Arāya Ventures is an funding group born out of the concept that founders from all backgrounds ought to be capable of entry capital and assist.
The London-based enterprise capital agency backs corporations on the earliest levels and prides itself on working intently with its portfolio founders, a lot of whom have been in any other case shut out from mainstream assist.
In an unique interview with UKTN, the agency’s founder and managing companion Rupa Popat discusses the issues within the enterprise capital trade and why they impressed her to launch an alternate.
What impressed you to start out your personal enterprise capital agency, and what gaps within the startup ecosystem had been you hoping to fill?
Once I offered my first firm and tried to enter the enterprise ecosystem, I used to be struck by how opaque it was. Entry was concentrated within the palms of some, and too usually the identical forms of founders had been getting funded.
I launched Arāya Ventures to alter that. I wished to create a agency that not solely backed distinctive founders on the earliest levels but additionally redefined who bought entry to capital within the first place.
From day one, we targeted on inclusivity and influence: supporting founders ignored by conventional VC, constructing a platform that gives strategic, hands-on assist past funding, and coaching a brand new technology of buyers by the Arāya Funding Academy.
We search for founders with a deep understanding of the issue they’re fixing — actually because they’ve lived it
You may have invested in lots of early-stage startups, particularly women-led corporations. What do you search for in a founder or founding crew earlier than you resolve to speculate?
On the earliest levels, our conviction all the time comes all the way down to individuals. Concepts evolve and markets shift, however the energy, resilience, and readability of the founding crew are what finally decide success.
We search for founders with a deep understanding of the issue they’re fixing — actually because they’ve lived it — and the power to translate that perception right into a scalable resolution.
We place a variety of weight on how founders lead: Can they impart a compelling imaginative and prescient? Have they got the humility to hunt suggestions and the tenacity to maintain pushing ahead? With feminine founders, we regularly see an added layer of capital effectivity and customer-centricity — qualities that may grow to be actual benefits.
What distinctive challenges do feminine founders nonetheless face when elevating capital, and the way are you working to alter that narrative by your work?
Regardless of progress, feminine founders proceed to face important obstacles when elevating capital. This hole is pushed by unconscious bias within the funding course of, smaller common cheque sizes, and restricted entry to investor networks.
We’ve got women-led corporations throughout our funds. To additional scale this influence, we lately launched the Arāya Sie Fund in partnership with Triin Linamagi, which can again 40 female-founded corporations throughout the UK and Europe over the following 4 years.
We’re additionally addressing the investor facet of the equation by the Arāya Funding Academy, which trains extra ladies to grow to be angel buyers themselves. Numerous buyers fund numerous founders, so broadening who writes the cheques is vital to shifting the steadiness.
How are platforms which are addressing underserved teams redefining what inclusive innovation appears to be like like within the fintech sector?
We’re seeing a brand new technology of founders constructing merchandise from the bottom up for teams who’ve been excluded — freelancers, distant staff, small companies, and on a regular basis staff searching for monetary safety.
Our portfolio displays this shift. Jove supplies versatile international insurance coverage for unbiased staff and companies, Sync Financial savings helps staff construct long-term monetary resilience by automated payroll financial savings, Brickflow connects property builders and brokers to lenders extra effectively, bettering entry to finance in a posh and sometimes opaque market.
These corporations are proof that inclusive fintech isn’t about including variety as an afterthought. It’s about essentially increasing who monetary methods are constructed for and, in doing so, unlocking important new markets and worth.
Trying forward, what sectors or kind of founders excite you most, and what sort of legacy do you hope to construct within the funding house?
I’m most excited by founders who’re utilizing expertise to resolve advanced, systemic issues and reshape the way in which we reside and work.
I’m significantly impressed by founders who’ve deep perception into the challenges they’re fixing and the resilience to construct options that scale. They don’t seem to be simply chasing product-market match; they’re constructing ecosystems that develop with their customers.
The legacy I hope to construct is twofold: backing corporations that grow to be category-defining leaders and making a extra inclusive enterprise ecosystem the place numerous founders and buyers thrive.
If we are able to shift who will get funded and who participates, we could have created influence far past returns.
