Mark Payne

Investor | Advisor

📍 Manchester, England, United Kingdom🔄 Updated September 2026💼 4 investments📅 31 years investing🗓 Last invested Jun 2020𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
Operator-angel🌍 United Kingdom
4
Total investments
1
Early stage
0
Mid stage
1
Late stage
31y
Years active

Portfolio

2 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Investor | Mentor
Jun 2017
We are helping UK entrepreneurs build better businesses. 3-6 months of startup support and investment from a global network of founders, mentors and investors. Since 2011 Ignite have supported over 500 founders who have raised over £200m in venture capital from some of the worlds leading investors. Current programme: A funded, 3 month pre-accelerator for idea-stage founders, or founders without an idea, looking to start working on the idea full-time. The pre-accelerator is only open to founders or companies based in the North East (County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear). The pre-accelerator is a 3 month full-time programme that helps entrepreneurs to develop their business idea, launch an MVP, get their first customers and figure out what to do next. We are looking for entrepreneurs who want to solve (or already solving) real-world problems with innovative technology-led ideas. But if you’ve not got an idea but you think entrepreneurship is for you, or you’ve got a skill set that could lend itself to working on building a new business (especially within data and or ageing), we’d love to hear from you. The pre-accelerator programme includes: - £10,000 net investment (structured as a convertible loan) - 3-month course covering product development, marketing, sales, operations, hiring and fundraising - Mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, mentors and investors - 3 months of office space in Newcastle (with the potential for discounts post-programme) - A fast-track to the final interviews of next Ignite accelerator programme (in the following year).
COS | Advisor | Shareholder
Feb 2015
Marketing made easy. Automate social posts, create digital offers, and connect with local customers—all through one platform designed to grow your business.
Experience · 10 entries
All (10)
Investments (3)
Founder (6)
Board (1)
2020
Liverpool Sound City Limited
Board Member
Jun 2020
2017
Investor | Mentor
Jun 2017
We are helping UK entrepreneurs build better businesses. 3-6 months of startup support and investment from a global network of founders, mentors and investors. Since 2011 Ignite have supported over 500 founders who have raised over £200m in venture capital from some of the worlds leading investors. Current programme: A funded, 3 month pre-accelerator for idea-stage founders, or founders without an idea, looking to start working on the idea full-time. The pre-accelerator is only open to founders or companies based in the North East (County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear). The pre-accelerator is a 3 month full-time programme that helps entrepreneurs to develop their business idea, launch an MVP, get their first customers and figure out what to do next. We are looking for entrepreneurs who want to solve (or already solving) real-world problems with innovative technology-led ideas. But if you’ve not got an idea but you think entrepreneurship is for you, or you’ve got a skill set that could lend itself to working on building a new business (especially within data and or ageing), we’d love to hear from you. The pre-accelerator programme includes: - £10,000 net investment (structured as a convertible loan) - 3-month course covering product development, marketing, sales, operations, hiring and fundraising - Mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, mentors and investors - 3 months of office space in Newcastle (with the potential for discounts post-programme) - A fast-track to the final interviews of next Ignite accelerator programme (in the following year).
2015
COS | Advisor | Shareholder
Feb 2015
Marketing made easy. Automate social posts, create digital offers, and connect with local customers—all through one platform designed to grow your business.
2012
Co Founder | COO
Oct 2012
FreshGrade was founded in 2011 by a group of dedicated individuals who saw a better way to communicate a child's progress, and is now used in over 70 countries worldwide and has users across all 50 states. FreshGrade is a learning portfolio platform that promotes student ownership and parent engagement. It allows teachers and students to quickly capture evidence of learning, provide feedback and track progression of national and state standards as well as custom district objectives. The suite of mobile and browser-based applications specifically designed for Pre-K-12 makes learning visible and immediate. Students, teachers, and parents develop a deeper understanding of their achievement and progress with a portfolio that documents the process, not just the product, of learning. "FreshGrade forms a continuous glimpse into each child's progress that parents and students can share."​ — Sir Ken Robinson, Author, Creative Schools.
Co Founder | COO
Oct 2012
FreshGrade was founded in 2011 by a group of dedicated individuals who saw a better way to communicate a child's progress, and is now used in over 70 countries worldwide and has users across all 50 states. FreshGrade is a learning portfolio platform that promotes student ownership and parent engagement. It allows teachers and students to quickly capture evidence of learning, provide feedback and track progression of national and state standards as well as custom district objectives. The suite of mobile and browser-based applications specifically designed for Pre-K-12 makes learning visible and immediate. Students, teachers, and parents develop a deeper understanding of their achievement and progress with a portfolio that documents the process, not just the product, of learning. "FreshGrade forms a continuous glimpse into each child's progress that parents and students can share."​ — Sir Ken Robinson, Author, Creative Schools.
Show all 10 entries ↓
Investment activity
1995–2020 · 4 investments
19951201512017120201
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