Errol Damelin
About Errol Damelin
Errol Damelin grew up in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and is based in London. According to his own site, his first venture was Barzelan, a steel wire manufacturer in Israel. He then moved to London and founded Supply Chain Connect in 2000, a hosted, cloud-based supply chain software company. He sold it to ChemConnect in 2005.
His site says he founded Wonga in 2006. Wikipedia dates the co-founding to 2007. Wonga was an online lender that was widely criticised for the very high interest rates on its short-term loans. His site says he resigned as CEO in November 2013, and Wikipedia reports that Wonga went into administration on 30 August 2018. He later co-founded Tide, a digital banking platform for small businesses, in 2015.
His recognition as a founder includes TechCrunch Founder of the Year (2010), The Guardian's Digital Entrepreneur of the Year (2011) and Ernst & Young's UK Entrepreneur of the Year (2011). He invests through Dust Road Ventures. His site describes an earlier investing banner called Rhythm Ventures as its precursor. The Dust Road site says he founded the firm in 2024.
Damelin says he has made more than 75 investments since 2011, almost all as first or second cheques. His early investments include Wise (pre-revenue), Purplebricks (where he was first investor), Cazoo, K Health, YuLife, Zoe, Farewill, Citymapper, HiBob, Elliptic, Demyst, Lendingkart and VivaReal. He also lists Earnin and Cleo AI in his portfolio.
Crunchbase shows a smaller, partial record: 35 investments, 33 portfolio companies, 13 exits (3 by IPO) and no lead investments. Founders should treat the 75+ figure as his own count. Crunchbase's Zoe entry lists a funding round on 10 August 2018 with Damelin and Tim Kendall as investors.
He invests his own money. Crunchbase says he is not an institutional VC fund and does not try to maximise assets under management. His site describes the capital as permanent, with no fund lifecycle and no LP base. He calls his approach "Riding Shotgun".
AI is one of the four sectors Dust Road names as a focus, alongside fintech, health-tech and enterprise software. His public portfolio contains AI-related companies, including Cleo AI (a consumer fintech) and K Health (health-tech). Public sources do not give investment dates or round details for his AI deals, so none are stated here.
His X bio lists Wise, HiBob and Cleo as seed investments. His site says he backs founders with deep domain expertise who are building technology the market does not yet know it needs. It also says the bar is set by who the founder is and what problem they have already lived inside, not by round size or deck format.
Dust Road says it invests at seed stage, usually as the first or second cheque, in fintech, AI, health-tech and enterprise software. It is globally active, with concentration in the UK and Europe, Israel and the United States. His X bio gives London and Tel Aviv as his locations. His LinkedIn summary, as quoted on NFX Signal, says he invests at pre-seed and seed.
Dust Road's site says only that cheque sizes are small. NFX Signal lists an investment range of $25K to $750K with a $500K sweet spot. That is a third-party listing, so confirm it with him directly.
His writing on the dust-road thesis describes backing companies whose market has not yet formed a view, where the founder has already started building and consensus has not arrived.
- Wise: international money transfer, invested pre-revenue; now listed on the London Stock Exchange.
- Purplebricks: online estate agent, where he was the first investor.
- Tide: business banking platform for SMEs, co-founded by Damelin in 2015.
- Wonga: online lender he co-founded; he resigned as CEO in November 2013.
- K Health: health-tech company, an early investment.
- Cleo AI: consumer fintech assistant, listed in his portfolio.
- HiBob: HR software, listed as a seed investment on his X bio.
- Cazoo: online used-car retailer, an early investment.
- Citymapper: urban transport app, an early investment.
- Elliptic: blockchain analytics, listed in his portfolio.
- YuLife: insurance and employee wellbeing, an early investment.
- Zoe: nutrition science company; Crunchbase lists a round on 10 August 2018 with Damelin as an investor.
- Earnin: earned-wage access app, listed in his portfolio.
Investing activity
Errol Damelin has made 35 investments according to Crunchbase across 33 portfolio companies, and has seen 13 exits, 3 of them by IPO and founded 3 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Errol Damelin
Does Errol Damelin invest in AI startups?
Yes. AI is one of the four sectors Dust Road Ventures lists, alongside fintech, health-tech and enterprise software. His portfolio includes Cleo AI and K Health.
What stage does Errol Damelin invest at?
Seed, usually as the first or second cheque. His LinkedIn summary also mentions pre-seed. Crunchbase records no lead investments.
How much does Errol Damelin invest per startup?
Dust Road's site says only that cheques are small. NFX Signal lists $25K to $750K with a $500K sweet spot, but that is a third-party listing and not a stated policy.
Does Errol Damelin invest outside the UK?
Yes. Dust Road is globally active, with concentration in the UK and Europe, Israel and the United States.
What does Errol Damelin look for in founders?
His site says he backs founders with deep domain expertise who have already lived inside the problem. He is interested in markets that consensus has not yet reached.
How do I contact Errol Damelin to pitch?
His site lists ed@dustroad.vc, his LinkedIn and his X account for investment enquiries, and says it has no forms or scheduling links.
Is Errol Damelin an angel investor?
Yes. Errol Damelin invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 35 investments and 13 exits.
Where is Errol Damelin based?
Errol Damelin is based in London, England, United Kingdom.
How can founders reach Errol Damelin?
Founders on Lounge can see Errol Damelin's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Errol Damelin to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.