The rest of the 100 (in alphabetical order): Alice Newcombe-Ellis, founder and managing partner, Ahren Innovation Capital
University of Cambridge alumna Alice Newcombe-Ellis is founder and managing partner of the £100m ($129m) Ahren Innovation Capital fund, which made its public debut in May this year with an investment in biotech spinout Cambridge Epigenetix – Ahren contributed $10m to a $30m series C round.
Formed in 2017 as a collaboration between eight scientists at the institution, the patient capital fund has recently been backed by insurance giant Aviva, holding group Wittington Investments and a number of private and family investors.
Newcombe-Ellis graduated from Cambridge with a double first-class degree in mathematics and recently told the Financial Times that the fund was unlike other venture capital vehicles in that it worked closely with its science partners and placed an emphasis on high-risk high-reward opportunities held over a long timeframe.
Ahren’s focus is on areas such as artificial intelligence, genetics, space, robotics and environment technology. It aims to raise substantially more capital over coming months.
