Richard Bolton

Director Strategy & CorpDev @ Checkatrade | ex VC investor

📍 United Kingdom, United Kingdom🔄 Updated October 2026💼 3 investments📅 8 years investing🗓 Last invested Jun 2024
VC🌍 United Kingdom
3
Total investments
0
Early stage
2
Mid stage
1
Late stage
8y
Years active

Portfolio

3 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Board Observer
Jun 2024
Switchee improves the quality of life for people living in rented homes. Switchee delivers real-time data that gives social housing providers the insights and tools needed to support residents and proactively manage homes. These actionable insights enable our customers to optimise energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve resident satisfaction. With a Switchee device installed, residents optimise energy use, lower heating bills by 17% and reduce energy consumption – future proofing homes and driving towards Net Zero. With more than 120 clients across the UK and abroad, our technology is tried and tested with social housing providers. Proudly B Corp™ Certified
Board Observer
Aug 2019
Tes Safeguarding (formerly The Safeguarding Company) is home to Tes comprehensive safeguarding offering. This is led by our high-quality, whole-school safeguarding software, MyConcern which is a sector-leading solution for recording and managing all safeguarding concerns across a school or entire trust. On top of this, we offer over 80 high-quality online training courses covering everything from online safety to data protection. Through Tes Magazine we also cover the latest safeguarding news, advice and opinion from experts in the area. In following this page, expect to see all of the above and much more. To learn more about MyConcern, or our entire safeguarding offerings visit: https://www.tes.com/campaign/total-safeguarding-with-tes
mid stageEducation
Board Observer
Dec 2018
At SimplyCook we want to bring joy to millions of meal times globally through flavour. Our vision is to help create a world where everyone can regularly experience the joy of cooking meals they can be proud of. Launched in 2014, we believe that it should be simple to cook high quality, healthy and delicious new meals from scratch. With close to a million recipe kits sold every month, we want to bring happiness and authentic flavours to our customers. Over the years, our team has grown a lot. Were proud of what were building together and we want to achieve 3 things for our community: - Flavour. We want your meal times to taste amazing. - Money saving. Our short shopping lists mean our customers do not have to spend on 20 ingredients to cook a chef designed recipe. Our meals work out between £2 and £6 per person in total. - Control. Use our kits whenever you want. Recipes take 20 to 30 minutes and the fresh ingredients to add are easily accessible to buy and swappable. With an excellent rating of 4.5* and over 9,000 reviews on Trustpilot, SimplyCook is also part of the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé. A company who is driven by a simple aim: unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. Join SimplyCook and cook new meals from scratch anytime. Fabulous flavour pots and 20 to 30 min recipes through your letterbox. Try for £1 P&P today!
Experience · 6 entries
All (6)
Investments (3)
Founder (1)
Board (3)
2025
Founder
Apr 2025
VCRunClub is Londons first running club for venture capital professionals who want to combine fitness with networking What we offer: - Weekly 5K runs in Regents Park every Tuesday at 7:30 AM - Post-run coffee networking sessions - A supportive community of like-minded professionals
2024
Board Observer
Jun 2024
Switchee improves the quality of life for people living in rented homes. Switchee delivers real-time data that gives social housing providers the insights and tools needed to support residents and proactively manage homes. These actionable insights enable our customers to optimise energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve resident satisfaction. With a Switchee device installed, residents optimise energy use, lower heating bills by 17% and reduce energy consumption – future proofing homes and driving towards Net Zero. With more than 120 clients across the UK and abroad, our technology is tried and tested with social housing providers. Proudly B Corp™ Certified
2020
Investment Manager
May 2020
Octopus Ventures, part of Octopus Group, is one of the largest and most active venture capital investors in the UK and Europe. We’re on a mission to invest in the people, ideas and industries that will change the world. We back entrepreneurs ─ from the first cheque their business receives, right through to IPO. We manage £1.8bn and are investing in more than 200 businesses, focusing on the companies solving three of the world’s biggest problems: those building a sustainable planet, empowering people, and revitalising healthcare. We know what it takes to build a successful business. We support founders through our strong teams, sector expertise and deep networks, using our people and talent to help them build a better tomorrow.
2019
Board Observer
Aug 2019
Tes Safeguarding (formerly The Safeguarding Company) is home to Tes comprehensive safeguarding offering. This is led by our high-quality, whole-school safeguarding software, MyConcern which is a sector-leading solution for recording and managing all safeguarding concerns across a school or entire trust. On top of this, we offer over 80 high-quality online training courses covering everything from online safety to data protection. Through Tes Magazine we also cover the latest safeguarding news, advice and opinion from experts in the area. In following this page, expect to see all of the above and much more. To learn more about MyConcern, or our entire safeguarding offerings visit: https://www.tes.com/campaign/total-safeguarding-with-tes
mid stageEducation
2018
Board Observer
Dec 2018
At SimplyCook we want to bring joy to millions of meal times globally through flavour. Our vision is to help create a world where everyone can regularly experience the joy of cooking meals they can be proud of. Launched in 2014, we believe that it should be simple to cook high quality, healthy and delicious new meals from scratch. With close to a million recipe kits sold every month, we want to bring happiness and authentic flavours to our customers. Over the years, our team has grown a lot. Were proud of what were building together and we want to achieve 3 things for our community: - Flavour. We want your meal times to taste amazing. - Money saving. Our short shopping lists mean our customers do not have to spend on 20 ingredients to cook a chef designed recipe. Our meals work out between £2 and £6 per person in total. - Control. Use our kits whenever you want. Recipes take 20 to 30 minutes and the fresh ingredients to add are easily accessible to buy and swappable. With an excellent rating of 4.5* and over 9,000 reviews on Trustpilot, SimplyCook is also part of the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé. A company who is driven by a simple aim: unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. Join SimplyCook and cook new meals from scratch anytime. Fabulous flavour pots and 20 to 30 min recipes through your letterbox. Try for £1 P&P today!
Show all 6 entries ↓
Investment activity
2018–2024 · 3 investments
201812019120241
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