Hiro Tamura

I hosted a discussion yesterday at unlock VC (previously WVC:E) Summit about Barriers to Progression with some incredible women. However, I left the session feeling frustrated and honestly a bit angry. One question in particular that has stuck with me is a young woman asking for advice on how to manage a situation where her firm has hired a male counterpart but on a much higher salary. She didn’t know how to bring it up. Now, I’m not really one for giving advice (for many reasons) but I’m disappointed that we are still having these discussions today. So here are a few things I wish someone had told me earlier: On pay gaps: You don’t need to tiptoe around this. Book time with your manager, bring data (market rates, your contributions, comparable roles), and state your case directly. If they’re defensive rather than collaborative, that tells you everything you need to know about whether this is somewhere you can grow. On knowing your worth: Keep a running doc of your wins - deals you’ve sourced, value you’ve added, relationships you’ve built. When imposter syndrome hits (and it will), you’ll have receipts. When comp conversations come up, you’ll have ammunition. On finding your people: The women who’ve helped me most in this industry weren’t at my firm (because there weren’t any). Build your kitchen cabinet - other women and men in VC, founders, mentors who’ll tell you the truth and have your back. The ones who supported me ended up being my co-founders at Pact. These relationships matter more than any single job. On when to walk: Sometimes the best career move is leaving. If you’re constantly fighting to be heard, paid fairly, or taken seriously, your energy is better spent somewhere that actually values you. There are firms getting this right. If you’re dealing with any of this - pay disparities, being overlooked, or just feeling stuck - please DM me and let’s talk. I’d like to offer support where I can. Any other advice? Itxaso del Palacio, PhD Natasha Lytton Katharine Spooner Kadi-Ingrid Lilles Francesca (Check) Warner Camilla Dolan Isabelle O'Keeffe Tong Gu Reem Wyndham Roxane Sanguinetti Sophie Winwood

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💡Emerging GP Fundraising Insight #4: HNWIs Are a Different Playbook Fundraising from high-net-worth individuals is its own game. They're lighter on formal DD. Heavier on the personal "Do I like you? Do I believe you'll still be here in 10 years?" HNWIs new to venture will require more education but can be great partners when you're intentional, patient, and value-aligned. With experienced HNWIs, the process is more streamlined with more in-depth questioning on investment strategy and fund management. Takeaway: With HNWIs, the trust is personal first, financial second. For those who've done both, how does your approach differ between HNWIs and institutions?

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Raylu continues to lead the pack by working with #Claude and Anthropic to drive alpha for the best private investment firms.

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💡 Investment Announcement At the Conduit EIS Impact Fund, our 100-Year Life thesis drives us to back ventures that help people healthier, and more fulfilling lives for longer. We are thrilled to announce Conduit Connect's latest investment in Gladys, an AI-powered home care platform on a mission to fix Britain’s broken care system. Founded by George Robinson and Alex Sorisi, Gladys combines smart technology, logistics know-how, and a relentless focus on better outcomes for both families and carers. The platform matches people in need of support with the UK’s best local carers — offering 5-star care at fairer prices, while helping carers earn up to 65% more than traditional agencies. As George Robinson puts it: “We all know that Britain’s care system is broken. Re-arranging deck-chairs on a sinking ship will not cut it. People are dying unnecessarily, and brilliant carers are undervalued and underpaid. Gladys is using this investment to supercharge its technology, and deliver the service that we would want for our loved ones.” Gladys has already supported tens of thousands of hours of independent living across a 20,000 km area. With this new funding — part of a £1.5m Seed round led by Cornerstone VC — Gladys aims to expand nationwide, delivering hundreds of thousands of hours of quality care by 2026. We believe technology can help rebuild trust and dignity in care — creating meaningful, well-paid work and ensuring that people receive the support they deserve long before they get sick. Rodney Appiah Paolo Pio Exceptional Ventures Gabrielle Morgan Gemma Lakin Conduit Connect The Conduit EIS Impact Fund The Conduit Adam Lawrence #ImpactInvesting #EIS #HealthTech #AIforGood #CareInnovation #ConduitImpactFund #FutureOfCare #StartupInvestment

