The Arāya Sie Fund is a UK-based investment vehicle launched by Triin Linamagi's Sie Ventures and Rupa Popat's Arāya Ventures, targeting female founders building in AI, deeptech, fintech, healthcare, and sustainability sectors. The launch comes against the backdrop of a persistent funding gap in venture capital, despite growing momentum across the European startup ecosystem, women founders still receive less than 2% of total venture funding in the UK and Europe. More than half of the fund's limited partners are women, a remarkably high proportion for the venture capital industry, in what the managers describe as a deliberate effort to broaden participation in the VC asset class as well as improve access to funding for female founders.
The fund is positioning itself as a specialist backer for women-led companies in frontier technology sectors, AI, deeptech, fintech, healthcare, and sustainability, that have traditionally struggled to attract early-stage capital. The collaboration combines Sie Ventures' founder programmes and angel network with Arāya Ventures' operator-led investment approach and fundraising expertise.
The Arāya Sie Fund announced a $10.2M first close and plans to invest in up to 40 pre-seed and seed-stage startups over the next four years, with initial cheques ranging from $136,000 to $409,000. Notable LPs include actress Kelly Rutherford, alongside entrepreneurs and senior executives from organisations including LinkedIn, McKinsey, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Google. The fund is also backed by the British Business Bank's Regional Angels Programme. The first investment has already been made into Lemrock AI, an Entrepreneurs First-backed startup building agentic infrastructure for brands and retailers.
Leadership
Triin Linamagi is a former entrepreneur turned investor with experience from The Venture Collective, Founders Factory, and Startupbootcamp, and was in the founding teams of three technology startups across fintech and the future of work. Rupa Ganatra Popat is the Founder and Managing Partner of Arāya Ventures, with over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and investment banking. Her previous venture, FUTR, was acquired by Pico Group in 2019. The fund team also includes Jess McCarten, Sapna Shah, Marta Valentini, and Soizic le Lasseur.
Investment Strategy
The fund works closely with founders post-investment across hiring, go-to-market strategy, customer introductions, product development, and follow-on fundraising. Through the combined Arāya Ventures and Sie Ventures platform, founders gain access to a broader ecosystem of angel investors, operators, venture partners, and institutional investors.
Notable Investments
Lemrock AI (first investment from Fund, agentic infrastructure for brands and retailers, Entrepreneurs First-backed).
Other
Sie Ventures was named Angel Group of the Year in 2024 and Accelerator of the Year in 2025 by UKBAA, and has supported more than 250 entrepreneurs through its founder programmes and angel syndicate, which has backed 25 companies to date. Arāya Ventures' portfolio is 45%+ female-founded, and the firm also runs the ĀVA Investment Academy, which trains women to become angel investors.
Website: Araya Ventures, Sie Ventures
Rupa Popat – Founder & Managing Partner, Arāya Ventures
hello@araya.ventures
Triin Linamagi – Founding Partner, Sie Ventures
United Kingdom
