| | Ascension’s Portfolio Summit Earlier this month, we hosted our annual Portfolio Summit at Google’s offices. Our portfolio is our greatest strength, and this event was a chance to celebrate that fully.
We had two panels focused on Using AI to Work Smarter and Scaling & Fundraising. Founders shared practical lessons on hiring and firing, determining how much to raise, and cultivating strong investor relationships.
A big thank you to all the founders who joined and shared their candid insights, and to Google for generously hosting us. See our full post on LinkedIn for more details and photos. | | | Alex Promoted to Investment Manager Thrilled to share that Alex has been promoted to Investment Manager at Ascension, where he will continue investing in the UK’s most ambitious early-stage founders.
He will work alongside Remy and Toyosi on some of Ascension’s most exciting pre-seed investments, while continuing to collaborate with Chris on the Ascension Syndicate to bring exceptional early-stage opportunities to angel investors and family offices. | | | | | | | | Sprive’s New Ad Launches on Channel 4 For anyone who hasn’t seen Sprive’s new TV ad, here it is. Sprive helps you reduce your mortgage costs while you shop, earning cashback rewards along the way.
This is only the beginning for Sprive. Paying off a mortgage? Give the app a try, download it on Google Play or the App Store. | | | | | Benefit is Rolling Out Merx Globally Benefit Cosmetics achieved over 10x ROAS on WhatsApp in just three months using Merx, driving 30% higher average order value, 6% of all CRM sales, and 85%+ opt-ins, far outperforming SMS and prompting a global rollout of Merx’s AI-powered conversational commerce platform.
We’re excited to see how Merx continues to innovate, using conversational commerce and AI to help businesses connect with customers in smarter, more seamless ways. | | | | | Iulia, Ascension Partner, Featured in Entrepreneur Journal In this piece, Iulia shares her perspective on how to evaluate startup teams, the trends she finds most exciting, and her advice for founders on handling “no’s. Read the full article here. | | | | | Awards and Honours for the Ascension Portfolio | | | | Tech Nation's Upscale Programme | | | Congratulations to the four Ascension companies selected for Tech Nation’s Upscale Programme: Finmile, Honest Mobile, Kamma, and Ride Tandem. This programme will support these companies as they continue to scale and grow. | | | | | | | | | Congratulations to Neuronostics and Pangaea Data for being named finalists for OBN’s Most Transformative Healthtech Company of the Year award, and to Novai for reaching the finals for Best Early-Stage Tech Company. | | | | | | Female Founder Office Hours | Freya, Ascension Associate, is participating in Female Founder Office Hours on 30 October 2025, hosted by Playfair, alongside 120 VCs from leading funds.
If you're a female founder and would like the opportunity to meet investors for pitching or mentoring, register here. | | | - FinMile Co-founder, Rich Pleeth, has been featured in TechRound’s piece ‘Are EU Regulations Protecting Citizens Or Will They Chase Innovation Away’
- Pahini, CEO of Panakeia has received a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, empowering Panakeia to accelerate its mission of making precision medicine more accessible
- TIME Magazine featured Epoch Biodesign in its ‘10 AI Applications Shaping the Future’
- ReBorn has been named Manufacturer of the Year at the 2025 Oxfordshire Business Awards
- Congratulations to Camera Intelligence on raising $2m in seed funding
- Stream has unveiled its new brand identity, hear directly from the founders here
| | | | | | | | Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Read more. | | | You are receiving this email because you signed up to the Ascension Newsletter
Ascension is an early-stage venture capital firm built by exited entrepreneurs to back the next generation of tech and impact founders. Since 2015, Ascension has invested in 150+ start-ups across its (S)EIS & Institutional funds - our specialist approach and extensive sector reach allow us to identify and scale pioneering tech enterprises.
With over £100m under management, Ascension has been one of London's most active VCs over the past decade, with a particular focus on backing impact businesses leveraging the power of technology to solve some of the world's biggest problems. For more information, ascension.vc. | | | | | | | |