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Delighted to announce our investment in elyndra. Marcus W. has made it his mission to address one of the UK's most acute societal problems - social care. elyndra is re-inventing how care providers document and deliver support - improving safeguarding, reducing burnout and giving carers more time to actually care. With limited resource and significant hustle, he has already secured commercial contracts and brought on Tristone Group as a strategic partner. This isn't yet another AI platform. This is Vertical AI with a real societal purpose. My colleague Sanchit Dhote has posted a detailed piece on #Whyweinvested below. Worth a read! https://lnkd.in/e8Bz7vX4

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🚨 Founders raising Pre-Seed — this is for you 🚨 Today, I’m sharing the LvlUp Ventures Pre-Seed Fundraising Guide — built from working hands-on with hundreds of portfolio companies and reviewing 15,000+ early-stage funding applications annually. It distills what we see every day: what actually gets funded, where founders lose momentum, and how the strongest teams position themselves to win at the pre-seed stage. Inside the guide: 🔹 How investors really think at Pre-Seed 🔹 What metrics matter (and what to ignore) 🔹 How to price your round without killing momentum 🔹 What a strong Pre-Seed deck actually looks like 🔹 How to run a real fundraising process (without burning months) 🔹 Practical guidance from the LvlUp IC and what we see every day. 👇 Want the guide? Like this post and comment “Guide” — I’ll DM it to you. #PreSeed #Fundraising #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #Founders #Startups #StartupAdvice #VCInsights #RaisingCapital #Tech #CPG #Founder #PitchDeck #AngelInvesting #SeedFunding #LvlUpVentures #VC

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https://lnkd.in/d6M6zQVR Exciting News: Concrete Ventures is proud to announce our investment in AUAR! We're thrilled to back AUAR, a pioneering construction robotics startup transforming homebuilding with timber and automation. AUAR's innovative deployable robotic "Micro-Factory" can produce timber-frame homes on-site, drastically reducing construction costs by up to 40% and labor requirements by an impressive 96%. AUAR recently secured £5.1 million in funding, bringing their total raised to £7.7 million. With a current valuation of £26.1 million, their ambitious plans include supporting over 200 builders and producing 100,000 carbon-negative homes by 2030, projecting over £200 million in revenue. They also aim to expand across Europe and launch a mid-rise timber housing system in 2026. We believe AUAR's technology will play a crucial role in building a more sustainable and efficient future for construction. Read more about this groundbreaking development here: AUAR Secures Over £5 Million #PropTech #ConTech #Innovation #VentureCapital #SustainableBuilding #Robotics #Construction #Investment #AUAR #ConcreteVentures

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£250B in unrealized economic value is not simply a “women’s issue.” It’s a capital misallocation problem. For most of modern UK history, women were legally barred from owning property, signing contracts, or accessing credit independently. Even into the 1980s, many banks required male guarantors for business loans. That legacy didn’t disappear — it compounded. Today, we still see it in who gets backed early, who gets conviction capital, and who is allowed to scale fast. The result is a structurally underpriced cohort of founders operating in the world’s most sophisticated markets. Women have had ~50 years or less of theoretical capital access versus centuries of compounding advantage for men. In the United States, until 1974 it was perfectly legal and routine for banks to deny women credit based on sex or marital status — a practice that changed only with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Lenders routinely required husbands or fathers to co-sign loans and denied credit for being pregnant or of “childbearing age.” Markets today absolutely reflect that delta. We’re still playing catch-up. Markets do not self-correct historical exclusion. Capital allocation shapes outcomes. This is alpha-seeking capital, not symbolic allocation. Reallocating capital toward high-quality female founders isn’t below-market. It’s rational, return-seeking investing. Way to go HSBC Innovation Banking 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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What age did some of the best GP founders start their firms? The data might surprise you. Stable's Project Legends dives into the data ... hear from Founder & CEO Erik Serrano Berntsen (who started Stable well before 33!) on the latest Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. https://lnkd.in/eRQKt-b5

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"You have to be stubborn enough to will a new market into existence—but self-aware enough to know when you're wrong. That balance is what separates the builders from the blind." – Ami Daniel A huge thank you to Ami Daniel for joining our recent Founders Network global keynote! From naval officer to co-founding Windward, a pioneering maritime AI company, Ami’s journey is a powerful story of conviction, humility, and relentless execution. He shared lessons from building a startup in a category no one believed in—until they did—and leading it to a $270M exit. Ami spoke candidly about the tension between stubbornness and self-awareness, and why surrounding yourself with people who challenge your perspective is key to staying on course. Ami, thank you for reminding us that building something new isn’t just about force of will—it’s about having the courage to question your own assumptions. #FoundersNetwork #StartupJourney #FounderWisdom #MaritimeAI #TechLeadership #Windward #StartupExit #MarketCreation #FounderResilience #ScaleWithPurpose

