Ruya Ventures has raised $50m (£37.7m) for its first VC fund, which is focused on supporting global deep tech innovation as it shifts from the lab into real-world deployment. Ruya Ventures will build a portfolio of 20 deep tech companies worldwide with a focus on targeted technology value chains in
Kirstie Pickering
Ruya Ventures has raised $50m (£37.7m) for its first VC fund, which is focused on supporting global deep tech innovation as it shifts from the lab into real-world deployment.
Ruya Ventures will build a portfolio of 20 deep tech companies worldwide with a focus on targeted technology value chains in sectors including AI, batteries, robotics, semiconductors, materials science and novel computing.
The fund is already deploying capital and its first investments include WLF Energy, which develops energy infrastructure from generation to grid, and MegaCool, which creates cooling hardware tailored to modern compute needs, in addition to three stealth-mode startups across AI, robotics and semiconductors.
As a day-zero fund and a long-term strategic partner to startups, Ruya Ventures aims to back founders in their first financing round and, in most cases, even before incorporation.
The firm’s inaugural fund reached its final close in less than a year and was oversubscribed. Despite strong demand from limited partners, solo GP and founder Rick Hao did not increase the fund size beyond the optimum needed to execute his strategy of building a focused portfolio and providing critical support at the early stages.
“Deep tech and the supply chains that underpin it is an inherently global game [and] a European lens alone is not sufficient,” says Hao. “That is why Ruya Ventures is rooted in Europe but deliberately built with a network that spans Europe, the US and Asia.
“We are interested in the work that happens after the cheque is written that closes that gap. It’s the commercialisation, the manufacturing strategy [and] the global network that most early-stage investors are not set up to do well.”
