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Vala Capital

https://www.valacap.com

Last activity: 02.09.2024

Active

Invests in categories: GamingAdTechSocialMobileDevelopmentFinTechContentAppTravelBusiness

Vala Capital are a sustainability-focused Venture Capital firm run by experienced entrepreneurs. We fund startup and early-stage UK business.

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Investment Type: Venture Capital

Investment Stage: Pre-Seed; Seed; Series A

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Portfolio 17

Date	Name	Website	Total Raised	Location
29.04.2021	The Sustai...	sustainabilitygroup.co.uk	-	United Kin...
20.01.2021	Good Club	goodclub.co.uk	-	United Kin...
-	Instream	instreamenergy.com	-	Canada, Br...
-	Arksen	arksen.com	-	-
-	RING POWER...	ringpowercraft.co.uk	-	United Kin...
-	Hutch	hutch.io	-	United Kin...
-	VN Aerotox...	vn-ads.co.uk	-	-
-	Playstack	playstack.com	-	United Kin...
-	Shackleton	shackletonlondon.com	-	Spain, Com...
-	Miappi	miappi.com	-	United Kin...
-	PELORUS	pelorusx.com	-	United Kin...
-	pirkx	pirkx.com	-	United Kin...
-	PlayWorks	play.works	$2.54M	United Kin...
-	Ziglu	ziglu.io	$8.07M	United Kin...
-	AppOnboard	apponboard.com	$69M	United Sta...
-	Terralogix	terralogix.ai	-	-
-	Sonasure	quvium.co.uk	-	United Kin...

Persons 10

Date	First Name	Last Name	Title	LinkedIn	Twitter	Email	Location
-	Jake	Wombwell-P...	Investor -...	linkedin.c...	-	j**e@valac...	-
-	Tim	Meikle	Business D...	linkedin.c...	-	t*m@valaca...	-
-	Jonathon	Spanos	Head of Ve...	linkedin.c...	-	j******n@v...	-
-	Kasper	Hunt	CTO	linkedin.c...	-	k****r@val...	-
-	Mike	Bland	Systems Ad...	linkedin.c...	-	M**e@valac...	-
-	George	Robinson A...	Investment...	linkedin.c...	-	g****e@val...	-
-	Laura	Smith	-	linkedin.c...	-	l***a@vala...	-
-	Jasper	Smith	Chairman	linkedin.c...	-	j****r@val...	-
-	Jane	Holland	-	linkedin.c...	-	j**e@valac...	-
-	John	Oliver	Sales Dire...	linkedin.c...	-	j*********...	-