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Every founder we invest in signs an Impact Pact. Written into our investment documents. Legally binding. Not as marketing. As requirement. Most impact funds talk about doing good. We structure it into every deal. The concept is simple: paying it forward. We share access to capital with founders the traditional VC ecosystem overlooks. In return, we expect our founders to pay it forward in three areas: Wealth sharing: How are you distributing ownership beyond the executive team? In 2024, our portfolio generated over $400 million in wealth creation—$342 million for BIPOC and women founders, plus $65 million in employee equity. Supplier diversity: How much spending goes to companies founded by people of color or women? Our portfolio directed $9 million to diverse suppliers last year—30% BIPOC-owned, 35% women-owned. Diversity goals: Not quotas. Intentionality. 92% of our founders are BIPOC. 81% of their employees are BIPOC. 77% of the $39.7 million in compensation went to BIPOC team members. Here's what makes this different: It's legally binding. Not in a deck. In the documents we both sign. It's specific. No vague language. Measurable commitments. It compounds. Year over year, these numbers grow because the structure demands it. The question I always get: "Does this work? Or is it virtue signaling?" Fair question. Here's the data: Our portfolio created 436 jobs in 2024 — a 48% compound annual growth rate since 2021. These aren't just any jobs. They're pathways to wealth in communities excluded from venture-backed opportunity. The paying-it-forward model creates a multiplier effect. When our founders prioritize diverse suppliers, those suppliers gain revenue and credibility that help them win more business. When our founders build inclusive teams, they tap talent pools competitors ignore. When our founders share equity broadly, retention improves and alignment deepens. Each company becomes a node in a network of shared access—not just a single investment, but a catalyst for ecosystem-wide change. Why structure impact this way? Because impact that isn't measured doesn't compound. When you invest in a founder, you're not just buying equity in one company. You're investing in their commitment to pay it forward — through the vendors they choose, the teams they build, the wealth they share. The Impact Pact ensures impact is intentional, measurable, and compounding. Returns are not concessionary. Our current Fund I: 34.8% gross IRR. 1.75x return multiple. More than two times above the median for comparable VC funds. The Impact Pact isn't altruism. It's a structured method for paying forward the access we provide and capturing the returns that come when overlooked founders get their shot. Fund II is open with the Impact Pact built into every deal. Same structure. Same accountability. Same thesis: that paying it forward isn't charity. It's alpha. If you're an LP who believes in compounding returns and compounding impact, let's talk.

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A few weeks ago, we announced our plans to launch PXN Group. Subject to FCA approval, Par Equity and Praetura Ventures will merge to create PXN. PXN is about scale. Scale to help us do more for the North of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We want to build world-class investment programmes that match this region’s ambitions. Whether it’s delivering groceries more sustainably or getting pharmaceuticals to those who need them, we’re here to help founders build the best businesses they can. We’re bringing together the best of both investors to power the North. From pre-seed to scale-up, PXN will be able to support more founders across more sectors and stages. We can’t wait to get started! You can find out more via our new site: https://www.pxngroup.com/ The merger is subject to FCA approval.

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👀 Hopefully, you've heard by now that we run free fundraising accelerators for seed founders... 👉 What makes this next programme particularly unique is that we teamed up with 4 other organisations - GC Angels, Stronger Stories, Foundervine and Firstport to deliver a brand new initiative called Venture Forward. It combines our decade of experience of running programmes with partners from across the UK to deliver a new initiative, fully funded by Innovate UK, to support a whopping 160 companies in the next 15 months. 🇬🇧 We will deliver these workshops to companies all over the UK, including London, Birminghman, Manchester, & Edinburgh. 🚀 We will also be focusing on under-represented founders (more details in the application form). The programme will consist of fundraising workshops, 1-on-1 mentoring, regional meet-ups, national investor days, centralised resources and an active alumni community. ✅ Applications are now open via ventureforward.co.uk

