Legal & General and the founder of fintech firm Wise are among a host of big name investors to back a new London venture fund looking to pump cash into “inclusive” start-ups.
In a statement today, London venture capital outfit Ada Ventures said it was looking to invest in “a truly diverse cohort of early-stage founders” after it closed the £63m fund, its second vehicle since it was founded in 2019.
Among the investors in the the fund are Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Legal & General Capital and the state-owned British Business Bank.
Ada bosses said they would look to take an “inclusive” approach to its investment decisions and back diverse founders across areas like “economic empowerment and healthy ageing”.
“We want other funds to copy this blueprint,” said Ada boss Check Warner. “The excuse that diverse talent isn’t ‘out there’ is a cop out. We have proven that you can build a thriving, inspiring portfolio of diverse founders building breakthrough products and hugely valuable businesses.”
The firm has already made 12 investments from the second vehicle, with plans to back around 10 and 12 investments every year.
The announcement comes amid concerns over a still gaping gender and ethnic venture capital gap in the UK. According to a recent report from the government-backed Women-led high-growth enterprise taskforce, led by Starling founder Anne Boden, less than a two per cent share of venture investments made each year in the UK are bagged by women.
Female-owned VC funds raised just 7p in every £1 of the £6.6bn raised, whilst all-male-owned raised 76p, according to Ada’s own research.