| Reminder, Ascension Syndicate Event We’re excited to host our next Ascension Syndicate Event on the 5th of June, spotlighting five exceptional DeepTech startups. These companies – ranging from pre-Seed to Series A are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. If you’re an angel investor or family office interested in attending, register here. Awards Season is in Full Swing 🏆 UKBAA Awards We have been shortlisted for Seed VC of the Year and Most Active Investor in the Regions at the 2025 UKBAA Angel Investment Awards. Partner Emma Steele is also a finalist for Best Woman-Led Investment in Innovation. EISA Awards We are also honoured to be a finalist in two categories at the upcoming EISA Awards for Best EIS Investment Manager and Best SEIS Investment Manager.Congratulations to all the finalists. Impact VC Awards We were named an Impact Leader runner-up at the prestigious European VC Awards. It’s inspiring to see the growing momentum around purpose-driven investing. CB Insights CB Insights recently analysed the UK’s leading venture firms building the strongest foundations for long-term portfolio success. We’re proud to be recognised among the Top 10 VCs. Team Updates: What We’ve Been Up To At No.10: Iulia Tudor on Innovation & CapitalAscension Partner, Iulia Tudor, joined a roundtable at Downing Street to discuss early-stage innovation and access to capital. We’re proud to see Ascension representing seed-stage investors at the highest level ofpolicy-making. Founder Fundraising in Manchester Toyosi Ogedengbe, Ascension Principal, recently joined a panel at a founder fundraising workshop in Manchester The panel covered best practices for preparing to raise investment. Pictured alongside a Principal of Manchester Angels, one of the event co-hosts. Jean de Fougerolles, Championing Impact and Innovation On 10th June, Managing Partner Jean de Fougerolles will participate in a House of Lords debate. Hosted by the Hult Prize Foundation, the session will bring together leaders in VC, impact investing, and entrepreneurship to explore pressing questions around the future of impact. Jean also recently joined the Advisory Board of J.P. Morgan’s FinTech Forward Programme, which empowers founders from all backgrounds to drive innovation and progress across the UK financial services sector. Follow the link above to apply to the 12-week hybrid programme to support and promote emerging fintech innovations and founders that drive positive impact across the UK. Recent Events Hosted by Freya Wordsworth, Ascension Senior Associate  The first session in the Fundamentals learning series, created by Ascension and Nauta Capital for junior VCs, focused on constructing effective cap tablesThe second session, hosted alongside Atomico and Backed VC, delved into data-driven deal sourcing and how to identify the best early-stage deals. Portfolio News – Wagestream has secured a £300m debt facility to expand its mission of providing fair financial services to employees – Goodstack launched its All-in-One Platform for Corporate Impact, making it easier for companies to manage and scale their sustainability and social impact efforts – DebtStream took home two wins at the Credit & Collections Awards – Business Partnership of the Year and Best Technology Partnership (Collections) – Tembo wins Best Mortgage Broker of the Year for the fourth year in a row – Stablepharma has commenced Phase I clinical trials for its fridge free vaccine – Vinny Co-Founder on the Ideas to Impact podcast transforming property management through AI and automation Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Read more. Ascension is an early-stage venture capital firm built by exited 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 £100m under management, Ascension has been one of London’s most active VCs over the past decade, with a particular focus on backing impact businesses leveraging the power of technology to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. |
May Newsletter
