Manta Ray Ventures

What Manta Ray Ventures does

Manta Ray Ventures is a London-headquartered venture capital firm founded in 2017 that invests patient capital in mission-driven founders building generational companies across five stated theses: Human Health, Security & Trust, Climate & Resources, Education, and New Industrials. The firm holds Polish roots via Founder Sebastian Kulczyk and positions itself as a bridge between Central and Eastern European founders and the UK and US ecosystems, operating a portfolio of approximately 63 companies spanning seed through growth stages in Poland, the UK, the USA, and the rest of Europe. Notable portfolio companies include Epic Games, Booksy, Brainly, Volocopter, Kernel, Ossium Health, Astranis, StethoMe, and Showrunner, alongside biotech holdings such as Juvena Therapeutics and Infinitopes, and enterprise-software names including Deepcell and Tequipy.

The firm's investment model is relationship-driven rather than product-driven: deal flow originates from a public website pitch submission form, direct founder outreach, and a community platform comprising the InCredibles acceleration program (70+ companies since 2017), the Singularity University Warsaw Chapter, the TOMORROWnauts award with INMA, and the Open Bank of Agreements with Startup Poland. Manta Ray co-invests alongside tier-one financial and strategic investors including Eli Lilly, Mubadala Capital, Octopus Ventures, Smedvig Ventures, and Amplify Bio, and has executed control acquisitions (Finiata, May 2022) alongside minority equity rounds. Management is led by Founder Sebastian Kulczyk, Managing Partner Lawrence Barclay, and Partner Leah von Siemens, supported by a Principal, Head of Platform, two Associates, and an Advisor. Revenue is generated through management fees and carried interest on deployed capital; AUM, fund size, and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Manta Ray Ventures

Legal name

Manta Ray Ventures

Website

https://mantaray.vc/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Manta Ray Ventures is a London-based venture capital firm founded in 2017 that provides patient capital to mission-driven founders across Human Health, Security & Trust, Climate, Education, and New Industrials, with a portfolio of approximately 63 companies spanning Poland, the UK, the USA, and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB), Geography-Focused Venture Capital (Regional/Emerging Markets) (FSANAAAE), Family Office Investment Platforms & Direct Investing (PE/VC/Co-Invest) (FSAAADAH)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Early-stage investing
• Startup funding
• Growth capital
• Private equity

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns and Management Fees: Manta Ray generates returns through equity appreciation in portfolio companies, exit events (IPOs, acquisitions), and management fees/carry from their venture funds. They invest early, build deep conviction, and take a long view with flexible patient capital.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Manta Ray Ventures is a London-based venture capital firm that provides flexible, patient capital to mission-driven founders building generational companies in sectors including Human Health, Security & Trust, Climate & Resources, Education, and New Industrials. The firm invests early, builds deep conviction, and takes a long view, leveraging its time, resources, and networks to support portfolio companies across Poland, the UK, the USA, and the rest of Europe.

Product overview

Manta Ray Venture Capital is a venture capital firm that operates as a single unified investment service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their primary offering is patient capital deployed through strategic partnerships with mission-driven founders. The firm manages a portfolio of 63 companies across multiple sectors (Human Health, Security & Trust, Climate & Resources, Education, New Industrials) and geographies (Poland, UK, USA, Rest of Europe). The portfolio companies themselves are not Manta Ray's products but represent their investment portfolio, which includes AI Vivo, Alien, Aqtual, Archdesk, Astranis, Beacon, BeitTech, Bettani, Better Dairy, Bluu Bioscience, Booksy, Brainly, Cetos, Clark, CoinPaprika, Cover, Cuemath, Deepcell, Divergent 3D, Elephant Healthcare, Epic Games, Finiata, Freedom Biosciences, Gropyus, HelloSelf, Infinitopes, Juvena Therapeutics, Kadence, Kernel, Kojo, Lisek, NoMagic, Ossium Health, Peek, Phytoform, Probably Genetic, Quvy, Raise, Sage, Showrunner, Siren, Sitehop, StethoMe, Tequipy, THIS, Toonstar, Volocopter, and others.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Manta Ray Venture Capital

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• InCrediblescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTech acceleration program focused on supporting talented entrepreneurs launching disruptive businesses. Active since 2017 with 70+ companies in the community. Manta Ray provides knowledge, experience, and networks to accelerate these founders.
• Singularity UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSilicon Valley think tank partnership including Warsaw Chapter support initiated by Sebastian Kulczyk in 2017. Provides educational programs, business incubator, and access to exponential technologies for CEE founders.
• Startup PolandsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for Open Bank of Agreements (OBA) providing open-sourced legal documents for entrepreneurs in Poland and CEE including term sheets, convertible loan note agreements, and grant agreements.
• INMA (International News Media Association)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting TOMORROWnauts award program highlighting excellence in audience, revenue, and brand development by disruptive media businesses, created by Kulczyk Investments and Gazeta Wyborcza.
• IBMminorOthersPartnered with Manta Ray on various community initiatives supporting entrepreneurship in Poland and CEE.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Credo Ventures: Prague-based early-stage venture firm focused on CEE founders with global ambitions, investing from seed to Series A. The most direct peer to Manta Ray given overlapping geography, stage, and thesis around mission-driven CEE entrepreneurs building cross-border.
• Picus Capital: Munich-based early-stage VC investing across European tech and digital health with a growth-stage follow-on arm. Comparable as a European early-stage generalist investor; similar founder-friendly positioning though with different geographic emphasis.
• Notion Capital: London-based early-stage VC primarily backing enterprise SaaS and fintech founders. Comparable as a UK-headquartered early-stage investor, though more concentrated on enterprise software than Manta Ray's mission-driven thematic approach.
• Episode 1: London-based pre-seed/seed VC backing UK and European founders. Comparable in stage and UK domicile; similar hands-on, founder-friendly posture though smaller average check sizes than Manta Ray's later seed participation.
• Hoxton Ventures: London-based early-stage VC investing in European tech companies across sectors. Comparable in geography (UK-domiciled), stage (pre-seed/seed), and generalist sector approach, though without Manta Ray's specific CEE focus.
• OpenOcean: London/Helsinki-based early-stage VC focused on B2B SaaS and enterprise software across Europe. Comparable as a UK-domiciled early-stage fund; less thematic/mission-driven orientation than Manta Ray but overlapping in stage and check size.

Broad incumbents

• Speedinvest: Vienna-based early-stage venture firm with ~€1B AUM investing across European sectors including fintech, deeptech, and health. Comparable to Manta Ray as a sector-diversified European early-stage investor, but with materially larger team and broader geographic mandate.
• Earlybird Venture Capital: Berlin-based pan-European early-stage VC with deep CEE roots and active healthtech/tech investing. Comparable to Manta Ray in European geography and stage, though Earlybird operates multiple funds at greater scale and longer track record.

Regional players

• LAUNCHub Ventures: Sofia-based early-stage VC focused on Southeastern Europe and CEE founders. Direct regional peer to Manta Ray's CEE thesis, operating in adjacent CEE geographies (Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, North Macedonia) with similar seed-stage approach.

Others

• Kulczyk Investments: Polish family office and direct investment platform founded by Jan Kulczyk and continued by Sebastian Kulczyk. Closely affiliated with Manta Ray given shared Kulczyk family stewardship, and is a co-investor and ecosystem partner in CEE.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments87 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Manta Ray Ventures