In this Telescope Lens Q&A, we talk with Alliot Cole, Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures, a pan-European venture fund based in London. Cole shares how his work with early-stage founders connects to Telescope’s vision, why precision agriculture excites him as a breakthrough for resilience and prosperity, and how networks and community remain central to scaling innovation across Europe and beyond.
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What do you work on daily, and how is that work connected to Telescope?
I have a wonderful job. I work with founders and entrepreneurs each week to help them with the issues of the day. We're an early stage investor in technology companies where founders are trying to bring bleeding edge technology and development to market. And that is hard. And my job as an investor is to help them in whichever way I can. And often that is bringing to bear relevant network experience, expertise, more often not from other portfolio companies and making the right introduction at the right time.
Is there one idea in particular that you’ve come across recently that you think could really change the world for the better?
In particular, I'm interested in precision agriculture. With the advent of AI sensors and robots or drones, we really have the opportunity now to enable farmers to grow more with much fewer chemicals. And that's going to be great for everyone because it means we're going to have the opportunity to have a more resilient supply chain and also better tasting food more frequently at a lower cost.
How does that kind of targeted agriculture, leveraging AI and modern robotics technology, make the world more prosperous?
With the advent of sensors, AI, drone technology and robots, we have the opportunity to use far fewer fertilizers and chemicals in the production of food, which will make us a healthier society. It also offers the opportunity for farmers to increase their yields on the same land and possibly make food more available more consistently at lower prices, and that will make for a more prosperous society.”
What changes do you think could really open the door to more innovation in the public good?
One of the most important foundations of any innovation economy is people and talent. The more that particularly the UK government can do to attract the brightest and the best to come to London, to come to the UK, to start, create and scale startups, the more vibrant this ecosystem will become and the greater the output.
How can we do a better job of finding and lifting up emerging or non-traditional talent?
One of the challenges in the European venture capital industry is the scarcity of capital flowing to minority groups, particularly female founders. This is a huge missed opportunity. We must do more to address this imbalance. This starts, I believe, with attracting, recruiting, retaining, promoting more female investors into the leading European venture capital funds. The more we do that, the greater the chances, I believe, of venture capital flowing into communities within our economy who may well see the world differently. And with that opportunity, we have the chance to bring all sorts of innovation to market, which currently we're overlooking.
At Telescope, we talk a lot about building networks, not just backing individuals. Have you seen that approach in your own work?
I firmly believe that network and community, who you know, how you're connected and the strength of that network is absolutely vital, particularly in the startup ecosystem. And what's been so encouraging to see in the last 15 years since I've been investing, is the emergence of a fantastic peer-to-peer community in London and more broadly in Europe. Founders trust other founders and investors to help one another.
Watch a video clip from the interview on our YouTube channel