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Today Isembard announced a $50m Series A fundraise led by Union Square Ventures, less than a year after Notion Capital led their Seed round. 💥This is a company right at the intersection of AI & supply chain sovereignty & they’re exceeding even our most optimistic expectations. By the end of the year they will have 25 factories across the UK, US, Germany, France & Ukraine. 💥Isembard is rapidly scaling its network of AI-first factories for precision manufacturing at the same time as market demand is accelerating. Macro forces (reshoring, rising defence spend, concentration risk in Asia, and the growth of neo-primes) are structurally increasing demand for fast, local, flexible manufacturing that the current industry is unable to deliver on. 💥The innovation is in the way the company builds and franchises factories as a product with tightly integrated units of machines, software, robotics, & process intelligence that turn design files into certified components with speed & reliability. 💥Their AI software platform, MasonOS, connects all sites into a single operating system, replacing fragmented shops with standardised, high-performance industrial nodes & enabling real-time quoting, predictable delivery, & low defect rates. By owning the full production stack, Isembard delivers premium manufacturing performance with the scalability & flexibility of a software platform. 💥We are at the top of the AI hype cycle and there are understandable concerns about the ROI on the vast sums of money being invested into this new super-cycle. But, the ROI for Isembard is both clear and compelling. They will deliver components 10x faster and at 50% of the cost of current suppliers. They will also build a de-centralised, global network of factories to meet the growing demand for national or regional sovereignty. 💥This is a company with a clear vision to disrupt a massive, fragmented $1.8tn component manufacturing market. Today marks another huge stride towards that vision. And they are only just getting started. We’re thrilled to be on this journey with Alexander Fitzgerald & the team & we’re also excited to welcome Rebecca Kaden & USV into the investor base. Notion Capital Union Square Ventures Alexander Fitzgerald Rebecca Kaden Maximilian Eichler Stephen Millard Britt Mulder

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Thanks Clean Cities ClimAccelerator for inviting me to talk to your current cohort about investing in sustainability. I was happy to recommend these three resources as valuable background reading for any founders starting up cleantech: 1) The Climate Tech Atlas from Breakthrough Energy , Speed & Scale, McKinsey & Company Sustainability team, Elemental Impact, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and Energy Innovation Policy and Technology LLC. This is a remake of the original five "Grand Challenges" described by Breakthrough when they set up ten years ago, and developed by the brilliant book "Speed & Scale" by John Doerr. It's a practical framework for operators to understand where the gaps still remain in our fight to reduced greenhouse gas emissions, divided into 'moonshots' and 'innovation imperatives' (accelerators and enablers', all assigned an emissions reduction potential figure in Gigatonnes of CO2e, to help align the work of everyone in this space. The world is burning and we don't have time to waste working on solutions that are not going to have the impact we need. https://lnkd.in/enWehsTt 2) The Climate Brick, the 'missing manual for the new climate tech journey', a community project initiated by climate investors led by EQT Group and Contrarian Ventures and now powered by over 100 VCs, founders and later stage investors. The Climate Brick is also an alignment tool, aiming to get the ecosystem working with the same approach for different classes of technology from asset-as-a-service, moonshots and companion software. https://lnkd.in/exN6yW-K 3) The Deep Tech Napkin from First Momentum Ventures focusses in on hard tech (not climate specific), helping founders and investors with rules of thumb for valuations, teams, tech and commercialisation milestones for each round. https://lnkd.in/eCN384bJ These three resources are all trying to align the climatetech ecosystem to increase our efficiency and speed of deployment - so we can get the solutions we need to market as quickly as possible. Onwards! #VC #VentureCapital #Cleantech #Climatetech #ZeroCarbon

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It was fantastic to sit down with Charlie Linacre from Finatal for their Future of Funds series to talk about my (slightly unusual) journey from anthropology to private equity. From spotting market gaps and setting up Copilot Capital, to growing our team and landing those all-important early deals – it was a great discussion. We covered some of my favourite themes: • 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴: we’re often the biggest bet they’ll make. This is their life’s work, so they need real conviction in us - they have to look you in the eye and say, “Yes, I trust that person.” • 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴: At Copilot, we want our team to become full-stack investors - not just sourcing deals but also helping to build founder teams and our own business. Working in a smaller fund offers early associates more responsibility, autonomy and ownership - entrepreneurial risk with real upside. • 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟼 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳: We see acceleration ahead - especially as high-performing, VC-backed businesses that may not be unicorns look for the right home. Thanks, Charlie, for a great conversation. You can watch the full interview here

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