Not one to take the conventional path, Cyril Lutterodt has overcome many challenges as a Black engineer, entrepreneur and now managing partner of a fund. A champion of application over theory, Cyril took on the Newton Fellowship Program while raising a fund. Here’s his story.

Challenging the system

Growing up in Ghana, Cyril moved to the UK as an older child and this gave him the hunger and drive to improve his living situation. “When you come to the UK, you see what you can have and that you can achieve more.”

Cyril was creative as a child.

“I was MacGyver-ish, creating makeshift contraptions and experiments. It was when I got to secondary school that I had more opportunities to try new things.

“My first business was filming music videos with a friend. We launched when YouTube was new and it was a success, so we sold the channel while I was still in secondary school and after that, I looked at going to university.”

Cyril’s father urged him to look outside the UK for higher education as he didn’t feel inner-city London had been the best place to grow up. With his eye on the US, Cyril achieved top SAT scores and was awarded a scholarship at the University of Texas at Arlington.

“This is where I discovered my love for machine learning and AI. I was a freshman at college and had access to the research lab. I wanted to be a part of it, focusing on robotics. The lab was working with the National Institute of Health and they were giving huge grants.” 

Cyril wanted a piece of the pie so built his second company, Neu Robotics, focusing on drones - a new technology at the time. He was frustrated at the often 10-year lag between research and going to market, so he went out on his own.

“I needed investment and being a part of a fraternity, there were a lot of finance guys, so they connected me to their fathers and other key investors. I pitched to them and raised $50,000.”

Building and running a startup was a huge time commitment and being an international student, Cyril had committed hours to achieve each semester.

“Balancing my academic responsibilities while running a business was challenging. The theoretical nature of my studies didn’t align with my aspirations, leading me to pursue other opportunities outside the traditional path of a student. In spite of all this, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science."

Planting the seed

“We were building and testing drones, building the software. It was an end-to-end solution for the construction industry - it was more robust and durable. It was the right place, but not the right time and we were trying to raise $1.5m to reach product-market fit.”

Thinking about his next steps, Cyril went to a hacker house in Silicon Valley for a few months. These are homes with a small number of founders building their startups and sharing tips.

“It gave me insight into Silicon Valley and the proximity to investors, startups and major talent in one place and how that can be achieved elsewhere.” 

In 2019, Cyril returned to London to visit his family and decided to stay, putting the startup on pause and focusing on consultancy for AI and blockchain instead. Not one to stay still, Cyril got to work on his next startup, Zoi - a non-invasive screening and triage tool for diseases, using AI.

“I was accepted onto an accelerator programme and went on to pitch to more than 100 VCs. It was at the same time as Covid so it was timely, but I wasn't getting the backing. It was easier in the US; in the UK it’s dire. They’re less risk averse in the US while in the UK it’s more about social class. I’d spent eight years building a network in the US and now, nothing.”

Cyril had got to know Karl Lokko, co-founder and chairman of Black Seed, through a mutual friend. At the time, Karl was working on several projects and was equally frustrated by the situation for Black founders.

“It was pre-George Floyd so there were no diversity initiatives. I knew about 20 Black founders that couldn’t get funding. I was building an angel syndicate and Karl suggested partnering with someone to scale the idea faster and give credibility. 

“Founders Factory came on as a partner. Initially, we were going to franchise the idea as a seed programme: Black Seed powered by Founders Factory but we soon realised we needed to be a fund. The team reached out for investment and through warm intros got to know top-decile VC firms, such as LocalGlobe, who became an investor. 

“We were providing solutions to a problem and had clarity of purpose and vision. Initial conversations began in April 2021, by May we had our pitch deck, by June the Founders Factory came on board and by August we’d pivoted. We had the catalyst that created Black Seed, allowing us to solve problems on a larger scale.”

Neither Cyril nor Karl had started a fund before and had to self-teach to learn the mechanisms.

“I was reading magazines, talking to people, listening to podcasts, watching movies, learning all the terms - the syntax we needed to get by. I spoke to LPs, we were introduced to Silicon Valley Bank, we relied on the lawyers to set up the legal structure of the fund and were introduced to fund administrators to help with the regulatory licence.

Cyril sees Black Seed as: “an instrument to inform and inspire. There are so many barriers to entry, imposter syndrome and mistrust for Black people. We’re sharing stories of people who look and sound like the community. We’re also building trust with the local Brixton community.”

Expanding the network

In April 2022, a year since the seed for their fund had been planted, Cyril and Karl joined the inaugural Newton Fellowship Program.

“I joined for the network. I also gained insights, strategy and industry knowledge and we had great networking sessions. But the best part of the Fellowship is the network. You get to meet new people and hear their stories. Socialising was key and I enjoyed the dinner and drinks. It was a chance to deconstruct the day on what was learned and get others’ feedback.

“The theory is great but having access to all the content is key. I’d considered doing an MBA, but I’m not so keen on something so lecture-based. With the Fellowship program, industry professionals would come in, share their experience and give you the real-world scenario, and share the deals that have been done, which was a highlight for me.”

And though the majority of the hard work for setting up Black Seed was completed at the time that Cyril joined the fellowship program, he sees the value it has, especially for those new to being a general partner.

“Read the resources, actively participate, ask questions, make connections and attend the socials, because that’s where the deals will be made!

“I found the program informative. It understands the founder's perspective so is good for emerging managers building portfolios and assets. And as a Black investor, I feel Newton has credibility that helps us in approaching LPs.”

It’s been a whirlwind, but now Black Seed has reached first close and has been celebrated by the media (watch the news coverage here) but most importantly the wider ecosystem and the team is ready to start deploying capital.

And what’s next for Cyril?

“I’m looking forward to growing Black Seed and bringing diversity, equity and inclusion as a sub-asset class to finance and venture capital.”

Do you fancy taking on the Fellowship? See how here.