The London-based firm, Project Ventures has launched a £5 million debut fund for pre-seed and seed companies emerging from or connected to the Imperial College London ecosystem. Initial investments will typically range from £100,000 to £300,000, with Project Ventures targeting startups where AI converges with science and engineering across areas including robotics, healthcare, climate, energy and advanced manufacturing.
What makes the model unusual is where both its capital and its claimed investment edge come from. More than 80% of the fund’s limited partners are Imperial alumni, and Project Ventures describes itself as the first independent, alumni-powered venture fund dedicated to the university’s startup ecosystem. The firm is explicitly independent of Imperial College London and says references to the university describe its origins and network rather than any institutional affiliation or endorsement.
That distinction matters. Project Ventures is effectively trying to turn an alumni community into investment infrastructure. Its network of founders, operators, investors and technical specialists is intended to help surface companies early, assess technically complex products and support portfolio companies after investment. The firm says it focuses on defensible hardware and software where proprietary IP, scientific breakthroughs or technical differentiation can create lasting advantage.
Founder and general partner Shahryar Barati is himself a three-time Imperial alumnus, with degrees spanning biomedical engineering, metals and energy finance, and an MBA. Before Project Ventures, he worked across startups, venture investing and financial institutions and says he helped lead investments in more than 50 early-stage companies.
The fund already has three companies in its portfolio, and they illustrate the breadth of its thesis. Tewke is building technology for home energy, NexusAM applies AI to quality assurance in metal additive manufacturing, and Neubond is developing neurotechnology for stroke rehabilitation. Rather than treating AI as a standalone software category, Project Ventures is looking for companies that bring intelligence into physical systems and technically demanding industries.
Project Ventures aims to close the debut fund by summer 2027. Longer term, it sees scope to take the same alumni-backed model into other technically strong university ecosystems across Europe.
The £5 million fund is small by venture-capital standards, but that is not the most important test. The question is whether proximity to a dense scientific community can consistently produce better access, technical judgment and founder support at the stage when promising research is still becoming a company.
