# Nick Hynes

> Nick Hynes is a seed investor in London backing Mobile, iOS and Rental. See 4 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 4
- Last investment: Nov 2017
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-hynes-62802348/

Nick Hynes is a seed investor in London focused on Mobile and iOS. A true business visionary, Nick has established some of the most successful fast-growth digital companies of the last two decades. In recognition of his contribution to the digital industry, he was recently shortlisted as one of the top 20 most influential and inspirational Britons in the BIMA Digital Hall of Fame.Nick founded Somo in 2009 withCarl Uminski to help companies make sense of the huge opportunities and the disruptive potential of mobile technology. In his role as CEO, Nick defines the overall strategy, has recruited the team, and shaped the culture of Somo, establishing corporate-scale governance in this rapid-growth business.Nick was formerly CEO and owner of The IMW Group, comprising search marketing agency, The Search Works, and digital tech business, The Technology Works. He launched operations across Asia, with offices in Tokyo and Seoul, and established The Search Works as Europe’s largest search agency, before the group was acquired by TradeDoubler AB in 2007 for $112 million.Before that, Nick was founder, CEO and President of Overture Europe. Here he launched the paid search industry in Europe, building Overture from a start up to an established billion dollar business across 16 countries, in just 30 months. Acquiring AltaVista FAST Technology Search along the way, Overture secured exclusive, multi-year distribution deals with every premium portal and ISP in Europe. The company was sold for $1.63 billion to Yahoo! in 2003 and became Yahoo! Search Marketing.In his early career, Nick created the electronic points system for Air Miles, transforming a struggling paper voucher business into a $62 million per annum profitable business in four years. Nick developed and implemented Air Miles loyalty schemes across NatWest, BT and Vodafone (building their first customer database). He also introduced the world’s first national Smart Card programme for Shell, and the ‘Reward’ loyalty scheme for Sainsbury’s.Nick’s career began as a fast-track graduate at British Airways, where he led a number of global initiatives. Appointed as BA’s youngest senior manager at the age of 29, he was sponsored by the airline to complete an MBA at the University of Bath in 1992.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mobile | 2 | 50% |
| iOS | 1 | 25% |
| Rental | 1 | 25% |
| Android | 1 | 25% |
| Software | 1 | 25% |

13 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 25% |
| Series A | 1 | 25% |
| Series B | 1 | 25% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 25% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Howsy | Howsy is a real estate management platform that provides repairs management and renewal services for landlords and tenants. Howsy. A new concept designed to shake up the way of renting works for good. Its on a mission to create a simple, intuitive and fairly priced experience that’s powered by new ideas and brilliant technology. |  |  | Nov 08, 2017 |  |
| SwiftKey | SwiftKey is a technology company that aims to enhance interaction between keyboards and people. It upgrades smartphone keyboards to make typing faster, by utilizing artificial intelligence to learn from each user in order to autocorrect and predict their next word. The SwiftKey Keyboard for Android supports more than 80 languages.SwiftKey wasfounded by Ben Medlock and Jon Reynolds in 2008 and is based in London, United Kingdom. | $17.5M | Series B | Sep 04, 2013 |  |
| Adbrain | Adbrain is a global leader in resolving customer identity for marketers and their partners across people, places and devices. | $1.5M | Seed | May 01, 2013 |  |
| SwiftKey | SwiftKey is a technology company that aims to enhance interaction between keyboards and people. It upgrades smartphone keyboards to make typing faster, by utilizing artificial intelligence to learn from each user in order to autocorrect and predict their next word. The SwiftKey Keyboard for Android supports more than 80 languages.SwiftKey wasfounded by Ben Medlock and Jon Reynolds in 2008 and is based in London, United Kingdom. |  | Series A | Dec 07, 2011 |  |

4 of 4 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Cambridge Capital Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cambridge-capital-group) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Octopus Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/octopus-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Accel](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/accel) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Index Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/index-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Notion Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/notion-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## Featured in investor lists
- [Mobile Angel Investors in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/mobile-angel-investors-united-kingdom)
- [Android Angel Investors in United Kingdom](https://shizune.co/investors/android-angel-investors-united-kingdom)
- [Android Angel Investors in Europe](https://shizune.co/investors/android-angel-investors-europe)

## FAQ

### What does Nick Hynes invest in?

Nick Hynes invests primarily in Mobile, iOS and Rental startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 4 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 Nick Hynes last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Nick Hynes closed in Nov 2017. Shizune tracks 4 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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