Seed VC of the Year
We are delighted to announce that Ascension was named ‘Seed VC of the Year’ at the UK Business Angels Association Awards ceremony last night. This award recognises the most active and impactful early stage fund in the UK.
Congratulations to our fellow finalists SFC, Triple Point Ventures, Praetura Ventures, Zero Carbon Capital, Par Equity, ACF Investors and the Conduit Impact Fund (a partnership between Ascension and Conduit Connect).
We were also recently crowned the ‘most active VC in the last decade’ by data bible Beauhurst and in April were awarded an 86 score by Martin Churchill at Tax Efficient Review, elevating us to the top table of EIS fund managers, as ‘an established fund manager with track record’.
In 2022 alone, we have had 5 exits — Greendeck, Looop, Bizzon, Percent and Credit Kudos. Credit Kudos was acquired by Apple and is the first realisation in the Fair By Design institutional fund which invests in businesses alleviating the poverty premium (the extra cost of being poor). An investment we made from our Ascension Tech EIS fund, Greendeck, was recently acquired by Gtmhub.
The last year has been very busy, with our team doubling in size to 16, adding more investment professionals to our roster and also operational talent which are at the disposal of our portfolio, along with a catered investor relations team to ensure our investors have a ‘best in class’ experience. And we are just getting started with 3 new hires made in the last two weeks — notably, Sonia Powar strengthening the Ascension Board as we launch (and are currently fundraising for) two new institutional funds: Ascension Fund III (improving how people live and work by reducing social inequalities) and the Ascension Life Fund (Life Sciences & TechBio).
Managing Partner Jean de Fougerolles accepted the Award on behalf of Ascension:
“This is a great milestone for the business and a reflection of some really hard but also fulfilling work from my team over the years. All the recent exits and new fund launches don’t materialise overnight and I really want to thank my amazing team, our Venture Partners, investors, mentors, co-investors, and truly inspiring portfolio founders which make up the Ascension family. None of what we do is possible without all of us working together to find, back, and scale great new businesses and we’re really looking forward to the journey ahead. Onwards and upwards.”
ENDS
About
Ascension is an early-stage venture capital firm built and managed by exited operators and entrepreneurs to back the next generation of tech and impact founders. Since 2015, Ascension has invested in 150+ start-ups across its (S)EIS & Institutional Funds — our specialist approach and extensive sector reach allow us to identify and scale pioneering tech enterprises. With over £70m under management and six recent exits, Ascension is one of the most active early stage investors in the UK, with a particular focus on backing impact businesses leveraging the power of technology to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. For more information, see ascension.vc.
Press Contact: Caspar Barrie, Marketing, Ascension
Email: caspar@ascension.vc
Phone: 07837478861
