We are a team of experienced, hands-on venture investors.

  • David Denny

    Managing Partner

    David founded Longwall with Matthew and Michael. They raised their first fund, OTECF, in 2008. David focuses on physical science and engineering opportunities.

    David started his career as a graduate engineer in Metalbox. He spent much of his early career living and working overseas in Spain, Argentina, Belgium and France. David did his MBA at Harvard Business School, after which he joined Z Corp, an MIT 3D Printing start-up, where he spent several years growing the European and Asian businesses before entering the venture industry in 2004.

  • Matthew Frohn

    Managing Partner

    Matthew co-founded Longwall with David and Michael with their first fund, OTECF, raised in 2008. Matthew focuses on life science and healthcare opportunities.

    Matthew has over 25 years experience investing in early stage companies. His pre-venture experience ranges from clinical pathology to virology and drug discovery. He has a D.Phil in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford.

  • Jane Burgoyne FCA

    Managing Partner

    Jane joined Longwall in 2012 as CFO. Jane’s focus is on finance and operations within Longwall whilst also providing support to the Longwall portfolio around financial reporting, forecasting and fundraising.

    Jane is a Chartered Accountant who trained with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their Bristol office before leaving in 2000 to join the group finance team at Future plc, a listed media company. She has worked in early stage venture capital since 2006.

  • Rebecca Todd

    Partner

    Rebecca joined Longwall Ventures for the 3rd fund, in 2017, having been venture investing since 2006. She focuses predominantly on life sciences and medical technology opportunities.

    Rebecca’s earlier career was as a marketing consultant to pharmaceutical and life science technology companies. She has a PhD in Genetics from Nottingham University and an MBA from Oxford University.

  • Helen Viner FCA

    Financial Controller

    Helen joined Longwall Ventures as Financial Controller in 2018, focusing on all aspects of financial and regulatory reporting.

    Helen is a Chartered Accountant who trained with Solomon Hare in Bristol, after which she joined Future plc, a listed media company, where she worked in a variety of group roles across financial reporting, share schemes and corporation tax.

  • Michael Penington

    (1958-2024)

    Michael co-founded Longwall with David and Matthew, raising their first fund in 2008. At Longwall, Michael predominately focused on applications of physical sciences and mathematics in areas of security, media and business software. He retired from Longwall in 2023. 

    With a D.Phil. in Mathematics from Oxford, Michael had a 16 year career with Morgan Stanley as an investment banker. He went on to be a successful angel investor in early stage technology businesses, including Natural Motion, an Oxford-based mobile games start-up, of which he was Chair, that was acquired by Zynga for $527m.