BACKED VC PHOTO ESSAY

Backed VC, the London-based early-stage fund founded by Andre de Haes and Alex Brunicki, gave Dan Taylor exclusive access to their East London office to mark the announcement of two new funds totalling €150 million: a €75 million seed fund and a €75 million follow-on fund. The resulting piece, written and photographed by Dan Taylor, ran on Tech.eu as both an interview and a photo essay.

Working as writer and photographer on the same assignment meant the photography had to do more than illustrate a press release. Backed's office told its own version of the firm's story: an open floor plan with long shared tables instead of partner offices, a neon sign, a gallery wall of band posters and counterculture prints, and a framed manifesto flag reading "Put People First," "Be An Apprentice," "Bring Good Energy," and "Push The Limits."

A wall of pinned Polaroids from years of AGMs and portfolio gatherings gave the space a lived-in, community feel that matched what came out in the interview: both founders spoke about their own roots in counterculture, Alex referencing Burning Man and Andre citing London's Fabric nightclub, framing Backed's community-first model as an extension of that same instinct rather than a marketing line.

Portraits of the founding partners were shot candidly in the office rather than posed against a plain backdrop, using the building's original windows and exposed brick for natural light and texture, keeping the images consistent with the rest of the photo essay rather than looking like a separate headshot session bolted onto the piece.

The published piece paired this photography with reporting on the firm's track record: four exits, three unicorns (Thought Machine, Sky Mavis, Immutable X), and an 80% investor return rate, giving readers of Tech.eu both the numbers behind the funding news and a sense of the culture producing them.