Unconventional Ventures

ActiveVenture Capital

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Updated: Jan 22, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Jan 1, 2025	Nala Earth	$4.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, Blackhorn Ventures, Contrarian Ventures, foobar.vc, Founderful, Roni Hiranand, Iris Capital, Kompas VC, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Benedikt Franke, Lea- Sophie Cramer, Omid Ashtari
Dec 1, 2024	Firenze	$940K Seed	—	Ada Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, Creator Fund, Double Prime LLP, Entrepreneur First, Eurazeo, Exceptional Ventures, Russell Smith
Sep 1, 2024	Distance Technologies	$11.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, GV, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Omid Ashtari
Jul 1, 2024	VARM	$6.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, eFounders, Female Founders Fund, Foundamental, Roni Hiranand, Northzone, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Seedcamp, Adam Wiggins, Jonathan Widawski, Nicolas Steegmann, Omid Ashtari, Ralph Gootee, Thibaud Elziere
Mar 1, 2024	Superlinked	$10.0M Seed	—	AlleyCorp, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Index Ventures, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Motier Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Scale Asia Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Stellar Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Two Bear Capital, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Mar 1, 2024	Qoala	$45.0M Series C	—	Atomico, Eurazeo, Exceptional Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lionheart Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Pear VC, Picus Capital, Aaron Harris, Alexandre Prot, Andreas Ehn, Charles Delingpole, Pierpaolo Barbieri, Steve Anavi
Feb 1, 2024	Juniper	$2.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, Eurazeo, Exceptional Ventures, Roni Hiranand, Hambro Perks, Molten Ventures, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Threshold Ventures, Charles Delingpole, Omid Ashtari
Oct 1, 2023	VARM	$1.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, eFounders, Foundamental, Roni Hiranand, Northzone, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Seedcamp, Adam Wiggins, Jonathan Widawski, Nicolas Steegmann, Omid Ashtari, Ralph Gootee, Thibaud Elziere
Oct 1, 2023	Nala Earth	$2.0M Seed	—	10x Group, Angel Invest, A/O PropTech, Atomico, Blackhorn Ventures, Contrarian Ventures, Flash Ventures, foobar.vc, Founderful, General Catalyst, Roni Hiranand, Owl Ventures, Pale Blue Dot, Peak, Pi Labs, Point Nine Capital, Michael Wax, Omid Ashtari, Verena Pausder
Mar 1, 2023	DragonflyDB	$21.0M Series A	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Atomico, Bessemer Venture Partners, Broadway Angels, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Quiet Capital, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Frederic Kerrest, Gokul Rajaram, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Ryan Carlson, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Jul 1, 2022	Spotnana	$75.0M Series B	—	Atomico, Broadway Angels, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
May 1, 2022	Lang.ai	$11.0M Series A	—	Atomico, Broadway Angels, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
May 1, 2022	Qoala	$65.0M Series B	—	Vasudev Bailey, Atomico, Eurazeo, Exceptional Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Hoxton Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lionheart Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), Pear VC, Picus Capital, Questa Capital, Radical Ventures, The House Fund, What If Ventures, Aaron Harris, Alexandre Prot, Andreas Ehn, Charles Delingpole, Michael Baum, Pierpaolo Barbieri, Steve Anavi
May 1, 2022	Manara	$3.0M Seed	—	2xN, A/O PropTech, Atomico, Byld Ventures, FTX Ventures, Greylock, Roni Hiranand, Immeasurable, Moonfire Ventures, Ann Bordetsky, Pale Blue Dot, Point Nine Capital, Presight Capital, Seedcamp, Spark Capital, Valar Ventures, Y Combinator, Bradley Horowitz, Johan Lorenzen, Oleg Tscheltzoff, Oliver Jung, Phillip Chambers, Tom Blomfield, Victor Jacobsson
Mar 1, 2022	Climate X	$5.0M Seed	—	A/O PropTech, Atomico, Backed VC, Brand Capital International, Broadway Angels, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Frontline Ventures, General Catalyst, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Northzone, Norwest Venture Partners, Pale Blue Dot, Pareto Holdings, Picus Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Point Nine Capital, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Stanley Ventures, Theory Ventures, Nicholas Shekerdemian, TQ Ventures, Albert Armengol, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Felipe Navio, Hanno Renner, Ido Leffler, Juan Urdiales, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Michael Wax, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Oct 1, 2021	Karat	$110.0M Series C	—	8VC, ARCH Venture Partners, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Eurazeo, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kima Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, Scott Gottlieb, Norwest Venture Partners, Outrun Ventures, Picus Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, #SecretFund, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Jean Charles Samuelian, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Roxanne Varza, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Sep 1, 2021	Maroo	$3.0M Seed	—	01 Ventures, Addition, Amplo, Atomico, B Capital Group, BoxGroup, Broadway Angels, Darco Capital, Davidovs VC, Dyrdek Machine, Electric Capital, Entrée Capital Ventures, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, General Catalyst, GSR Ventures, Hack VC, Immeasurable, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, LGF, Northzone, Norwest Venture Partners, Hans Tung, Robin Li, Plug & Play Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Sommet AB, Target Global, Theory Ventures, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, Akash Gupta, Charlie Songhurst, Colin Carrier, Frank Freund, Ido Leffler, James Hind, Jay Radia, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Louis Beryl, Manish Patel, Mark Cuban, Mark Goines, Michael Stephan, Nate Lipscomb, Ron Pragides, Sahin Boydas, Sam Shank, Shaquille O'Neal, Shervin Pishevar, Sylwester Janik, Tim Griffin
