Omnea launches Venture Fund with Firedrop to back its employees as future founders

AI-native procurement orchestration platform Omnea has announced the launch of the Omnea Future Founders Fund, a new initiative designed to help employees become entrepreneurs by providing up to $250,000 in seed funding to launch their own businesses after five years with the company.

Created in partnership with European angel investment firm Firedrop, the programme gives eligible employees the opportunity to pitch directly to Omnea founder and CEO Ben Freeman and Firedrop Founder Pietro Invernizzi in a single 30-minute meeting, with successful applicants receiving an immediate investment decision. The initiative is intended to position Omnea not only as a destination for ambitious talent but also as a launchpad for the next generation of founders. Freeman believes that working within a fast-growing start-up provides invaluable experience for anyone hoping to build a company of their own.

“Joining a high-growth start-up is often the ideal way to practise building one of your own. People who want to start their businesses in the future are looking for an environment that allows them to develop the skills they need and to provide a launchpad. Omnea does exactly this. And that is why we have the confidence to invest in any long-serving Omnean who chooses to go on that path.”

Successful applicants will receive considerably more than financial backing. Alongside the seed investment, founders will gain access to workspace, operational support, executive coaching from Omnea’s leadership team and introductions to an extensive network of experienced entrepreneurs, operators and investors. That network includes former Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson, Asana COO Anne Raimondi, Sana CEO Joel Hellermark and Wise CTO Harsh Sinha.

Pietro Invernizzi says the partnership reflects the type of people Omnea attracts and develops. “Omnea attracts and develops the kind of operators who become great founders: they work hard, care deeply, think outside the box, and make decisions with a longer time horizon. These are all qualities that early stage investors actively look for. We believe Omnea can be a launchpad for the next generation of ambitious founders, and we’re excited to partner to help make that happen.”

Founded in London four years ago, Omnea has grown rapidly to almost 200 employees across London and New York, establishing itself as one of Europe’s fastest-growing technology businesses. Its recruitment process reflects its focus on attracting exceptional talent, with more than 10,000 candidates interviewed to fill its first 50 roles.Today, around 15% of Omnea employees have previously founded businesses, including Arie Barendrecht, founder and former CEO of WiredScore, Ben Champion, co-founder of Fygo, and Chris Mansfield, co-founder and CEO of GoodCourse.

Freeman believes this entrepreneurial culture naturally creates future founders. “When you build a team of ambitious, hard-working, and entrepreneurial people, some of them are inevitably going to want to start their own companies one day. I saw that first hand among my Tessian alumni-founder peers – including ElevenLabs’ Piotr Dabkowski, Maze’s Harry Wetherald, and Tracebit’s Andy Smith. “If we can provide the structure, network and initial capital injection that will help these exceptional people get their businesses off the ground faster, that’s a great outcome.”

The initiative reflects a growing trend among technology companies that increasingly view entrepreneurship as part of the employee journey rather than something to prevent. Rather than losing talented staff to the startup ecosystem, businesses like Omnea are embracing the opportunity to help create the next wave of founders. The programme has also received support from Omnea investor Accel.

Sonali De Rycker, Partner at Accel and a board member at Omnea, believes the skills developed inside high-growth companies translate naturally into entrepreneurship. “The traits Omnea looks for in its employees are strikingly similar to the traits that make great founders. People who operate with rigour, urgency, and ownership develop an incredible foundation for entrepreneurship. While we expect most people to stay at Omnea for a long time given the trajectory the company is on, some will eventually decide to start companies of their own. Creating a pathway to support that makes a lot of sense.”

Founded in London with offices in New York City, Omnea develops an AI-native procurement orchestration platform that enables organisations to manage purchasing requests, approvals, suppliers and spend through a single workflow.

The company has raised more than $75 million from investors including Accel, Entrepreneur First, First Round Capital, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, Point Nine and Prosus. Its customer base includes Spotify, MongoDB, Synthesia and many of the world’s fastest-growing businesses.

For Firedrop, which invests between £100,000 and £350,000 in early-stage companies across Europe and the US, the partnership offers access to a pipeline of entrepreneurs who have already gained experience scaling one of Europe’s fastest-growing technology companies.

As competition for entrepreneurial talent intensifies, Omnea’s Future Founders Fund represents a distinctive approach to recruitment, retention and innovation—supporting employees not only while they build Omnea, but also when they are ready to build something of their own.