Stafford VC Research
Investment Thesis
Stafford VC is the personal investing vehicle of Matthew Stafford, a London-based angel investor and co-founder of 9others. Its stated focus is investing in AI startups as they start in, or expand to, the USA. The site's tagline is "Using all I've learned hosting good meals with 9others for 15 years to invest in the best." Cosign describes him as backing AI and robotics startups expanding to the USA. This is a one-person operation, not a multi-partner fund, and there is no fund size, AUM or formal fund vehicle disclosed anywhere we could read.
Origin and Sourcing Edge
Matthew co-founded 9others in London on 8 December 2011 with Katie Lewis. 9others began as a monthly dinner for ten entrepreneurs ("yourself and nine others") where each founder shares one challenge under the question "what's keeping you up at night?". It has grown into a founder community of more than 5,000 people. By his own account most of his investments have been sourced from the 9others network. The two co-authored the 2025 book "What's Keeping You Up at Night?". He also writes a weekly Substack, "The Education of a Startup Investor", which in autumn 2026 documents trips to San Francisco and his move toward US-focused investing.
Stage Focus
The site says he invests in startups "as they start in" the USA, which points to early stage (pre-seed and seed). No explicit stage range is published, so stage confidence is low. He has described funding with customers first, and prefers founders who show traction over theory.
Check Size
No check size is published. 9others' team page says he has negotiated investment transactions ranging from 15k GBP to 50m GBP, but this describes deal sizes he has been involved in, not his own cheque, so no check range is recorded.
Lead Tendency
Not disclosed. Treated as unknown; as an angel he is most likely a participant or small lead alongside larger funds.
Recent Activity
The 9others team page and a February 2026 Founders & Funding interview say he has invested in 24 startups, with 5 exits. His Substack (32 posts in the 52-week series by mid-October 2026) shows an active 2026 push into the US market. No individual 2025-2026 investments are named publicly on the readable parts of the site.
Portfolio Highlights
The site's "Investment Portfolio" section is a collapsed toggle that does not render for our readers, so the full portfolio list could not be read. Three named exits appear on the firm's own page:
- Stay One Degree (its Exclusive Homes business acquired by Mandarin Oriental, 2024)
- LiveSmart (acquired by Inuvi, 2023)
- Coconut (acquired by GoSimpleTax, 2023)
A Tracxn page lists one older UK investment (Loot, Series A, 2016), but we could not confirm it is the same person's Stafford VC activity, so it is excluded.
Team
- Matthew Stafford, Founder and sole investor. BSc Computer Science (Durham) and MBA (Imperial College). Earlier career in consulting at RBS and BNY, then Algorithmics and Bravura Solutions, then Pembridge Partnership (Gateway2Investment programme). Founded Collider12 in 2012. Contact: [email protected].
Decision Process
Solo decision maker. He has said he looks for mindset over credentials: founders who figure out the step forward with what they have, and who show real customers ("money from random customers you don't already know"). He avoids neediness and trillion-dollar-market pitches.
Founder Preferences
"I like things that are obscure in the beginning, but then become obvious later." He favours niche, slightly weird markets with a small group of real buyers, and says "investors invest in lines, not dots", so he wants founders to build relationships before they need the money and to show progress over time.
Geographic Focus
US-focused for AI startups that start in or expand into the USA. Based in London, with frequent San Francisco trips, so UK and European founders expanding to the US are the natural fit.
Gaps
No fund size, check size, stage range or full portfolio is published. The portfolio toggle could not be expanded by the readers available, so the portfolio list here is limited to three exits the firm's own page names.