The Team

Howard Watt

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.

Areas of Expertise

Venture Capital

Mergers & Acquisitions

Corporate Law

Call +447734038001 Email howard.watt@fladgate.com Social LinkedIn

Our Service

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.

Outside of the office you will most likely find me being overrun by my three kids or seeking respite in the nearest gym or cigar bar.

Experience

Featured Work

Fladgate x Financial Times

How can emerging companies navigate the world of private capital?

Case Study

Supporting Midnite’s Journey with $35 Million Series C Investment

Advising Atomico on leading investment rounds into Infarm, Graphcore, PsiQuantum, Healx, Zapp, Arculus, Labgenius and Qatalog (among others).

Acting for Tripledot Studios on its $78m Series A investment from Access Industries, Eldridge Industries, and Lightspeed Partners.

Advising the selling shareholders of Drover Limited (including Target Global, Autotech, Cherry Ventures, Version One, Forward Partners, Partech, BP Ventures, FOMCAP, RTP Global, Rider Global, Channel 4 Ventures and Shell Ventures) on the sale of Drover Limited to Cazoo.

Acting for Draper Esprit on leading investment rounds into Ieso Digital Health, Hadean Supercomputing, Endomag, Agora.V

Howard Watt eats, sleeps and speaks VC. He knows the market, knows the players and is ever reliable to deliver deals on time and under budget. We have been working with Howard for five years and each year he continues to improve and impress. He has built a great practice and his ever growing roster of the best VC funds in the market is a testament to his ability to engender trust and execute flawlessly when called to do so.

The team at Fladgate LLP, particularly individuals such as Howard Watt, exemplifies exceptional commercial awareness, going above and beyond to serve our needs. Their dedication, expertise and keen understanding of the commercial landscape have been instrumental in delivering outstanding results for us. Howard possesses a deep understanding of market dynamics, enabling them to provide strategic advice that is both legally sound and commercially astute.

Howard's commercial awareness is exceptional, enabling him to provide advice that is not only legally sound but also strategically aligned with our business objectives.

Howard is not only an excellent lawyer but he is also extremely commercial. He has the ability to synthesise his client’s risk appetite and view things through a lens of pragmatism.