Profile
Work Department
Position
I am a corporate transactional partner with a particular focus on UK and European venture capital. My practice is built on providing commercial, pragmatic advice and efficient deal execution to all players in the European venture capital ecosystem.
I have significant experience and expertise in venture capital transactions, having spent time both in-house and in private practice. My deal experience ranges from early/seed stage investments spanning the full life cycle of Series A-D and through to M&A and IPO exits for venture backed companies. I am recognised in the latest Legal 500 and Chambers guides as a leading individual in my field.
I advise angels, founders, companies and many of the leading early stage and growth venture capital funds operating in Europe. My transaction history has covered a wide variety of sectors including fintech, gaming, medical and health tech, SaaS, ad-tech, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, consumer tech, cryptocurrency and blockchain. The investor side of my practice is particularly strong which no doubt can be traced to my 6 years as in-house counsel to a major European growth venture fund. I am often asked to act as ‘outsourced’ general counsel to many of my investor clients for transactions all over the world.
Content supplied by Fladgate LLP
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘A deep understanding of the domain and knowing what needs attention and what does now.’
‘Howard Watt has long-standing experience in the field. He has so frequently executed venture and growth equity deals that he has a finely honed sense of what is normal or not. He also has a great ability to pick and train junior lawyers.’
‘It's about the people, with Howard Watt leading the way. Team is super strong in all relevant legal areas for my business, versatile, strong and proactive communicators. Client-first mentality. No ego.’
‘Howard Watt is extremely commercially-minded and pragmatic.'
‘Janine Suttie is able to be very commercial and technical at the same time in her advice. She is great to work with and made a complicated process feel easier. She was easy to work with, and we came to trust her very quickly.’
Key clients
- Planet First Partners Zouk Capital LLP Kennet VI Master Holdco S.À R.L Vorwerk Ventures IV GmbH & Co. KG ETFS Capital CluedIn ApS Atomico BeyondPlay Limited Bumper International Limited Denham Capital Safi Technologies Limited Shackle Group Unitary Ltd Open Metrics Ltd Makers Fund Tripledot Studios Limited AVP Capital Doccla UK Ltd AXA Venture Partners Alpha Intelligence Capital Fund I Anthemis Bridford Investments Dale Ventures LMC Software Ltd. Round Room Live LLC Ferox Games B.V. Impulse Innovations Limited Lightrock Notion Capital CommerzVentures II Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG Jones Food Company Planet First Partners Zouk Capital LLP Kennet VI Master Holdco S.À R.L Vorwerk Ventures IV GmbH & Co. KG ETFS Capital CluedIn ApS Atomico BeyondPlay Limited Bumper International Limited Denham Capital Safi Technologies Limited Shackle Group Unitary Ltd Open Metrics Ltd Makers Fund Tripledot Studios Limited AVP Capital Doccla UK Ltd AXA Venture Partners Alpha Intelligence Capital Fund I Anthemis Bridford Investments Dale Ventures LMC Software Ltd. Round Room Live LLC Ferox Games B.V. Impulse Innovations Limited Lightrock Notion Capital CommerzVentures II Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG Jones Food Company