Ada Ventures

Ada Ventures is a London-based pre-seed and seed venture capital firm founded in 2019 by Check (Francesca) Warner MBE and Matt Penneycard, named after the mathematician Ada Lovelace, who worked on the first computer but was not recognized for her contributions for a century. The firm is built around a conviction that backing overlooked founders produces both better returns and better companies, and it has developed an elaborate infrastructure to reach founders outside traditional venture networks. Its scout network of nearly 100 people, drawn predominantly from underrepresented communities, has sourced approximately a third of all investments made across both funds. The firm has also run a cohort of Ada Angels, each given £50,000 to invest, whose first cohort made 22 investments, six of which went on to raise from Ada itself. Ada manages approximately £100 million across two funds, with Fund II targeting climate, healthcare and aging, and economic empowerment as its three thematic areas. Initial checks range from £250,000 to £750,000 at pre-seed and £1 million to £1.5 million at seed. Fund I invested in 28 companies, of which 55% had female founders and 30% had ethnic minority founders, generating over £100 million in follow-on investment from institutional backers including GV, Mubadala, and Index Ventures. Beyond its original investments in Otta, Juno Bio, Wild, and Spoke, the firm's portfolio includes Huboo, Moonhub, Spill, Boundless, Micrographia Bio, Bubble, Organise, BlakBear, Materials Nexus, and Greenworkx.