Manchester-based investment firm EHE Ventures invested over £1.1million into seven early-stage, AI-first UK startups. The deals were made through its recently launched (S)EIS AI Growth Fund, which aims to invest up to £15million in early-stage UK startups over the next three years.
The fund combines capital with operational and technical support from EHE’s in-house venture studio. The company is positioning itself as one of the UK’s most active backers of AI-driven startups that are focused on solving real-world problems across sectors including health, finance, agriculture, publishing, and consumer technology.
A focus on applied AI
EHE Ventures stated its strategy is to back practical and scalable applications of artificial intelligence rather than speculative ventures. The fund targets pre-seed to Series A startups that are either AI-first or AI-enabled, with a focus on high-impact verticals such as healthcare, financial inclusion, digital infrastructure, and climate resilience.
“AI is transforming how we work, diagnose, farm, borrow, and consume, and we’re not here for the hype. We’re here to back practical, scalable applications of AI that actually make life better,” said Neil Vose, chief executive officer of EHE Venture Studio. “What makes us different is that we don’t just invest. Our venture studio model means we’re in the trenches with founders, helping shape product, build tech, and get to market faster. It’s high-conviction, hands-on investing.”
Andy Grove, chairman of EHE Group, also added: “From day one, we promised to back founders building practical, transformative AI. With over £1.1million already deployed into seven high-potential startups, we’re making good on that promise. This early momentum shows that our model works and that our fund isn’t just active, it’s effective.”
The portfolio companies
The seven companies receiving the initial investment cover a diverse range of industries:
- Fintech and Insurtech: The cohort includes ‘Good With‘, a female-founded fintech platform using AI and behavioural science to improve credit decision-making for underserved borrowers. Also in the portfolio is ‘Peppercorn AI‘, an insurtech startup that uses LLM-powered virtual assistants to streamline onboarding, claims, and customer service for the insurance sector. ‘Scooch‘, a direct-to-consumer pet health platform that combines AI with embedded insurance and personalised care, also received funding.
- Health and Medtech: ‘Spotlight Pathology‘, a medtech innovator, is applying computer vision to speed up the diagnosis of blood cancer.
- AgriTech and ClimateTech: ‘Fotenix‘, a precision agritech company, uses digital twins and spectral imaging to detect crop diseases weeks earlier than conventional methods. ‘NeuWave Technologies‘, an ocean intelligence startup, is tackling inaccurate wave forecasts, a costly issue for the offshore industry.
- MarTech: ‘SUBJCT‘, a marketing technology startup, uses AI-powered content tagging to help publishers increase engagement and improve SEO through semantic linking
With more deals in the pipeline, the EHE Ventures (S)EIS AI Growth Fund expects to deploy up to £5million by the end of 2025. “We believe the North of England can lead the way in responsible, applied AI – and these seven companies are just the beginning,” Vose also added.
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