Ascension’s Fair By Design Impact Report
We’re proud to share our first public-facing Fair By Design Impact Report. Seven years since launch, this felt like the perfect moment to reflect on the progress we’ve made, lessons learned, and—most importantly—the impact delivered by the incredible founders we’ve backed (saved 3.4m people in poverty over £363m off their cost of living). Read the full report here.
Final Opportunity to Invest in Ascension’s 2025 Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund
The window is closing to invest in this year’s Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund, with the fund set to close on 3rd April (read more here). Key benefits include:
A single tax certificate on full deployment (no paperwork chaos)
- EIS relief for the 2024/25 tax year, with carry-back available to the previous year
- 30% income tax relief
- CGT deferral up to 28%
Ascension Events
Fund III’s Annual General Meeting
Earlier this month, we hosted our inaugural AGM for Fund III. Six new portfolio companies shared their vision and traction across our core sectors: fintech, health, and energy.
Exciting times ahead for the fund and the exceptional founders behind it.
Read the recap on LinkedIn here.
Portfolio Showcase
We recently hosted an event in collaboration with Rathbones. A huge thank you to all the investors and VCs who joined to hear from our fantastic speakers representing Captur, ComplyStream, Amilis, Lick, and an exciting company we haven’t publicly announced yet.
Two New Investments Announced from our SEIS Fund
Merx – WhatsApp isn’t just for group chats and voice notes anymore. Merx has raised £1m to bring commerce directly into your DMs. The company’s platform lets brands sell through real-time, personalised conversations—meeting customers where they already are.
The result? Higher retention, better engagement, and a smoother sales journey from start to finish.
Liquid – is an AI-powered platform that brings your entire deal process into one place—from documents and diligence to Q&A and version control. Built for professionals in private equity, investment banking, and corporate law, it streamlines workflows by automating the Q&A process, reconciling documents across sources and maintaining one version of the truth.
Linq Emerges from Stealth
Ascension Fund III’s fifth investment, Linq is now out of stealth.
At Ascension, we don’t just back founders who challenge the status quo — we back those redefining it with purpose.
The Linq team is doing exactly that by taking on one of the most urgent digital safety challenges of our time: ending image-based abuse online.
They have secured $1.1m to build the encrypted infrastructure to stamp out revenge porn for good. Read more here.
Portfolio News
- Epoch raises an oversubscribed $18.3m Series A
- Christopher Kong, Co-CEO of Better Nature, is on an episode of Boxseat, where he discusses his bold mission: getting 100 million people eating tempeh by 2030
- Incuto and Omnico Sercle have partnered to deliver more integrated solutions for credit unions
- Ascension and Pharus co-hosted an intimate dinner with some of our fintech scale-ups, read more here
- Runa launches Runa Pay, enabling instant bank transfers to accounts worldwide