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We invest in exceptional people transforming how we live & work.

 

Empowering Founders to Flourish

The way we live consciously, work productively, shop experientially and grow our wealth is transforming at rapid pace. We invest our £20m community-powered fund in world-positive entrepreneurs re-imagining this future.

We invest at the earliest of stages (pre-seed and seed) into early stage technology ventures that are building next generation platforms, products and B2B technology solutions. We build empowering relationships with the founders we fund, providing unparalleled access to expertise, network, support, and capital.

We know there is value beyond capital. And we deliver it.
Our goal is to be the ‘most value-add investor’ on your cap table. In addition to Rupa and the team, our founders gain access to some of our fund investors. 60% of our fund investors are exited entrepreneurs eager to share their knowledge and 15% are family offices who can invest directly at Series A and B – giving you further capital access.

Our extensive Angel network, with over 200 ĀVA Angels scouting for the best founders and able to co-invest, means our reach goes beyond the team to empower change in how we live and work.

65

of our portfolio have been in gender diverse teams

65

of our portfolio are first-time founders

50

of our portfolio have at least one ethnic minority co-founder

Our Portfolio

Our exceptional and diverse portfolio of mission-driven founders and companies, delivering next generation platforms, products and B2B technology solutions.

Hear from our founders

What Rupa offers her portfolio companies is on a different level to most investors I’ve worked with or invested alongside.

Nick TelsonCo-Founder Trumpet

In the negotiation phase of our acquisition, she played a pivotal role in our ability to achieve a successful exit.

Leila ThabetFounder & CEO Naytal

Rupa has a fantastic network across founders and investors. She has always been generous in making introductions to clients, funders and suppliers.

Alex MacdonaldCo-Founder & CEO @ Sequel

Rupa was our first investor at pre-seed and has been more than an angel to us. More like a Guardian Angel. I think it’s safe to say that without Rupa’s experience, knowledge, and vast network, our first steps as entrepreneurs would have been much more challenging. She also recently introduced us to our lead VC fund for our seed round.

Diipa Buller-KhoslaFounder @ Indē Wild

Alongside providing capital, Rupa has become an informal spokesperson, leveraging deep connections to support the development of our product, commercialisation, brand awareness and building relationships within the start-up ecosystem. We are grateful to have both the capital and holistic support from such a proactive investor such as Arāya Ventures.

Simi LindgrenFounder & CEO @ Yuty

Arāya Ventures has been an amazing investor for Jude. Rupa is always first to respond to our investor updates with how she can support us. She has been an operator and a founder who has exited before and that's why she gets it. She has connected me to many people and invited me to great events that allow Jude to reach the exposure we currently have. I have Rupa to thank. I would sincerely recommend any start-ups to have Arāya Ventures onboard as an investor.

Peony LiFounder & CEO @ Jude

Rupa is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting her portfolio companies. She is constantly looking out for opportunities to help scale our venture, recruit top talent, and provide actionable and expert advice on a wide range of diverse challenges. Most importantly, Rupa always makes herself available to our team regularly which really speaks to her level of dedication to our success. With Arāya Ventures on your team, you'll be sure to know your cap table is stacked with all-star teammates.

Stefany NietoCo-founder & COO @ Gwella

Latest Portfolio News

Keeping up with the latest News about our portfolio companies.

Lapse Snaps Up $30 Million Round As An Anti-Social Media Photo App

Lapse, a three-year-old photo-sharing app, announced it raised $30 million in Series A funding from a group of prominent venture-capital firms and angel investors led by Greylock and DST Global Partners. Greylock general partner Jacob Andreou, a former Snap executive, joined Lapse’s board.

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UKTN: Metaverse fashion storefront Emperia raises £8m Series A

Emperia, a London-base metaverse startup that develops virtual stores for fashion brands, has raised $10m (£8m) in a Series A funding round. Founded in 2019, Emperia creates virtual storefronts to simulate physical shopping experiences when purchasing art and fashion products. It has worked with brands including Lacoste, Dior Beauty and Sunglass Hut.

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Evening Standard: Teaching that bridges tech’s gender gap

Anna Brailsford wants Code First Girls to become the world’s first edtech unicorn dedicated to women. She was inspired by the fact that the UK’s tech job market is projected to grow to six times its current value to be worth £30 billion by 2025. And the second was that only one in five people in the current tech workforce are women.

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Sifted: Screenloop raises $7m to stop companies making bad hires

London-based hiring intelligence platform Screenloop — which offers candidate sourcing, interview analysis and reference automation — has raised $7m in seed funding led by Stride VC.

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Rupa Ganatra-Popat

Founding & Managing Partner of Arāya Ventures.  

Following an eight-year career in investment banking, Rupa founded several businesses in the last decade across the real estate, media, and technology industries. Following an exit, she began angel investing in early-stage businesses, investing in over 30 companies and venture capital funds, and has worked with some of the world’s largest companies to design and build their start-up accelerator programmes including Johnson & Johnson.

She invests in exceptional people transforming how we live and work. She was recognised as Top 15 UK Female Investors by Forbes in 2022 and a finalist for the UKBAA Angel Investor of the Year award in 2023 and 2024.

ĀVA

Empowering the next generation of angel investors

 

Founder Resources

Resources to support and educate founders on their entrepreneurial journey.

Extreme questions to trigger new, better ideas

How to come up fresh, transformative and better ideas for your start-up.

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How Venture Returns work and how much a founder should be giving away per round

The Founder-VC tussle over valuations is probably one of the more opaque aspects of the startup world. It’s often a classic case of one party not understanding where the other is coming from

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Balancing the Art of Valuation with the Science of Dilution

Understanding the factors that help founders to maximise the valuation of their business and increase the propensity of new investors to come in at the highest possible valuation.

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We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re a founder building a mission-driven company at pre-seed or seed, we’d love to hear from you.

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