London-based Arāya Ventures has announced the $10.6 million first close of the Arāya Super Angel Fund - a community-powered fund which will invest in up to 60 pre-seed and seed stage founders across the next four years in health tech, fintech, climate, commerce and work. Fund investors include Bridgerton actress Charithra Chandran, former Credit Suisse CEO Phil Cutts and former Browns CEO Holli Rogers.
The Arāya Super Angel fund will invest pre-seed and seed cheques of $200k - $550k and will "give founders access to significant value-add" from Rupa, the Arāya Ventures team, the Super Angel Fund investors and Arāya’s extensive angel and proprietary scout network.
An exited entrepreneur, Founder & Managing Partner Rupa Popat has closed Arāya Ventures’ first fund with a plan to invest $25m via a community-powered model with the aim to be the ‘most value-add investor’ on the cap table.
The Arāya Super Angel fund will invest pre-seed and seed cheques of $200k - $550k and in addition will give founders access to significant value-add from Rupa, the Arāya Ventures team, the Super Angel Fund investors and Arāya’s extensive angel and proprietary scout network.
The Arāya Super Angel fund benefits from a flexible hybrid structure which accommodates both EIS and non-EIS investments. It will invest capital over a four-year deployment, with 10 to 15 investments per year to increase diversification and maximise on performance, reserving 25% for repeat founders who have already built a business previously.
Some of Rupa’s previous investments include sequel by repeat entrepreneur Alex Macdonald, Jude by Peony Li, Indē Wild by Diipa and Oleg Buller-Khosla and Lapse by Dan and Ben Silvertown which last year closed a $30 million Series A round. 52% of the existing portfolio companies have raised in or scaled into the U.S. market.
The Arāya Super Angel fund is powered by a community of over 80 fund investors including current and exited entrepreneurs such as Media Zoo founder Rachel Pendered, and Cambridge Spark founder & Chairman Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma, angel and VC investors such as Niraj Pabari of Switzerland-based Giano Capital and former COO and co-founder of Precede Capital Partners Daljit Sandhu, operators, financial professionals from Royal Bank of Canada, Plurimi and Blackrock, C-suite leaders and family offices from a variety of industries. Some of the fund’s investors will also be on hand to support founders with their network and expertise across Data & AI, Go-to-market strategy, Fundraising, Growth, US expansion and more.
Over 15 percent of the fund is made up of family offices, which invest directly at Series A and B; at least 65% are from ethnic minority backgrounds; 60% are current or exited founders and 16% are from outside the UK across the US, Middle East, and India.
In addition to the fund investors, founders will have access to a combined 40+ years’ experience in Rupa and the Arāya team who are committed to providing more value “than a cheque” to their portfolio companies.
Founders will also benefit from Arāya Ventures Academy for Angels (AVA Angels) which will have 250 angel investor graduates by the end of 2024 and over 1,000 by the end of 2025. This is also part of the fund’s proprietary scout network and will offer the angel investors co-investment opportunities into deals backed by the fund.
Rupa Popat said: “This is Arāya Ventures’ first fund and I’m incredibly proud of what we’re able to offer both investors and founders.
“As a former founder turned investor, I’ve been on both sides of the table and I know that for most early-stage founders, whilst capital is important, it’s also about the additional value and support that investors can provide.
“Our approach is incredibly bespoke and personalised and with this unique structure, we’re optimising not only for performance, but plugging a gap to offer real support to early-stage founders and giving them value beyond the cheque.”
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