Ada holds first close on £27m

Katharine Hidalgo
12 December 2019

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Ada Ventures has held a first close on ТЃ27m for its debut fund, which targets investments in diverse management teams of UK-based companies.

The fund is structured as an English LP and was registered in June 2019, when the firm first started fundraising. Founding partners Francesca Warner and Matt Penneycard met at Downing Ventures, where they acted as principal and head of the firm, respectively.

The fund does not have a hard-cap, though Penneycard told Unquote the firm does not expect to hold a final close on any more than £35m.

The fund's management fees, carry and hurdle rates are in accordance with market standards.

Ada has been investing on a deal-by-deal basis from a different structure backed by some of the LPs that have contributed to the maiden fund. The VC has made 10 investments to date.

Morrison & Foerster provided legal advice, NCM Fund Services provided fund administration and regulatory advice was provided by Newgate Compliance.

Investors
The fund has 34 LPs, with the British Business Bank acting as the fund's cornerstone investor. Ada is part of the Enterprise Capital Funds programme, which dictates that the cornerstone investor provide at least half of the fund's capital. Tickets from other investors ranged from £100,000 to £1m.

Other investors include global funds such as US-based Blue Sky Capital and Dubai-based Rasmala, alongside a number of family offices. The LPs were mainly from Europe and North America, with one investor coming from Australia.

Investments
Penneycard expects the fund to make 30 investments in total. He told Unquote: "Our investment strategy is based on the understanding that entrepreneurial talent is evenly distributed, but access to venture capital is not." The fund will make investments in diverse management teams of UK-based companies.

The fund will invest £500,000 equity cheques and reserve around half of the capital for follow-on investments.

Ada will focus on technology companies in the consumer and healthcare sectors. Penneycard said: "We'll also be looking at a sector we call 'the future of living', which includes how we'll be eating different food, driving different cars and working in different buildings in the future."

The fund is currently in negotiations for several investments, which are expected to close in January 2020.

People
Ada Ventures – Francesca Warner, Matt Penneycard (founding partners).