Building better relationships between founders and investors.
That's the mission behind Canopy Community and the Investor Circle podcast.
We believe great founders can come from anywhere.
But too often, investment feels confusing, inaccessible or reserved for people with the right networks, introductions or experience.
We're here to change that.
In each episode, host Stewart Noakes sits down with angel investors, venture capitalists, family offices, fund managers and leaders from across the startup ecosystem to explore what really happens behind investment decisions.
Together they uncover the conversations that rarely happen in public.
- What makes an investor believe in a founder?
- Why do some startups raise funding while others don't?
- How do experienced investors assess opportunity, risk and character?
- What does a great investment relationship actually look like?
These aren't pitch competitions. They're honest conversations about trust.
Every guest brings a different perspective. Some have built and exited companies before becoming investors. Others manage funds, support founders or shape the wider investment ecosystem.
Each conversation reveals how experience, judgement and empathy influence every investment decision.
Our hope is simple.
One conversation at a time, we want founders to better understand investors, and investors to better understand founders.
Because raising investment isn't simply about finding capital.
It's about building confidence. Building credibility. And building relationships that can last for many years.
Whether you're validating your MVP, finding customers, preparing your first funding round, investing through SEIS, launching your own fund or simply curious about how early-stage investing really works, Investor Circle shares practical lessons from people who have built businesses, invested their own money and experienced both sides of the table.
The conversations go beyond term sheets and valuations.
They explore integrity, due diligence, storytelling, resilience, customer validation, exits, AI, governance, failure, and the decisions that shape successful companies long before the investment is made.
Produced by Canopy Community, one of Europe's leading startup communities, Investor Circle is part of a bigger mission:
To leverage entrepreneurship as a tool for social mobility by making investment more transparent, more relatable and more accessible to the next generation of founders and investors.
Because every investment starts long before money changes hands.
It starts with curiosity.
It grows through trust.
And sometimes, one conversation is all it takes for a founder to find belief, or for an investor to discover the person they've been looking for all along.
🎙️ Follow Investor Circle for new episodes as they drop.
🌱 Learn more about Canopy Community: https://www.canopy.community/
👋 Connect with Stewart Noakes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartnoakes/
📺 Watch every episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@canopycommunity617
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With over 25 years of experience, I am the Co-Founder and Fund Leader of #Sotavento Invest and the Circular Hub Algarve, focusing on supporting startups in South Portugal.
My work centers on providing impact investing, #SMARTmoney, and fostering innovation. I have helped finance and co-create value in pre-seed and seed-stage startups, connecting them to the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.