Nesta

General contacts
Investor type

CVC / PE

Founded

1998

AUM

$120 M

Location

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Investment Ticket

$1-5 m

Investment Stage

Seed Series A

Region of investment

Europe

ESG Focus

Impact investor
Investor profile last updated: 16 August, 2026

Profile

Nesta is a UK-based innovation foundation established in 1998, focused on addressing societal challenges through research and investment. Headquartered in London, the organization is led by a team of experts including Lisa Barclay, the Executive Director of Investments. Nesta distinguishes itself by combining financial support with practical expertise to scale impactful solutions across various sectors.

The foundation invests in sectors such as education, health, and climate, with a focus on early-stage investments. It typically provides funding in the range of £1 million, supporting projects primarily in Europe. Nesta manages several funds, including the Arts & Culture Impact Fund, which launched in 2020 with an AUM of $23 million.

Notable investments by Nesta include partnerships with organizations like Bridges Fund Management and Pentech Ventures. The foundation's mission-driven approach aims to foster innovation that can lead to significant societal improvements, such as reducing carbon emissions and improving public health outcomes.

Industry

Media and Entertainment Healthcare Services Fintech Financial Services Edtech Education Business Services (B2B) Energy CleanTech HealthTech ClimateTech KidTech/FamilyTech SaaS Software

Nesta Funds

Name Type
Questionare
Industry
Questionare
Stage
Questionare
Region 		Size AUM Launch date
Arts & Culture Impact Fund
Venture Capital (VC)
Education
Healthcare Services
SaaS
Software
Energy
HealthTech
Series B
North America
Europe
$5-10 m
$23 M
March 2020

Contacts

Name
Title
Email
Social Networks
avatar
Ravi Gurumurthy Group Chief Executive Officer
Group Chief Executive Officer
r•••@•••
avatar
Matt Seden Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
m•••@•••
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Investment-team contacts for Nesta — including verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — are available to Private Equity List subscribers.
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FAQs about Nesta

Nesta is a private equity firm that also operates as a corporate VC (CVC). It backs companies at Seed and Series A, writing tickets of $1-5 m.
Nesta is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Nesta was founded in 1998.
Nesta invests in companies and startups in Media and Entertainment, Healthcare Services, Fintech, Financial Services, Edtech, Education, Business Services (B2B), Energy, CleanTech, HealthTech, ClimateTech, KidTech/FamilyTech, SaaS, Software.
Nesta invests in companies and startups in Europe.
Nesta invests in companies and startups at Seed, Series A.
Nesta usually invests $1-5 m on average.
Nesta has around $120m assets under management.
Nesta last fund was created/launched in 2020-03-10
Yes, Nesta is impact investor.
Nesta can be reached through its website nesta.org.uk, its LinkedIn page and its X account. Its general enquiries address is [email protected]. Cold-mailing a general inbox rarely reaches a partner, so Private Equity List also lists the investment-team contacts for Nesta — names, roles, verified work emails and LinkedIn profiles — available on a Pro plan from $129/month (see pricing). Contacts are sourced from the firm's website and LinkedIn and re-verified on a rolling cycle. Spot a stale contact, or none at all? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.
Yes. Every field on this page — profile, funds, investment criteria, portfolio and investment-team contacts — is available programmatically through the Private Equity List REST API and MCP server, so AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT can query Nesta directly instead of scraping this page. One subscription covers both the web app and machine access — see API & MCP.
Private Equity List re-verifies investor profiles on a rolling cycle, pulling from the firm's own website and LinkedIn rather than a one-off import. This profile was last updated on 16 August, 2026. Something out of date here? Report it — we re-run that firm within 48h and get back to you.