Ada Ventures
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Ada Ventures is one of the few VCs where the diversity talk isn't just marketing fluff — they've actually built systems to prove it works and attract better returns. Check Warner and Matt Penneycard are genuinely committed to their 'Inclusive Alpha' thesis, but be aware this isn't just about being nice — they're first and foremost a venture capital fund with their number one priority being exceptional returns for investors. They offer genuine founder support including free childcare through Bubble (30% of eligible founders use it) and hands-on talent help, with their Venture Partner Ben spending 10 weeks directly supporting Jack & Jill's hiring. They've built innovative tools like Deck Genius that give founders better feedback than most VCs provide, showing they genuinely want to elevate the ecosystem rather than just gatekeep it. The risk? Their mission-driven approach might mean they're pickier about founder values alignment than pure financial VCs.
- —Best for: Mission-driven founders tackling climate, healthcare, or economic empowerment with diverse teams
- —Known for: Actually walking the diversity talk with data to prove it drives returns
- —Watch out for: Higher bar on founder values alignment beyond just financial metrics
Ada Ventures invests in purpose-led founders building for markets that are large, untapped and growing. At Ada, they believe that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not. Their approach drives outperformance by generating best-in-class financial returns (alpha) while building a far more inclusive industry and generating significant positive societal impact.
Ada invests £250K-£1M in technology companies across climate equity, economic empowerment and healthy ageing. They make primarily Seed stage investments (averaging $3.06M) with some Series A rounds, deploying across Enterprise Applications, Consumer, HealthTech and Climate. They prefer to lead rounds and write cheques post-product, pre-traction, focusing on UK and Northern European companies with UK links.
Check comes from an unusual background for a VC, having studied English Literature at Cambridge before going into marketing and advertising, then joining VC through following people on Twitter. She's the co-founder and CEO of Diversity VC, a non-profit focused on increasing diversity in venture capital, and received an MBE for services to diversity and inclusion in Venture Capital in 2022. She was named Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe in 2019.
Matt has been a pre-seed investor for over fifteen years, previously serving as head of Downing Ventures and working in PE and VC firms in London and New York since 2002. He's on the Board of Durham University's Venture Lab and has a particular focus on founder coaching and helping others realise their full potential. He and Check worked together for four years at Downing Ventures, Seraphim Capital and Techstars before co-founding Ada.
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