Jun 1, 2021	Maroo	$830K Seed	—	Acrobator Ventures, Astanor Ventures, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Darco Capital, Davidovs VC, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Founders Fund, Future Positive Capital, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Molten Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Y Combinator, Anil Stocker, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Gabriel Jarrosson, Ido Leffler, Ilya Golubovich, Ilya Kondrashov, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Mar 1, 2021	Secureframe	$18.0M Series A	—	75 & Sunny, Atomico, Banana Capital, Broadway Angels, Craft Ventures, Curie.Bio, Daffy, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, Operator Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Rainfall Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, StartupGym, Streamlined Ventures, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Gerald Parloiu, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Oliver Jung, Portman Wills, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Jan 1, 2021	SILQ	$2.0M Seed	—	8VC, A Capital, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Correlation Ventures, Cyberstarts VC, Eight Roads Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Forum Ventures, Gradient Ventures, Graph Ventures, Greycroft, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kleiner Perkins, Liquid 2 Ventures, NFX, Norwest Venture Partners, OVO Fund, Partners Resolute, Plug & Play Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Surface Ventures, SV Angel, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Abrahami Avishai, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Frederic Kerrest, Ido Leffler, Immad Akhund, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Michael Ma, Ronny Conway, Ron Pragides, Ryan Carlson, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Oct 1, 2020	Atmos	$4.0M Seed	—	20VC, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Alex, Angel investor, Jana Messerschmidt, Animal Capital, Atomico, Avanta Ventures, Bedrock Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Blackbird Ventures Australia, Bora&Sons, Broadway Angels, Browder Capital, Canary Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Daffy, Daybreak Partners, Felicis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Flourish Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Future Shape, Geodesic Capital, GSV Acceleration, Hack VC, Hercules Capital, Human Capital, Infinite Niches, jLabs, JLL Spark, Kleiner Perkins, Ligature, Lobby Capital, Menlo Ventures, NextView Ventures, NFX, Norwest Venture Partners, Pear VC, Picus Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Precursor Ventures, QED Investors, Redpoint Ventures, REMUS Capital, Runway Growth Capital, Sandalphon Capital, Sequoia Capital, Silicon Valley Connect, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Soma Capital, Stellation Capital, Streamlined Ventures, Stride VC, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Underscore VC, Vera Equity, Visionaire Ventures, Vouch Insurance, Wollef Ventures, WorkLife Ventures, Biz Stone, Bryce Hall, Chad Nitschke, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Eliot Crowther, Francisco Larrain, Griffin Johnson, Ido Leffler, John M. Mueller, Jonathan Gheller, Julia Hartz, Julie Zhuo, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Mike Krieger, Phil Libin, Ron Pragides, Sahin Boydas, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar, Sri Batchu, Steven Sarowitz, Sung ho Choi, Zander Lurie
Oct 1, 2020	Karat	$18.0M Venture Round	—	8VC, ARCH Venture Partners, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Eurazeo, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kima Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, Scott Gottlieb, Norwest Venture Partners, Outrun Ventures, Picus Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, #SecretFund, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Jean Charles Samuelian, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Roxanne Varza, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar
Aug 1, 2020	Omni	$1.0M Seed	—	8VC, BoxGroup, Contrary Capital, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Giant Ventures, Hack VC, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Oyster Ventures, Pareto Holdings, Sequoia Capital, Soma Capital, Susquehanna Capital, Thomas Pentz, Thrive Capital, Twenty Two Ventures, Bradley Horowitz, Dennis Steele, Eric Rea, Mark Cuban, Scott Belsky, Teddy Citrin, Atomico
May 1, 2019	Karat	$28.0M Series B	—	8VC, Altimeter Capital, ARCH Venture Partners, Atomico, Battery Ventures, Broadway Angels, Dig Ventures, Eurazeo, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Forerunner Ventures, Founder Collective, Founders Circle Capital, Hack VC, Jlabs, Kima Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Koch Fund, Lux Capital, Scott Gottlieb, Norwest Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Outrun Ventures, Picus Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, #SecretFund, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Sunfish Partners, Theory Ventures, Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Upside Partnership, Rick Lewis, Biz Stone, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Craig Newmark, Erik Blachford, Hugh Crean, Ido Leffler, Jean Charles Samuelian, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Mark Cuban, Mark Pincus, Rashaun Williams, Ron Pragides, Roxanne Varza, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar, Sunil Paul
May 1, 2017	Bulletin	$2.0M Seed	—	Afore Capital, Atomico, Broadway Angels, Concrete Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Hack VC, jLabs, Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Partners, Plug & Play Ventures, Silicon Valley Connect, Soma Capital, Theory Ventures, TQ Ventures, Andrew Nutter, Chafic Kazoun, Colin Carrier, Ido Leffler, Karim Atiyeh, Kevin Lin, Loic Le Meur, Manish Patel, Ron Pragides, Sam Shank, Shervin Pishevar, Tom Williams

