Eka Ventures, the UK early-stage impact VC, has closed its second fund at $107 million (£80 million), making it the UK’s largest early-stage impact fund investing across health, wellbeing, and sustainability. Total AUM now stands at $200 million. According to Eka Ventures, Fund I is in the top 5% for both DPI and TVPI in its 2021 vintage.
Fund II will back up to 30 UK pre-seed and seed-stage companies with an average first investment of approximately $2 million, continuing to lead or co-lead 90% of deals.
Women’s health has been a significant part of Eka’s portfolio and thesis. Fund investments include Cyclana Bio (co-led its £5 million pre-seed for endometriosis drug discovery through extracellular matrix targeting), Hesta Health (led its £2 million pre-seed for tech-enabled postnatal care), Jude (bladder health), and Ditto Daily (menstrual health). Eka also published proprietary research surveying 1,000 women on unmet needs across menstrual health, incontinence, and postnatal care – signaling that women’s health is infrastructure-level thesis work for the firm, not an adjacent bet.
LPs in Fund II include British Business Bank, Better Society Capital, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, The Health Foundation, WRAP, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation, and Vivensa Foundation.
The fund’s broader thesis centers on three macro shifts: the move from reactive to preventative healthcare (where the UK spends roughly 5p on prevention for every £1 on treatment), decarbonization of consumer industries, and widening access to social determinants of health. For founders building in women’s health at pre-seed and seed in the UK, Eka is one of the most active and thesis-driven investors in the market.
