• Ascension Fund III Event: Does AI Fail or Scale Impact?
• Ascension’s Tax-Efficient Funds for the 2024/25 Tax Year – now open for investment
• Tembo Secures £14m Series B Funding Round Led by Goodwater Capital
• Ascension Recognised as a Leading VC Supporting Sustainable Scaleups
• Jean Judges at King’s College London Finance and Business Union
• Freya’s Top Picks: AI Tools to Supercharge Productivity
• Percent Raises and Rebrands to Goodstack
• Portfolio News

Ascension Fund III Event: Does AI Fail or Scale Impact?

On Tuesday, we had the privilege of hosting an insightful event, and we extend our thanks to Dawn Capital for providing the venue. The evening was centred around how AI can fail or scale impact investing, featuring an engaging fireside chat with Emma Steele, Partner at Ascension, and Alison Fort, CEO of the Katapult Foundation and Impact Partner at Katapult VC. Drawing on over a decade of experience in impact investing, Alison shared valuable insights from her journey. She highlighted the critical responsibility of both founders and investors to incorporate ethical AI practices into their daily operations and discussed practical strategies for seamlessly doing so. The evening continued with introductions from the following Ascension Fund III portfolio companies:

• Juniver – an app offering science-based recovery programmes for individuals with eating disorders. It features an AI tool named Juni, which provides users with instant, tailored support Happl – personalises the employee benefits process
• Happl – personalises the employee benefits process, making it relevant and meaningful for each individual
• Heatio – lowering the cost barrier of home decarbonisation
• Jarvis – emphasised the importance of simplifying pensions to make them more accessible and userfriendly

Thank you to everyone who attended, we hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.

Discover more about our AI investing perspective in this article by the Ascension Fund III team and learn more about Ascension Fund III here.

Ascension’s Tax-Efficient Funds for the 2024/25 tax year are now open for investment

If you are looking to build an investment portfolio of innovative UK startups, whilst reducing your income tax liability, our tax efficient funds could be perfect for you. Ascension takes pride in its track record. With 14 successful exits to date, including the recent SEIS (and EIS) Bulbshare exit, we’ve demonstrated our ability to identify and support high-potential businesses. Having invested in over 150 companies so far, we’re excited to continue driving innovation and growth.

Ascension SEIS Fund
Designed to deliver tax-free capital growth through SEIS investments, the fund is capped at £2m of pure SEIS. Beyond the SEIS cap, investors can invest in the fund, but on EIS tax terms.

Ascension Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund
This annual fund focuses on building a portfolio of at least eight knowledge-intensive, EIS-qualifying businesses. As a co-investment vehicle, it partners with top-tier institutional VCs to back high-potential ventures. To simplify administration, investors receive a single tax certificate once their funds are fully deployed, rather than multiple individual EIS certificates.

Ascension EIS Fund
Targeting technology companies at the pre-Series A stage, the Ascension EIS Fund bridges the equity gap between Seed (SEIS rounds) and Series A (institutional rounds), a stage we call ‘late seed.’ This fund is ideal for investors seeking exposure to high-growth tech opportunities.

Ascension Carry-Back EIS Fund
This fund is tailored for investors and advisers looking to utilise ‘carry-back‘ relief within the current tax year, while building a diversified portfolio. Each year, the fund co-invests in six to ten EIS-qualifying businesses, working alongside other Ascension-managed funds to identify high-potential opportunities.

If you’re not yet ready to invest but would like to stay informed, register your interest here. We’ll keep you updated on the latest news and upcoming investment opportunities.

Tembo Secures £14m Series B Funding Round Led by Goodwater Capital

Tembo has announced the successful closure of a £14M Series B funding round, led by Goodwater Capital and supported by existing investors, including Aviva, Ascension, Love Ventures and the McPike Family Office. This milestone is a testament to the team’s exceptional efforts, working tirelessly to scale the business. As a proud backer, Ascension co-led Tembo’s Pre-Seed round, alongside Aviva through the Fair By Design fund, aimed at tackling the poverty premium.

Over the past year, Tembo has helped 4,000 individuals purchase their first homes, with 35,000 more
actively saving for homeownership via the platform. Tembo’s app includes its award-winning Lifetime ISA, further enhancing its appeal as a market leader in this space.

For more details, read the full announcement here.

Ascension Recognised as a Leading VC Supporting Sustainable Scaleups
The sustainability industry has experienced exceptional growth in recent years, a momentum that continues to accelerate. Capsule highlights Ascension’s impressive progress as one of the UK’s leading impact investment funds, including raising £2 million for the CleanTech innovator Heatio.

Jean Judges at King’s College London Finance and Business Union

Jean, Ascension’s Managing Partner, recently served as a judge for student pitches at the London Finance and Business Union. Joining the panel were Nick Jenkins, founder of Moonpig and former Dragon from Dragons’ Den, and Harriot Pleydell-Bouverie, founder of Mallow & Marsh. It was fantastic to listen to such inspiring pitches and innovative ideas!

Freya’s Top Picks: AI Tools to Supercharge Productivity
Freya, Ascension Associate, shares her lightbulb moment from this week: productivity tools have become her secret weapon.

Fyxer AI – this one’s a total game-changer. Still new to it, but it’s already a favourite. Fyxer sits in on calls, drafts follow-up emails with action points, and learns how Freya’s team writes. The kicker? It crafts email replies that feel like a “mini me” on standby. Instant productivity boost.

Granola – for discreet, seamless note-taking during calls, this is the tool. Granola listens in on meetings (yes, even phone calls) and produces sharp, accurate summaries. Say goodbye to scrambling for notes mid- conversation.

Perplexity – Freya’s co-pilot for quick research and fact-checking. Whether it’s market sizing or digging up insights during founder calls, Perplexity shines by pulling a range of sources and letting her choose the most relevant. Perfect paired with ChatGPT.

Humble AI – Mahdi Shariff’s creation is a VC’s best friend. From managing deal-flow to tracking overlaps in databases and extracting insights from Crunchbase, Humble AI is a lifesaver for analysts, associates, and beyond.

Percent Raises and Rebrands to ‘Goodstack’

Goodstack has announced a $28m Series A funding round led by General Catalyst. Ascension’s Managing Partner, Jean, first met Henry Ludlam (CEO) in 2014 when he served as a judge for Wayra UK’s accelerator programme.

Ascension first invested in 2015 through its inaugural SEIS fund, marking the only occasion where Ascension was the sole investor in a business. Typically, Ascension partners with strong angel and VC co-investors at the pre-seed stage. However, the exceptional founding team and the mission driving the business made this a compelling opportunity. With the added advantage of being co-located at the Wayra space, Ascension had a unique insider view of the company’s early progress.

Portfolio News

• Hurr teams up with Deliveroo for faster rental deliveries  
• Startups Magazine names SuperFi as one of the ‘hottest fintech startups’
• Christopher Kong, Co-CEO of Better Nature, shares the company’s inspiring journey on the Rathbones Asset Management podcast
• Switchee recognised by Deloitte as one of the 50 fastest-growing tech businesses in the UK
• Heatio founders are finalists for the ‘Tech Entrepreneurs of the Year 2024‘ award
• Wagestream’s latest Invisible Worker podcast episode, ‘Why Do We Make the Poor Pay More?’, delves into the origins of the poverty premium – exploring why it exists, how it manifests, and the methodologies used to measure its impact