Joe Thornton

Tech Investor and Writer

📍 London, England Metropolitan Area, United Kingdom🔄 Updated September 2026💼 7 investments📅 8 years investing🗓 Last invested Jun 2022𝕏 @upgrade_to_unlock
VC🌍 United Kingdom
7
Total investments
4
Early stage
3
Mid stage
0
Late stage
8y
Years active

Portfolio

7 investments · sorted by recency
All investments
Early stage
Mid stage
Late stage
Investor
Jun 2022
Spotted Zebra is an award-winning Interview Intelligence and Assessment platform for forward-thinking enterprise organisations building high-performing, future-ready workforces. In todays landscape, with 3 in 4 businesses facing a widening skills crisis and AI flooding inboxes with automated applications, having the right skilled people in the right roles has never been more challenging. Thats where we come in. Our platform uniquely combines industry-leading skills science, methodology, and AI to help talent teams: - Make quality, data-informed hiring decisions with confidence - Turn AI into an ally and supercharge recruitment efficiency - Operationalise skills-based hiring at scale By automating administrative tasks, streamlining collaboration, and surfacing meaningful talent insights instantly, we empower teams to have more impactful candidate conversations while making objective hiring decisions every time. Trusted by forward-thinking companies like Paramount, Merlin, AWE, and Virgin Media O2, Spotted Zebra helps redefine how great teams are built. Spot the right hire every time with Spotted Zebra.
Investor
Mar 2022
Skiller Whale does live team coaching. This means coaching that is targeted to individual skill gaps for a team-level strategic outcome. Small group sessions are led by an expert engineer who gives individual feedback. No time is spent on skills that people already have, or don’t need for their work - every hour is useful.
mid stageE-learning
Investor
May 2020
Omnipresent was acquired by Deel in October of 2025. Deel is the all-in-one Global People Platform that simplifies and streamlines every aspect of managing an international workforce—from culture and onboarding, to local payroll and compliance. Our industry-leading suite of HR tools, payroll solutions, mobility services, and compliance expertise makes it possible for companies of all sizes to scale globally with unmatched speed and flexibility. Today, Deel serves over 35,000+ companies worldwide—from small teams to publicly traded enterprise businesses.
Investor
Dec 2019
Rensource began commercial operations in 2016. It is a leading renewable energy and merchant services company revolutionizing energy provision in Africa by building and operating clean energy based microutilities. It is Nigeria’s fastest growing provider of off-grid energy, powering the productivity of small and medium size enterprises.
Board Member
Nov 2018
SensorFlow makes smart energy-efficient hotels a reality. Our wireless room automation & energy management solutions are flexible, easy to install and have provided proven energy savings of up to 30% per room per year. Our goal is to make the world a greener place and develop new innovative, affordable sustainable solutions - starting with hotels. Lets make smart and sustainable buildings a reality.
early stageHospitality
Board Observer
Feb 2018
Kare Knowledgeware was acquired by Dialpad. Kare is on a mission to make information understandable to every human, starting with being the first platform to fulfil the promise of Scaleable Smart Self Service by bootstrapping or converting and dynamically maintaining your legacy knowledge base instantly. We achieve this through our proprietary platform built through years of research using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language understanding. Find out more at www.karehq.com. Awards & Accolades: '20 Most Promising CEM Solution Providers for 2018'​ - CIO Review 'Best Innovation In Deep Learning'​ 2017 AIconics Awards 'Best AI Startup'​ - 2016 AIconics Awards
Board Observer
Jan 2018
Learnerbly is a Workplace Learning Platform. We work with organisations to create a progressive learning culture that empowers their people to own their development, guides them towards the best learning opportunities, and supports them in applying their learnings. Were hiring too - check our live roles: https://www.learnerbly.com/about-us
Experience · 11 entries
All (11)
Investments (7)
Founder (1)
Board (3)
2023
Founder
Jul 2023
Betting on humans in the age of the imagination.
2022
Investor
Jun 2022
Spotted Zebra is an award-winning Interview Intelligence and Assessment platform for forward-thinking enterprise organisations building high-performing, future-ready workforces. In todays landscape, with 3 in 4 businesses facing a widening skills crisis and AI flooding inboxes with automated applications, having the right skilled people in the right roles has never been more challenging. Thats where we come in. Our platform uniquely combines industry-leading skills science, methodology, and AI to help talent teams: - Make quality, data-informed hiring decisions with confidence - Turn AI into an ally and supercharge recruitment efficiency - Operationalise skills-based hiring at scale By automating administrative tasks, streamlining collaboration, and surfacing meaningful talent insights instantly, we empower teams to have more impactful candidate conversations while making objective hiring decisions every time. Trusted by forward-thinking companies like Paramount, Merlin, AWE, and Virgin Media O2, Spotted Zebra helps redefine how great teams are built. Spot the right hire every time with Spotted Zebra.
Investor
Mar 2022
Skiller Whale does live team coaching. This means coaching that is targeted to individual skill gaps for a team-level strategic outcome. Small group sessions are led by an expert engineer who gives individual feedback. No time is spent on skills that people already have, or don’t need for their work - every hour is useful.
mid stageE-learning
2020
Investor
May 2020
Omnipresent was acquired by Deel in October of 2025. Deel is the all-in-one Global People Platform that simplifies and streamlines every aspect of managing an international workforce—from culture and onboarding, to local payroll and compliance. Our industry-leading suite of HR tools, payroll solutions, mobility services, and compliance expertise makes it possible for companies of all sizes to scale globally with unmatched speed and flexibility. Today, Deel serves over 35,000+ companies worldwide—from small teams to publicly traded enterprise businesses.
2019
Investor
Dec 2019
Rensource began commercial operations in 2016. It is a leading renewable energy and merchant services company revolutionizing energy provision in Africa by building and operating clean energy based microutilities. It is Nigeria’s fastest growing provider of off-grid energy, powering the productivity of small and medium size enterprises.
Show all 11 entries ↓
Investment activity
2018–2022 · 7 investments
20183201912020120222
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