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Unconventional Ventures.

Vera Baker

Venture Partner

Leadership Team

Key people at Unconventional Ventures.

Vera Baker

Venture Partner

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Unconventional Ventures is a European venture capital firm on a mission to close the persistent funding gap for underrepresented founders—particularly women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. The firm’s investment philosophy centers on the belief that diversity drives innovation and that overlooked talent is a source of both outsized impact and strong financial returns. Unconventional Ventures focuses on early-stage (pre-seed and seed) startups in scalable tech sectors, with a strong emphasis on climate tech, health tech, education tech, and inclusive digital services. By combining capital, mentorship, and a purpose-driven network, the firm not only accelerates the growth of its portfolio companies but also reshapes the venture ecosystem to be more equitable and inclusive.

Origin Story

Founded in 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Unconventional Ventures was born out of a recognition that traditional venture capital systematically excludes diverse founders, despite their potential to build transformative companies. The firm was co-founded by Nora Bavey and Thea Messel, who set out to create a fund that would actively challenge the status quo. Over time, the team expanded to include Alexis Horowitz-Burdick as a general partner, bringing transatlantic experience and a broader operational lens. The firm’s focus has remained consistent: to back founders whose lived experiences position them to solve real-world problems, while embedding justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of its operations.

Core Differentiators

Explicit DEI Focus: Unconventional Ventures is one of the few European funds with a clear, measurable commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, meeting the 2X criteria at both fund and portfolio levels.
Impact-Driven Investment: The firm is an SFDR Article 8 fund, aligning its investments with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and prioritizing companies with impact at their core.
Strong Network and Support: Portfolio companies benefit from a robust ecosystem of advisors, mentors, and industry connections, including notable figures from impact investing and tech.
Proven Track Record: Nearly 90% of its first fund’s portfolio companies are led by all-female or mixed-gender teams, demonstrating the firm’s ability to source and support diverse talent.
Transatlantic Reach: With team members based in both Europe and the US, Unconventional Ventures helps founders scale internationally and access global markets.

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Unconventional Ventures is riding a wave of growing awareness about the importance of diversity in innovation. As the tech industry faces increasing scrutiny over its lack of representation, the firm is at the forefront of a movement to make venture capital more inclusive. The timing is critical: with rising demand for climate and health solutions, and a growing pool of underrepresented founders entering the ecosystem, Unconventional Ventures is well-positioned to capture both impact and returns. By proving that diverse teams can build scalable, high-growth companies, the firm is influencing the broader venture landscape and setting a new standard for what a successful fund looks like.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Unconventional Ventures is poised for continued growth, with its second fund targeting €80 million and a clear strategy to back diverse founders building global solutions. As the firm expands its transatlantic footprint and deepens its impact framework, it is likely to become a benchmark for inclusive venture capital in Europe and beyond. The future of tech will be shaped by those who have been historically overlooked, and Unconventional Ventures is ensuring that these founders have the capital, support, and networks they need to succeed. In a world where innovation is increasingly linked to diversity, Unconventional Ventures is not just investing in startups—it’s investing in a more equitable future.

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Explicit DEI Focus: Unconventional Ventures is one of the few European funds with a clear, measurable commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, meeting the 2X criteria at both fund and portfolio levels.
Impact-Driven Investment: The firm is an SFDR Article 8 fund, aligning its investments with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and prioritizing companies with impact at their core.
Strong Network and Support: Portfolio companies benefit from a robust ecosystem of advisors, mentors, and industry connections, including notable figures from impact investing and tech.
Proven Track Record: Nearly 90% of its first fund’s portfolio companies are led by all-female or mixed-gender teams, demonstrating the firm’s ability to source and support diverse talent.
Transatlantic Reach: With team members based in both Europe and the US, Unconventional Ventures helps founders scale internationally and access global markets.