News 38

Date	Title	Description
17.12.2020	Vala recognised in two award categories at the Growth Investor Awards	Our investment in PlayWorks was named as one the most impactful investments, recognising both the way the funding has been used to accelerate growth and the support Vala has given the company. We're particularly pleased to see PlayWorks in ...
15.12.2020	The art and science of valuing portfolio companies	A version of this article first appeared in FT Adviser. Valuing companies is complicated. McKinsey & Company’s latest book about company valuations is an overwhelming 896 pages long. For a shorter read, you can pore through the 70 page...
14.12.2020	Project Ocean - Arksen begins construction of its 85ft explorer yacht	Portfolio company Arksen has recently started work on Project Ocean - the fabrication of its 85ft explorer yacht. Scheduled for completion in Spring 2022, the Arksen 85 will have a range of 7,000 nautical miles and berths for up to 14 explo...
07.12.2020	Perfect alignment - the five forces that mean it’s an ideal time to invest in sustainable start-ups	Ban Ki-Moon, Former Secretary General of the United Nations At Vala, our goal is to spot emerging technological, industrial and consumer trends, then invest in start-ups and early stage companies that we believe can capitalise on those tre...
20.11.2020	Intelligent Partnership shortlists Vala for four Growth Investor Awards	We are delighted to announce that Vala has been named as a finalist in four award categories for this year’s Growth Investor Awards, organised by Intelligent Partnership. There were a record number of nominations for the awards this year, ...
09.11.2020	How to help start-ups on their sustainability mission	By Max Middleton This article originally appeared in ESG Clarity We need to make sure every VC has a mandate to deploy capital in a way that funds a sustainable transition. In 2011, Marc Andreessen – a Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned ...
14.09.2020	Video: In conversation with Jasper Smith and Jonathan Boltax	We strongly believe that investors should understand how we select businesses to invest in and the work that we do behind the scenes to support the entrepreneurs running our portfolio companies. In this webinar, George Robinson chats with V...
21.08.2020	Video: In conversation with Paddy Willis and Paul Rostand	In case you missed it, here is a recording of our recent webinar. It features Vala's John Oliver interviewing Paddy Willis and Paul Rostand. Paddy, who sits on Vala's investment committee was the co-founder of Plum Baby, which became one of...
03.08.2020	The hidden human cost of Covid-19	By Jasper Smith, Vala founder and CEO One of the key things to have come out of the Covid-19 lockdown period for me, has been how it has highlighted the fragility of human health; both physical and mental. We invest in people and those peo...
22.06.2020	The ups and downs of managing a portfolio of start-ups during a crisis	Vala's ethos is based on the idea that the best people to help companies grow and succeed are fellow entrepreneurs - people who know first-hand the joys and pains of building businesses. And, in a crisis, the experience of our founder, Jas...
04.06.2020	Introducing Pirkx - making affordable wellbeing benefits available to all	We’re delighted to announce our investment into Pirkx, an employee benefits platform designed for the changing world of work. In this video, CEO and co-founder Stella Smith explains her vision for the business, and Vala’s Jasper Smith expl...
15.04.2020	Terra Adriatica: Right place, right time?	Anthony Johnson introduces us to Terralogix and why the team are revolutionising the potential development of contested land. They have started in Croatia but plan to roll the model out to other similar economies across the globe. Jasper Sm...
20.03.2020	Vala calls for immediate Government action to support SMEs	INDUSTRY LEADERS URGE PRIME MINISTER TO RAISE TAX RELIEFS TO SAVE START-UPS A group of start-up industry leaders is urging the government to make immediate temporary changes to existing investment schemes to provide a lifeline to UK start-...
25.02.2020	Video: Pelorus is creating unforgettable adventures.	Pelorus is a travel company that offers individuals, small groups and companies unique travel experiences, on land and at sea. In this video Pelorus founder George Mackay-Lewis and Vala's Jasper Smith explain more about what the company doe...
24.01.2020	Finding founders: read the stories of some of the entrepreneurs we've invested in.	The quality of management teams is an important investment criterion for us. We need to have confidence in the capabilities of the founders and leaders of the companies we back. But we also need to feel a strong affinity with them, so tha...
24.01.2020	Our next tranche of EIS investments will complete before the end of this tax year.	The Vala EIS Portfolio regularly closes investment tranches, usually every three to six months. Each tranche involves completing investments into a number of companies over a concentrated period of a few days. We developed this tranche-bas...
25.11.2019	WATCH: Vala's Jasper Smith talks to Wealth Club about our approach to investing.	Jasper Smith recently sat down with Alex Davies to talk about the Vala Capital EIS Portfolio. Jasper is an entrepreneur who has created, built and successfully sold numerous businesses. Before founding Vala, he also incubated and invested ...
07.11.2019	Great news for Vala!	Vala Capital was recognised in two different award categories at last night's Growth Investor Awards, run by Intelligent Partnership. Now in their fifth year, the Growth Investor Awards celebrate investment funds that provide the finance a...
29.10.2019	Vala shortlisted for two Investment Week awards	We're delighted to announce that we've been named as a finalist for two of Investment Week's Tax-Efficiency Awards. We are in the running for the Best Generalist EIS and Best New Entrant Awards! Winners will be announced on 29th November. ...
02.08.2019	'Game-changing' Vala is a triple finalist at Growth Investor Awards.	We've had some great news from the team at the Growth Investor Awards. Vala has been shortlisted as a finalist for three of this year's awards - Industry Game Changer, Most Impactful Investment and Industry Rising Star. Since they launched...
01.08.2019	From bespoke adventures to mobile phone games - our next investment tranche.	One of the things that makes the Vala EIS Portfolio different is how quickly we aim to get the money we raise invested into companies. Some EIS portfolio services invest in companies one at a time, drip-feeding investors with contract note...
06.06.2019	Video: PlayWorks is a fast-growing player in a new section of the gaming market.	In this video, Jonathan Boltax from PlayWorks explains how his company went from launch in 2017 to profitability in 2018. PlayWorks is a games development company, focusing on games played through messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger a...
21.03.2019	Video: How Arksen is creating marine vessels for adventure, travel and research	Inspired by some of the greatest explorers of our time - names like Nansen, Cousteau and Heyerdalh - Arksen is developing semi-autonomous explorer vessels, designed to take researchers and adventurous travellers to some of the most challeng...
21.03.2019	Investment Week says Vala, "has brought together a unique set of entrepreneurial experiences"	We were delighted to be asked to take part in Investment Week's recent Spotlight report on tax-efficient investing. You can read a short article about Vala here, which also includes a link to the full report.
13.03.2019	How your clients can still invest in EIS-qualifying shares before the tax year ends.	This tax year the Government understandably put an end to the so-called “capital preservation” asset-backed Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) offerings that were not in the spirit of the scheme. As a result, there are now fewer opportuniti...
12.03.2019	Video: Meet the British bakery that wants to make the world's best biscotti.	In June this year, you'll be able to buy Great British Biscotti Company's (Biscotti Co) biscuits from one of the UK's biggest supermarket chains. This marks a major milestone for a business that, not too long ago, was only selling its produ...
25.02.2019	Video: What our EIS fund offers investors, and how we work with financial advisers.	In this short video, Vala's James Faulkner discusses what might make the Vala EIS Portfolio stand out from the crowd and the importance of Vala's working relationships with financial advisers.
08.02.2019	First look at Arksen's incredible new adventure yachts.	Arksen is a new brand of motor yachts that is part of the portfolio of the UK Challenger Fund - predecessor to our current fund, the Vala EIS Portfolio. The 3D animation below really brings to life Arksen's ambitious designs. If you want t...
04.02.2019	It's official - announcing the launch of the Vala Capital EIS.	After a soft launch in late 2018, we are delighted to officially announce the launch of our new fund, the Vala EIS Portfolio. You can read about the launch in various publications, including The Telegraph and GBI Magazine.
-	On a mission	The grocery industry is an interesting one for start-up investors. The best new food and beverage brands can scale up quickly and become attractive acquisition targets for private equity funds or acquisitive grocery corporations. But on th...
-	Hutch yields healthy return for investors	In December 2020, Hutch Games was acquired for up to $375m by MTG, a Swedish esports and gaming entertainment group. The deal produced a healthy return for Hutch's early investors, including Jasper Smith, Vala's CEO and founder. Founded in ...
-	Building Back Better - why we invested in QFlow	QFlow founders Brittany Harris & Jade Cohen Posted by Jonathon Spanos, Vala Capital It's widely acknowledged that the construction sector has lagged others when it comes to both digitalisation and sustainability accounting. Qflow is h...
-	Podcast: Jasper Smith on entrepreneurship and the 'valley of death' funding conundrum.	Vala's founder Jasper Smith recently met with Brian Moretta from the EIS Navigator Podcast. You can listen using the link below or on-the-go via Apple and Spotify. Jasper shares his story of how he went from being a welder to becoming a te...
-	Helping companies prove that 'doing good' creates value	The Sustainability Group was co-founded by Mike Penrose and Alexandra Smith. Mike has held Executive and Chief Executive roles at Unicef UK, Action Contre La Faim, and Save the Children International. Mike has a proven track record suppor...
-	Unpicking the jargon of responsible investing	Investors are increasingly interested in investing responsibly, by including non-financial factors in their investment decisions. But the rapid rise of responsible investing has led to the emergence of some terminology that is used inconsis...
-	Why we invested in Good Club	by Max Middleton The investment world is slowly coming around to the idea that good business and good values can go hand-in-hand. Good Club, the newest addition to the Vala portfolio, is a great example of a company making this look obviou...
-	Podcast: Understanding sustainable investing	As the corporate world focuses more and more on ESG issues, numerous frameworks for measuring sustainability have sprung up. But how can investors make sense of them? And do they have any relevance when it comes to investing in small compan...
-	Why we invested in Homethings	Homethings is already disrupting the homecare product market with its sustainable waterless and resuable packaging solutions – less than a year since launching Sometimes companies come along and reimagine the way that we do things by askin...

