Economic empowerment

Access to well-paid work and finance for all

What is economic empowerment?

We back companies that inclusively transform money, work, and skills to reverse rising inequality and ensure everyone can benefit from a changing economy.

Why economic empowerment?

We want to reduce discrimination, low-quality jobs and wage gaps.

We want to provide access to education and skills training.

We want to remove barriers to owning income-generating assets that could help reverse rising inequality.

Examples of economic empowerment companies we’ve invested in:

We co-led a
seed round of
£2.m
with Sure Valley Ventures

We co-led a
pre-seed round of
c.£1m
with Concept Ventures


We participated
in a pre-seed round

c.£1m
with Mangrove Partners

Which areas do we invest in?

Systems that enable a more inclusive financial system, promoting financial prosperity and resilience for all. Products that automate the mundane and make work more delightful. Platforms that help everyone level up for the new economy.

What compels us to back a company in this area?

The context

A third of UK workers say they live payday to payday. Some 12m people in the UK have less than £100 of savings. Globally, around 80% of people are unbanked or underbanked across the world.

Meanwhile the world of work is changing. AI and machine learning are creating new jobs, displacing old ones, and automating tasks. Learning and education are more vital than ever.

These conditions provide the perfect opportunity for businesses combining economic value and social impact.

The company

  • An overlooked area and market with the potential to generate significant economic and socially impactful outcomes.
  • A non-obvious opportunity that comes from direct access with customers or other stakeholders.
  • Early versions of the product built out fast, and in the midst of customer development conversations.

The founders

  • Technically talented founders and/or teams with strong domain expertise.
  • Resourceful founders who have already validated early points in their product hypothesis.

Main reasons we pass

  • Products without significant business model or product innovation don’t get us excited.
  • Ideas on paper are also a no. Companies should at least have a Figma or Loom demo of their early product.
  • Unattractive unit economics are also a turn-off. The cost of capital has never been higher. Startups should think about economics the moment they have a business model idea in mind.

Building a company tackling an important problem in economic empowerment?

Come and talk to us