offers operational support in payments, insurtech, wealthtech, CFO tools and neobanking/neolending, and portfolio founders cite its grasp of fintech business models, as Anyfin's CEO did.
Geographic Focus
UK, Europe and the US. The portfolio spans the UK, Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria and the US.