Why Female Founders Are Still Overlooked - Interview with Ropa Popat, Founder of Arāya Ventures

Why It Matters

Arete’s blend of AI focus and gender‑inclusive investing demonstrates a scalable model for closing the capital gap for female founders, influencing future VC strategies and broader ecosystem health.

Key Takeaways

• Arete Ventures targets AI startups while championing diverse founders
• Rupa Popat transitioned from entrepreneur to accidental venture investor
• 45% of Arete’s portfolio includes at least one female founder
• Arete’s Investment Academy trains new angel investors and VCs
• Funding gap persists, but female‑led VC firms are slowly rising

Summary

Rupa Popat, founder and managing partner of Arete Ventures, discusses how her London‑based firm blends a strong AI investment thesis with a mission to back diverse, especially female‑led, founders. Launched in 2022, Arete backs early‑stage companies across health‑tech, future‑of‑work, commerce and fintech, with more than 65% of its current portfolio in AI applications, while also launching the Arete Investment Academy and the upcoming Arete House to train the next generation of angels and venture professionals.

Popat describes her path to venture capital as “accidental,” moving from building and exiting a B2B media company to assembling an angel portfolio that leveraged her founder experience and network. This hands‑on approach attracted limited partners, enabling Arete to raise a €9.8 million fund in 2024 and a €22 million vehicle in 2025, now holding roughly 28 investments, including a lead round in First Concept.

She emphasizes that Arete does not invest on gender alone but notes that 45% of its portfolio companies have at least one female founder—far above the industry‑wide 1% figure. Highlights include backing the largest UK pre‑seed round for a female‑founder‑led startup, Fit Collective, and being part of a growing cohort of 26 women‑led VC firms in Europe, as reported by Sifted and the British Business Bank.

The interview underscores that while progress is evident, the funding gap for women remains stark, and firms like Arete illustrate how combining sector expertise with intentional diversity can generate both financial returns and ecosystem impact. Their model of value‑add beyond capital—through mentorship, networks and training—offers a template for other VCs seeking to close the gender gap while navigating the rapid AI‑driven market cycle.

Original Description

In this episode, Rupa Popat, founder of Arāya Ventures, shares her vision for redefining early-stage venture capital. Rupa discusses the persistent under-allocation of capital to diverse founders, highlighting that female-led teams in the UK still receive less than 1% of VC funding - even though data shows diverse teams consistently outperform.

Rupa also dives into the world of AI investing, focusing on workflow-native, human-centred AI rather than headline models. She shares her perspective on the UK’s positioning as a European AI hub, the growing opportunities in Health x AI, and how early-stage founders can prepare for fundraises that go beyond technical spectacle to execution-led, scalable businesses.

Throughout the conversation, Rupa explores what it means to be a value-add VC today, the importance of domain expertise in building defensible startups, and the systemic challenges in the venture ecosystem. She highlights emerging sectors, including preventative healthcare, precision medicine, and FemTech, while providing actionable insights for founders, investors, and policymakers.

Key points covered in this interview:

- The persistent funding gap for female founders and why inclusivity drives performance, not just values.

- What makes a founder or founding team stand out at pre-Seed stage: lived experience, resilience, and clarity of vision.

- Emerging opportunities at the intersection of Health x AI, including preventative care, precision medicine, and FemTech.

- How Arāya Ventures trains investors through its Investment Academy to broaden who writes cheques and build a more inclusive ecosystem.