Former Gates Foundation investors launch €126 million VC fund BNVT Capital to solve “the biggest problems”

London’s BNVT Capital today announced the launch of its debut €126 million fund to invest in AI-first and technology-driven companies “solving humanity’s most pressing challenges“.

Rory Mounsey-Heysham, managing partner at BNVT Capital said: “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.”

BNVT Capital is a global VC firm, launched by investors previously at the Gates Foundation, Hedosophia and Goldman Sachs. With a presence in London, New York, and Riyadh, the global investment team is guided by the principle of Benevolent Disruption, an idea backed by proprietary returns data, that solving Big Problems is Big Business.

BNVT Capital was founded by Managing Partners Rory Mounsey-Heysham (ex-Gates Foundation), and Chris Corbishley (ex-Hedosophia).

Their approach is built on the study, “Benevolent Disruption: The Fortune in Solving the World’s Biggest Problems”, co-authored with Professor Josh Lerner of Harvard Business School and VenCap International PLC (a large VC allocator) and academics at MIT and Oxford University.

Drawing on proprietary data on 500+ VC funds and 14,000 companies, over the last 40 years, the study unveiled an enormous, and reportedly undiscovered, source of investment value: just 30% of venture-backed companies tackle big problems and these have historically delivered 51% higher returns compared to their peers.

Chris Corbishley, managing partner at BNVT Capital said: “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.”

The fund has already invested in 11 companies across Europe and the US, including Swap Commerce (UK), Cloover (Germany), and Dawnguard (Netherlands), co-investing alongside global firms such as TPG, Iconiq, Lowercarbon, and QED.

The fund’s origins came from Mounsey-Heysha seeing the outsized returns Bill Gates was generating from investing in solutions to global problems, and then Corbishley seeing the same pattern play out in his own portfolio at Hedosophia.

The VC says this new fund and investment concept comes at an interesting time when politicians and the investor community alike are at war as to the role of business in society. BNVT Capital position their thesis as a ‘third way’ between the ESG antithesis and unfettered capitalism.

Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital, added: “The greatest economic value comes from investing in mission-driven brands that don’t just follow the market – they redefine it.”

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 portfolio Founder Sam Atkinson, Founder of Swap Commerce, said: “BNVT has been pivotal in rapidly scaling Swap through strategic capital and deep expertise. Their global industry insights have directly shaped our growth strategy and product evolution.”

While Jodok Betschart, Founder of Cloover, said: “BNVT has been a fundamental partner in accelerating Cloover’s growth, unlocking over $100 million in funding capacity and connecting us with world-class climate investors. Their deep expertise in climate tech has been instrumental.”

BNVT Capital plans to expand its portfolio to 25–30 companies globally in the coming two years, continuing to prove that solving the world’s biggest problems provides one of the most lucrative opportunities in venture investing.

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