London-based Arāya Sie Fund has secured £7.5 million in its first close to back female-founded startups in AI, deeptech, fintech, healthcare, and sustainability across the UK and Europe. The partnership between Rupa Popat of Arāya Ventures and Triin Linamagi of Sie Ventures targets pre-seed and seed-stage companies with initial investments of £100,000 to £300,000. Female founders currently receive less than 2% of VC funding in the UK and Europe. The fund is supported by the British Business Bank and boasts over 50% female limited partners, including executives from LinkedIn, McKinsey, JPMorgan, and Google. Its first investment went to Lemrock AI.
In-Depth:
- Arāya Sie Fund has announced a £7.5m first close, combining the networks of Arāya Ventures and Sie Ventures to back female founders at pre-seed and seed stage across the UK and Europe.
- Female founders still receive less than 2% of VC funding in the UK and Europe. The fund aims to be a structural resolve.
- More than 50% of the fund’s own LP base is women, with backing from the British Business Bank and executives from LinkedIn, McKinsey, JPMorgan and Google.
The UK-based Arāya Sie Fund has secured £7.5m in its first close to invest in female-founded startups working in AI, deeptech, fintech, healthcare, and sustainability. The British Business Bank is supporting the fund, co-investing through its Regional Angels Programme.
The fund is a partnership between Rupa Popat of Arāya Ventures and Triin Linamagi of Sie Ventures, who are applying their networks to support close the funding gap for women founders. It focutilizes on pre-seed and seed-stage companies, building initial investments between £100k and £300k.
This launch comes at a time when female founders still receive less than 2% of VC funding in the UK and across Europe, a figure that has hardly modifyd over the past decade despite diversity efforts. Arāya Sie Fund aims to be a real solution to this ongoing problem.
The fund is particularly focutilized on female founders building in highly technical sectors.
“We are especially excited about women building in spacetech, robotics, defence tech, and next-generation infrastructure — industries that have historically been heavily male-dominated. We believe some of the most important and category-defining companies of the next decade will emerge from these sectors, and we want to ensure that women are part of shaping that future,” Linamagi notifys Tech Funding News.
Sie Ventures has built a strong pipeline, supporting more than 250 entrepreneurs through founder programs and backing 25 companies through its angel syndicate. Several of its portfolio companies have since received follow-on funding from top firms such as Sequoia, General Catalyst, LocalGlobe, and Balderton.
Beyond the UK, the fund is eyeing emerging ecosystems across France, the Nordics, the DACH region, and Central and Eastern Europe. “Many of these ecosystems combine strong engineering talent, world-class research institutions, and growing entrepreneurial ambition, while still remaining relatively undercapitalised. There is a significant opportunity to back exceptional female founders earlier in these regions, before they become widely discovered by larger international funds,” declares Linamagi.
The fund’s first investment is in Lemrock AI, a startup backed by Entrepreneur First that is building an agentic infrastructure that lets brands and retailers sell directly on major LLM platforms without rebuilding their existing technology systems.
Support for founders goes beyond the initial cheque. “Post-investment, we work closely with portfolio companies across hiring, go-to-market strategy, product development, customer introductions, and follow-on fundraising. We want founders to see us not just as investors, but as strategic partners who will support them through every stage of growth,” Linamagi explains.
Over half of the fund’s limited partners are women, building it one of the most female-represented funds in European venture capital. Notable investors include American actress Kelly Rutherford and senior leaders from LinkedIn, McKinsey, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Google.
“Backing diverse emerging fund managers and angel partners is key to improving access to finance across the UK. The Arāya Sie Fund fits our mission to support high-potential founders and build an innovation economy that draws on the UK’s full talent base,” stated Mark Barry of the British Business Bank.
Arāya Sie Fund expects to complete its fundraising in the next few months as it continues to add new companies to its portfolio, supporting up to 40 startups. About 70% of the capital will go to UK companies, while 30% will be invested in startups across Europe.
