London-based VC firm BNVT Capital announced the launch of its debut $150M (approximately €126.5M) fund to invest in AI-first and technology-driven companies that solve humanity’s most pressing challenges.
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BNVT Capital was founded by Rory Mounsey-Heysham (ex-Gates Foundation), Chris Corbishley (ex-Hedosophia), and Nasir Alsharif, Chairman of Sackville Capital.
London-based Sackville has seeded the firm, which already counts 11 portfolio companies across Europe and the US, including Swap Commerce (UK), Cloover (Germany), and Dawnguard (Netherlands). The firm co-invests with TPG, Iconiq, Lowercarbon, and QED.
Nasir Alsharif, co-founder of BNVT, adds, “I am hugely excited to be part of BNVT Capital. This is truly a differentiated investment thesis – backed up by extraordinarily real-world data. Myself, Sackville Capital and we were excited by the countercyclical nature of the thesis – creating outsized returns from solving the biggest problems.”
With this fund, BNVT Capital plans to expand its portfolio to 25–30 companies globally in the coming two years.
The principle of “Benevolent Disruption”
The VC’s approach is based on the study “Benevolent Disruption: The Fortune in Solving the World’s Biggest Problems”, co-authored with Professor Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School, VenCap International PLC (a large VC allocator) and academics at MIT and Oxford University.
Based on proprietary data from over 500 venture capital funds and 14,000 companies collected over the past 40 years, this study reveals a significant and previously overlooked source of investment value.
It shows that only 30 per cent of venture-backed companies address major challenges, yet these companies have historically provided returns that are 51 per cent higher than their counterparts.
Rory Mounsey-Heysham, managing partner at BNVT Capital, says, “LPs and entrepreneurs are crying out for investors who see the world’s biggest challenges not as a moral quandary, but as vast untapped markets. A big problem is simply a big market waiting to be served.”
The fund’s thesis has attracted support from leading entrepreneurs and investors, including founders and leaders at Shopify, Google, Octopus Energy, Remitly, and institutional support from Starwood Capital, Investcorp, TPG, and others.
BNVT Capital: Solving big problems
BNVT Capital is a global venture capital firm, launched by investors previously at the Gates Foundation, Hedosophia and Goldman Sachs.
The fund was created after Rory noticed the returns Bill Gates was achieving through investments in global solutions, and Chris saw a similar pattern in his portfolio at Hedosophia.
This concept comes at a time when politicians and investors are debating the role of business in society. BNVT Capital describes its approach as a “third way” between ESG initiatives and unrestricted capitalism.
The VC has a presence in London, New York, and Riyadh.
Chris Corbishley, managing partner at BNVT Capital, says, “Investors have missed a striking pattern in their own data. For too long, investors have been backing fads, not needs – distracted by incremental technologies making life marginally faster, cheaper, or easier. Venture capital is about swinging for the fences—backing solutions that can reshape society for the better. That is what Benevolent Disruption is about.”
