Project Ventures, an independent early-stage venture capital fund connected to the Imperial College London ecosystem, has launched its first £5 million fund. The fund will invest in pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups working in deeptech and AI.
Project Ventures plans to invest between £100,000 and £300,000 in each startup it backs. The fund has already made three investments.
More than 80% of the fund’s investors, known as limited partners, are Imperial College London alumni. Project Ventures says it is the first independent VC fund powered by alumni and focused on supporting startups linked to the university’s ecosystem.
The fund is looking for founders using science, engineering and AI to build technologies that connect the digital and physical worlds. Its key areas include robotics, healthcare, climate, energy and advanced manufacturing.
“It’s a proud moment to officially launch our debut fund which has the Imperial ecosystem at its heart. Imperial has been an integral part of my own journey and I’m excited to establish the alumni-backed venture model used to great success across leading US universities within the Imperial community,” says Shahryar Barati, Founder and Managing Partner of Project Ventures.
He adds: “This is such an exciting moment for DeepTech, with AI accelerating development cycles that historically took years while bringing an entirely new intelligence layer into the physical world. Imperial’s depth across science, engineering and medicine makes it an exceptional ecosystem from which to find and back companies at that intersection, and our deep roots across the Imperial community put us in a particularly strong position to support these pioneering businesses from an early stage.”
“We’ve hired from Imperial’s impressive pool of graduate and PhD talent to fill a wide range of positions, from interns to technical leads as we’ve grown Tewke, so partnering with an Imperial-rooted VC felt like a natural next step. While it’s relatively common to see alumni-backed VCs in the US, it’s almost unheard of in the UK. For us, it’s exciting to be backed by a fund that’s building that exact model here,” says Rowan Dixon, co-founder of Tewke.
Founded in 2023, Project Ventures invests in Deep Tech and AI startups connected to the Imperial College London ecosystem. It supports pre-Seed and Seed-stage founders developing new technologies.
The firm focuses on companies building technology that connects the digital and physical worlds. Its main areas include energy and climate, advanced manufacturing, robotics and healthcare.
Patrick Sagastegui Alva, co-founder of Neubond, says: “For us, it is never only about the capital. We wanted people around the company who understood where Neubond came from, what we are trying to build, and who could genuinely help us along the journey. Building a MedTech university spin-out comes with a very specific set of challenges. Alongside building the technology and the business, there is IP, clinical evidence, regulation, technology transfer and a long scientific development journey behind the company.
“Having investors who understand those additional layers, and what it takes to translate scientific innovation into a commercially successful medical technology, is therefore very important to us.”
Project Ventures aims to close its first fund by summer 2027 while continuing to find and support startups linked to Imperial College London. In the future, the firm could expand its alumni-focused investment model to other leading technical universities across Europe.
