Sifted buys Onstage to capture early-stage European VC pipeline
Sifted has acquired startup events business Onstage, its first-ever deal, to capture European founders earlier and funnel them directly to a network of over 330 venture capital firms.
Sifted has acquired startup events business Onstage, marking the European tech publication's first acquisition as it pushes deeper into the early-stage funding ecosystem. The deal adds Onstage’s flagship Demo Day and its annual Deploy conference to Sifted’s existing portfolio, which includes the Sifted Summit for later-stage companies.
For venture capital investors, the acquisition consolidates a major deal-sourcing channel. More than 2,000 founders apply to each Onstage cycle, with finalists pitching to a network of over 330 VC firms. The investor roster features top-tier names like Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Balderton and LocalGlobe. Startups that have presented at Onstage events have subsequently raised more than £500m.
The tie-up reflects a structural shift in European tech markets, where the timeline between early startup and mature scaleup is compressing. "The timeline from startup to scaleup is getting much shorter. It's no longer a decade between one stage and the next," said Sifted CEO Florencia Schiavon. "There's a real opportunity for Sifted to support founders much earlier: to write about them, amplify them and build a stronger community around them."
For Onstage’s founders, the acquisition solves an audience bottleneck. The business was founded in 2020 by Episode 1 general partner Hector Mason and DMG Ventures partner Taos Edmonson, later joined by cofounder Issie James. While Onstage had successfully aggregated leading VCs, it lacked the broader media reach needed to attract founders at scale.
"The missing piece was always the audience," James said. "Sifted is the most natural partner to help us do that."
Mason framed the combination as a way to accelerate deal flow quality. "The reach Sifted has within the startup ecosystem means that, from day one, Onstage will have the attention of the best founders and the best investors. That's really the lifeblood of what we do," he said.
Operationally, the acquisition will not alter Onstage’s core model. Demo Day will remain free for founders, with no fees or equity taken by the organizers. An independent board will continue to select participating startups, and the next Demo Day is scheduled for October with James overseeing the transition.
Notably, the acquisition excludes the Onstage Fund and its associated special purpose vehicle activities. These investment vehicles will continue to operate independently, keeping Sifted’s newly acquired media and events platform strictly separate from direct financial backing.
