An independent early-stage venture capital firm tied to Imperial College London has unveiled its inaugural £5 million fund aimed at pre-seed and seed-stage companies in deeptech and artificial intelligence. The vehicle, known as Project Ventures, plans to deploy between £100,000 and £300,000 into each portfolio company and has already secured three investments to date.
The fund distinguishes itself by drawing heavily on Imperial's alumni base, with more than 80 per cent of its limited partners coming from the university's graduate community. Project Ventures positions itself as the first independent, alumni-driven venture capital fund dedicated specifically to supporting the Imperial startup ecosystem.
The firm is concentrating on founders who combine science, engineering and AI technologies to create intelligent systems bridging digital and physical domains. Priority sectors encompass robotics, healthcare, climate solutions, energy and advanced manufacturing.
Shahryar Barati, a three-time Imperial graduate, serves as founder and managing partner. The fund's structure mirrors alumni-backed venture networks that have proven successful at American universities, leveraging relationships throughout the Imperial community to spot and nurture companies in their earliest phases.
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,
Shahryar Barati
Three companies have already joined the portfolio: Tewke, a home energy platform; NexusAM, which applies AI to quality assurance in metal 3D printing; and Neubond, a neurotech firm specialising in stroke rehabilitation.
Project Ventures intends to finalise its inaugural fund by summer 2027 while expanding its network of Imperial-connected startups. Looking further ahead, the firm sees opportunities to replicate its alumni-powered investment approach across other technical universities throughout Europe.
Source: Tech.eu
