# Darren Westlake

> Darren Westlake is a seed investor at Abacus Capital (Exeter) backing Apps and Banking. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Abacus Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/abacus-capital-feec)
- Location: Exeter, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: Oct 2024
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenwestlake/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/dazwest
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daz.westlake
- AngelList: https://angel.co/daz-westlake

Darren Westlake is a seed investor at Abacus Capital in Exeter focused on Apps and Banking. Darren Westlake is the Co-Founder and CEO of Disco. He previously worked at KCOM as a Product Manager. Darren Westlake attended The University of Huddersfield.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Apps | 1 | 33% |
| Banking | 1 | 33% |
| FinTech | 1 | 33% |
| Consumer | 1 | 33% |
| Shopping | 1 | 33% |

10 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 33% |
| Pre-Seed | 1 | 33% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Round Treasury | The all-in-one treasury management platform for startups. Minimise risk and maximise return on excess cash. Earn up to ~5% yield, access hundreds of savings accounts and maximise FSCS protection - all in one place. | $2.1M | Pre-Seed | Oct 08, 2024 |  |
| Basket | Basket is an AI-powered shopping companion transforming online retail into an agentic, ambient experience. By capturing SKU-level purchase intent across 300k+ users, Basket delivers personalised discovery, instant cashback, and automated savings through its universal shopping assistant. Acting as the consumer’s shopping OS, Basket unifieswishlisting, price comparison, gifting, and checkout into one seamless journey, redefining how people shop and how retailers connect with intent-driven audiences. | $3.2M | Seed | Jul 27, 2023 |  |
| Basket | Basket is an AI-powered shopping companion transforming online retail into an agentic, ambient experience. By capturing SKU-level purchase intent across 300k+ users, Basket delivers personalised discovery, instant cashback, and automated savings through its universal shopping assistant. Acting as the consumer’s shopping OS, Basket unifieswishlisting, price comparison, gifting, and checkout into one seamless journey, redefining how people shop and how retailers connect with intent-driven audiences. | $2.8M | Seed | Oct 26, 2021 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Lightbank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lightbank) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [OpenDoor Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/opendoor-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [SyndicateRoom](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/syndicateroom) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Ascension](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ascension-ventures-limited) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Contrarian Thinking Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/contrarian-thinking) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Entrepreneurs First](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/entrepreneur-first) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Abacus Capital

VC Fund



1 contacts available at Abacus Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Darren Westlake | Partner & UK Chairman | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/darren-westlake |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Darren Westlake invest in?

Darren Westlake invests primarily in Apps, Banking and FinTech startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Darren Westlake last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Darren Westlake closed in Oct 2024. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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