Unconventional Ventures (UV), a Nordic impact fund committed to supporting underrepresented European founders, has raised a first close of €50 million for its second fund, targeting an eventual close of €80 million. The backers include the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Danish sovereign fund EIFO, Nordea-fonden, Augustinus Fabrikker, TryghedsGruppen, and several undisclosed family offices.
Nora Bavey and Thea Messel founded UV to address entrenched biases in venture capital. It channels investment towards women founders and founders of colour, groups that have historically been marginalised across European venture ecosystems, where only 1-2% of investment funds have reached all-women founding teams and less than 0.5% have gone to startups led by people of colour.
Recently, Alexis Horowitz-Burdick joined as the third general partner, bringing experience from the U.S. market and expertise in later-stage investing. Her arrival strengthens UV’s capacity to help portfolio companies accelerate growth and scale beyond the Nordic region.
According to founding partner Thea Messel, investing in diverse founders creates access to overlooked markets and opportunities, thereby generating resilient, scalable ventures. UV’s second fund embodies the resolve to expand boldly and demonstrate that equity and returns can coexist successfully.
Unlike many funds focused solely on artificial intelligence or deep tech, UV treats these areas as enabling tools rather than core theses, emphasising instead their practical applications and global scalability. The fund primarily invests in early-stage, pre-seed, and seed rounds across sectors such as climate sustainability, health, and education.
The portfolio companies from UV’s first fund underscore its impact-focused strategy. Swedish battery innovator Drev recently closed a €2.8 million seed round following UV’s early investment, demonstrating progress in clean technology solutions. Another standout is UK-based climate fintech Climate X, rapidly expanding toward a Series B funding round.
Looking forward, UV plans to extend its influence beyond the Nordic region, with Alexis Horowitz-Burdick dividing her time between the U.S. and Nordic regions to foster transatlantic opportunities. With this strategy, UV aims to reshape venture capital’s conventional limitations by persistently backing diverse founders who are helping redefine Europe’s innovation landscape.
