# David Smith

> David Smith is a seed investor at DSW Ventures (Manchester) backing Marketing and Market Research. See 5 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [DSW Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dow-schofield-watts-angels)
- Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 5
- Last investment: Jan 2021
- Lead investor: 40%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-smith-a949917

David Smith is a seed investor at DSW Ventures in Manchester focused on Marketing and Market Research. Mr. David Smith is a Director at Dow Schofield Watts since June 2016. Previously, he was an Investment Director at the North West Fund for digital and creative. He has worked in venture capital, stock broking and corporate finance with companies including 3i and KPMG. He has 25 years’ experience of equity investing and lead advisory corporatefinance, working in venture capital and private equity. He has extensive experience in investing and corporate finance, specializing particularly in software, IT services and media. He has supported many software, IT services, creative and media companies from early stage funding through to IPO or sale. Mr. Smith qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and has a BSc in Managerial and Administrative Studies from Aston University.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Marketing | 2 | 40% |
| Market Research | 2 | 40% |
| Media and Entertainment | 2 | 40% |
| News | 1 | 20% |
| Events | 1 | 20% |

9 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 2 | 40% |
| Angel | 2 | 40% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 20% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Poptop | Poptop is a global entertainment booking service provider. | $576K |  | Jan 14, 2021 |  |
| Poptop | Poptop is a global entertainment booking service provider. | $602K | Seed | Jan 14, 2021 |  |
| Poptop UK | Poptop is a markeplace of curated event packages and entertainment ideas for planners of private events, who do not want to hire event agencies. | $600.5K | Seed | Jan 13, 2021 |  |
| The Insights Family | The Insights Family is the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence, and we have an unrivaled ability to understand their attitudes, behaviors, and consumption. Our role is to translate our expertise and insight into your business in a highly accessible way to help you boost your performance. All of our tech is self built andis used to serve both our propriety and client data. | $603K | Angel | Aug 11, 2020 |  |
| The Insights Family | The Insights Family is the global leader in kids, parents, and family market intelligence, and we have an unrivaled ability to understand their attitudes, behaviors, and consumption. Our role is to translate our expertise and insight into your business in a highly accessible way to help you boost your performance. All of our tech is self built andis used to serve both our propriety and client data. | $645.4K | Angel | Aug 11, 2020 |  |

5 of 5 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Northstar Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/northstar-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

## About DSW Ventures

VC Fund · Manchester, United Kingdom

DSW Ventures made its first investment in 2018 and is an investor in early-stage scale-up businesses requiring venture funding of more than £250,000, primarily on an EIS basis. It is funded by a growing network of high-net-worth angel investors. DSW Ventures is the trading style of DSW Angels LLP, which is part of the Dow Schofield Watts Group. DSWVentures is a partner in British Business Investments’ £100m Regional Angels Programme, designed to help reduce regional imbalances in access to early stage equity finance for smaller businesses across the UK.

4 contacts available at DSW Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Keith Benson | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/keith-benson-e2e0 |
| David Smith | Founding Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/david-smith-10 |
| Doug Quinn | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/doug-quinn-59bf |
| James Reston | Investment Manager | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/james-reston-6d4b |

## 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 David Smith invest in?

David Smith invests primarily in Marketing, Market Research and Media and Entertainment startups, most often at Seed and Angel stage. Most of the 5 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 David Smith last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for David Smith closed in Jan 2021. Shizune tracks 5 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.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co