Why I Started Arāya Ventures

Why I Started Arāya Ventures

Arāya Ventures did not start as a fund. It started as a belief.

A belief that the next generation of great companies would not just need capital, but a different kind of partner. One that understands what it actually takes to build, scale, and navigate the moments that matter. One that is closer to the founder journey, not just observing it from the outside.

It also started with a clear thesis. To invest in founders who are transforming the way we live and work, across health, fintech, the future of work and commerce.

In the early days, it was just me, a pitch deck, and a vision, shaped by my own experience as an exited founder and a deep understanding of how important the right partners are in building a company.

I launched Arāya as a solo GP fund, the Arāya Super Angel Fund.

The fund is $26.3 million and invests at pre seed and seed, primarily into UK companies through EIS, with a 20 percent allocation for global opportunities. We typically invest between £150,000 and £450,000 per company. But the real strength sits in the community behind it.

The idea was simple. To bring together a highly curated group of investors who have been in the arena. Founders, exited founders, C suite operators, and family offices, alongside one institutional partner, the British Business Bank. Not just capital, but experience, networks, and perspective.

What I also saw early on was a gap in the ecosystem. In the UK, most venture capitalists still come from finance backgrounds rather than founder experience. Very few funds are built by people who have actually started and exited companies themselves. Arāya was built differently, starting from that perspective.

When we announced the fund, I did not anticipate was the velocity that would follow.

In our first year, over 2,500 deals came through. It quickly became clear that the opportunity was far bigger than one geography. The quality of founders, the pace of innovation, and the ambition we were seeing required a broader, more global approach.

That is what led to the creation of the Arāya Global Fund I.

A $30 million fund that leads and co-leads seed stage investments across Europe, the GCC, and Asia, with 40 percent reserved for Series A follow ons. We typically invest between $400,000 and $750,000 in the first cheque. The intention is to back founders early and continue backing them as they scale.

As the firm evolved, so did we. What started as me is now a team of ten.

And that team is core to how we think about value.

Value-add VC is one of the most overused phrases in venture. So we try to be specific.

We support founders across sales and revenue acceleration, go to market strategy, fundraising, M&A, pricing, strategy sessions, and meaningful customer and investor introductions. But more importantly, we work to bring the right people into the room at the right time.

Our team reflects a range of lived experience. From building and exiting companies, to scaling technology businesses to meaningful scale, to product and fintech expertise shaped in Silicon Valley, to experience across multiple venture investment committees and a family office venture investor to deep domain knowledge in healthcare.

And that is just the investment team.

When you layer in our extended team, our venture partners, our LP community, our boards, and our broader networks, the value compounds quickly. Founders are not just working with a fund, they are plugged into a network that aims to open doors, solve problems, and accelerate outcomes.

At the same time, we are clear on our role.

If a founder does not need what we believe are our strengths, we are equally happy to simply be alongside them on the journey. The partnership is there when it matters.

What matters most to us is how founders experience that partnership. When a founder tells us they think of us as a co founder, it means a lot. When they reach out to get a second perspective on a decision, or come by the office to talk through their next fundraise, it is a sign of trust. And ultimately, when founders ask us for support, it means we are doing our job.

Beyond direct support, we invest heavily in community.

Through House of Arāya (www.houseofaraya.co), we are building a powerful angel community investing alongside us. The goal is that our angels not only create wealth with access to institutional quality deals, but also learn the frameworks and toolkits that give them an edge as investors and a community of co-investors alongside them.

For founders, this creates something unique. An institutional cheque powered by a community of LPs as well as a highly engaged group of strategic angels on their cap table. People who can actively contribute, not just observe.

We also run regular founder masterclasses every couple of weeks on topics we know matter. From taking care of your mental health to scaling ARR, from Series A due diligence to fundraising. These are recorded and made accessible through our founder resource hub, creating a body of knowledge that compounds over time.

When you bring this all together, the flywheel becomes clear.

We support founders from pre seed through to Series A across our funds. We surround them with a high quality community. We open access to networks, capital, and experience. And over time, that ecosystem strengthens itself.

This is what we set out to build.

A venture firm that combines capital with community, and access with execution. One that evolves with the founders we back and reflects the world they are building in.

We are still early, but the mission remains the same.

To build the kind of firm I would have wanted as a founder.

If you’re a founder looking for a partner like us, share the details of your raise here

If you’re a founder looking for a partner like us, share the details of your raise here