Mentions in press and media 4

Date	Title	Description
02.09.2024	From Concept To Company: Alexandra Smith, Co-founder and Partner of FuturePlus Co-founder and Partner of FuturePlus Alexandra Smith on building a business that champions making sustainability accessib...	Alexandra Smith, co-founder and Partner of FuturePlus, champions making sustainability accessible and affordable for business, a commitment that earned her and her co-founder Mike Penrose, a nomination for the 2023 Sustainability Entreprene...
04.10.2023	Blue biotech firm FlexSea raises £2M for sustainable seaweed bioplastic production	London-based blue biotech company FlexSea has raised a £2 million equity Seed round led by Indico Capital Partners, with the participation of RedRice Ventures, Btomorrow Ventures, Food Foundry, Vala Capital, ICON Capital, and Pente Capital....
30.08.2022	So fresh and so clean: Oxwash soaks up £10 million and receives B Corp certification	London-based Oxwash has been going about its business when it comes to taking on the environmental trouble makers that the washing and dry cleaning sector has been long guilty of. While the site of a blue bucketed bicycle shuttling freshly ...
30.08.2022	So fresh and so clean? Oxwash soaks up £10 million and receives B Corp certification, but the numbers don't add up	London-based Oxwash has been going about its business when it comes to taking on the environmental trouble makers that the washing and dry cleaning sector has been long guilty of. While the site of a blue bucketed bicycle shuttling freshly ...

Vala Capital

Portfolio 17

Persons 10

News 38

Mentions in press and media 4

Reviews 0