Frasers Group, owned by Mike Ashley, is investing in a £40m fund for AI startups.
- The fund, led by Iona Star, secured £22m in its initial closing.
- Frasers Group contributed £10m to the initiative.
- The fund aims to invest £1m to £3m in AI and data startups.
- Iona Star’s founders have a proven track record in tech investments.
Frasers Group, the retail conglomerate owned by Mike Ashley, has committed £10m to a new venture capital fund targeting artificial intelligence (AI) and data startups. This move is part of a larger £40m fund established by venture capital firm Iona Star, located in London and Belfast. The fund achieved an initial close of £22m, aiming to support startups in the burgeoning AI sector.
Iona Star plans to make investments ranging between £1m and £3m into early-stage companies focusing on AI and data innovations. Michael Murray, CEO of Frasers Group, highlighted the strategic importance of data and AI technologies, stating they are “fundamental to our strategy,” enhancing operational efficiency and the customer shopping experience. He expressed enthusiasm about collaborating with leading experts in the AI domain to drive growth initiatives.
Gerry Buggy, co-founder of Iona Star, underscored his company’s operator experience and strategic network in data and technology as key accelerants for portfolio companies. Buggy, who also co-founded Ocula Technologies, a platform known for improving retail product pages through AI, emphasized the fund’s intent to invest in firms with strong defensive and competitive positions in AI, especially those with proprietary datasets.
Iona Star co-founders, including Mike Powell, Graham Ferguson, and Kevin McGivern, possess extensive backgrounds in scaling and managing technology enterprises. Iona Star has successfully exited several investments, including the sale of Quantile, a regulatory compliance platform, to the London Stock Exchange Group for £274m in 2022, and the merger of RxDataScience with US-based Syneos Health.
Additionally, the Castelnau Group, a significant backer of Ocula Technologies, contributed £10m to the new fund. Richard Brown, CEO of Castelnau Group, expressed confidence in the Iona Star management team, praised for their track record and anticipated positive impacts on Castelnau’s investment portfolio.
Frasers Group’s partnership with Iona Star underscores the strategic importance and growth potential in AI and data-driven technologies.
