Pact has launched its first £30 million seed fund to back early-stage startups across Europe using technology to tackle key priorities for the next generation – economic inclusion, personal and professional wellbeing, and climate solutions.
The new venture capital fund is the first in the UK to be co-founded by three female partners – Tong Gu, Reem Mobassaleh Wyndham and Monik Pham – and includes Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway among its limited partners.
Pact’s other partners include anchor investor Campden Hill Capital, Jeff Dean, the head of AI at Google; Yeming Wang, the former head of EMEA of Alibaba; Fahd Beg, the COO of Naspers; Keith Teare, the founding shareholder of TechCrunch; Todd Ruppert, the retired CEO of T. Rowe Price Global and venture partner at Greenspring Associates; and Tilo Bonow, CEO of PIABO.
“Our thesis stems from our passion for improving the future. These areas are full of commercial opportunities within global markets we’ve invested in across our careers,” said Tong Gu.
“We’re launching a dedicated vehicle based on our experiences and understanding of the early-stage founder journey. We want to build long-term pacts with our portfolio and help them change the world.”
Pact’s fund will lead seed-stage investments into purpose-driven companies that positively shape the future of how we work and live, providing companies with £1-1.5m in funding. The ABC themes created by the founding partners cover Access (economic inclusion), Betterment (personal and professional well-being) and Climate.
Notable past investments are Clause, a legal automation service which exited to Docusign, and multiple now Series C-stage businesses including Onto, an electric vehicle subscription service; Perlego, an online learning platform; and Yoco, an African FinTech company.
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Before forming Pact, Tong Gu was an investor at ADV and a former founder. She built a data analytics startup in Shanghai, enabling economic participation for independent brand owners, which she grew to 40 people and exited.
Reem Mobassaleh Wyndham was also an investor for ADV focused on financial inclusion investments and previously worked as vice president, technology for Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala. She is also a former founder, having built a luxury brand in Dubai.
Monik Pham is an operator and entrepreneur who was part of the founding team of the early-stage fund Fuel Ventures, a foreign direct investment firm covering Asia and the Middle East and launched several social enterprises in Africa and India.
“We invest where we can add value. Through our diverse experience across 12 countries, we can provide our founders with the intellectual, social and financial capital to help boost their global reach and impact,” said Reem Mobassaleh Wyndham.
Pact’s first investment has been made into Growth Kitchen, a London-based company that uses data insights to launch food brands with sustainability as its core operations.
It also made two investments yet to be announced – one that uses AI for automation tools for SMBs, and a financial inclusion platform for migrant communities in Europe.
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