Kindred Capital
About Kindred Capital
Kindred Capital VC is an early-stage venture capital firm based in London, founded in 2015 by a team of experienced operators. The firm focuses on investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across Europe and Israel, with a commitment to mission-driven, technology-enabled companies. Kindred Capital is known for its unique "Equitable Venture" model, which shares 20% of fund profits with the founders it supports, fostering a collaborative environment that aligns the interests of investors and entrepreneurs.
The firm has successfully closed three funds, raising over $290 million and investing
Kindred was founded in 2015 by Leila Zegna, Mark Evans and Russell Buckley. Its first fund closed at £80M (about $112M), and a second fund of £81M followed in 2020. Fund III closed in April 2023 at $130M (about £105M), with backers including British Patient Capital, Legal & General, Isomer, Industry Ventures and the University of Chicago. At the Fund III close, Sifted reported four general partners and one investment partner, with no other investment staff. Press and data sites name the current partners as Leila Zegna, Mark Evans, Russell Buckley, Chrys Chrysanthou and Maria Palma. Kindred does not publish which partner leads AI deals.
Kindred does not run a separate AI fund. AI is one of several areas in a broad Europe and Israel pre-seed and seed strategy that also covers biotech, fintech and robotics. One secondary source says Fund III has a particular appetite for techbio and infrastructure deals. AI-related names on its record include Cradle (Series B, 2024), Artificial Societies (seed, 2025), Dexory (Series C, 2025), RobCo (Series C, 2026) and Natter (2026). The most recent AI rounds on the Lounge deals desk are ZML (seed, $20M, July 2026), Bios Life (seed, $25M, led, August 2026) and Lithosquare (seed, $25M, led, 2026). Kindred has led some of these rounds and co-invested in others. Many of the larger rounds above are follow-ons, so early investments get continued support.
Kindred invests at pre-seed and seed in Europe and Israel. At the Fund III close it said it typically writes $200k to $3M cheques in no more than about 30 companies per fund. It only leads or co-leads rounds. It said it keeps significant capital in reserve for follow-ons rather than writing larger first cheques. Fund III leans toward pre-seed more than Fund II did. Because the investment team is partners only, the firm says it can move quickly on decisions.
- ZML: builds a chip-agnostic AI inference stack; $20M seed, July 2026.
- Bios Life: AI-enabled cancer surveillance and personalized virtual care; $25M seed led by Kindred, August 2026.
- Lithosquare: mining company working on non-ferrous metal ores; $25M seed led by Kindred, 2026.
- Natter: AI conversation intelligence platform for enterprises; $23M round, April 2026.
- RobCo: robotics company; $100M Series C, January 2026.
- Dexory: autonomous warehouse robots with AI; $100M Series C, October 2025.
- Artificial Societies: AI company; $5.3M seed, August 2025.
- Cradle: generative AI company; $73M Series B, November 2024.
- techfundingnews.com/kindred-fund-iii-130m-fund-to-back-tech-startups-l
- uktech.news/news/investment-news/kindred-capital-third-fund-20230420
- venturebeat.com/ai/kindred-capital-a-u-k-vc-firm-that-makes-startup-fo
- sifted.eu/articles/kindred-130m-third-vc-fund-news
- sifted.eu/articles/kindred-81m-seed-fund
- finsmes.com/2023/04/kindred-capital-closes-third-fund-at-130m.html
- noranow.in/blog/kindred-capital-profile
- vcbacked.co/directory/investors/kindred-capital
Investing activity
Kindred Capital appears in 3 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $70M, and led 2 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $25M. The most recent are Bios Life (Seed, $25M, Aug 2026), ZML (Seed, $20M, Jul 2026) and Lithosquare (Seed, $25M, Jun 2026).
Kindred Capital most often invests alongside Vsquared Ventures, Redmile Group, Solomon Hykes and Konstantin Vinogradov, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Kindred Capital
What stage does Kindred Capital invest in for AI startups?
Kindred invests at pre-seed and seed in Europe and Israel. It also follows on in later rounds, such as RobCo's Series C and Cradle's Series B.
How large are Kindred Capital's check sizes?
At the Fund III close in 2023, Kindred said it typically writes $200k to $3M cheques. It only leads or co-leads rounds.
Who founded Kindred Capital?
Leila Zegna, Mark Evans and Russell Buckley founded Kindred in London in 2015. Chrys Chrysanthou and Maria Palma are also listed as partners.
What is Kindred Capital's Equitable Venture model?
Every founder Kindred backs becomes a co-owner of the fund and shares in its carry. With Fund III, founders hold about 12 to 13 percent of the carry after allocations to the non-investment team and advisers.
What AI companies has Kindred Capital invested in?
They include ZML, Bios Life, Lithosquare, Natter, RobCo, Dexory, Cradle and Artificial Societies. Bios Life and Lithosquare were led by Kindred.
Where is Kindred Capital based?
Kindred Capital is based in London, England, United Kingdom.
What stage does Kindred Capital invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Kindred Capital has invested at Seed, with a median round of $25M. Kindred Capital led 2 of those rounds.
Who does Kindred Capital co-invest with?
Kindred Capital's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Vsquared Ventures (1 deal), Redmile Group (1 deal), Solomon Hykes (1 deal), Konstantin Vinogradov (1 deal) and Drysdale Ventures (1 deal).
How can founders reach Kindred Capital?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Kindred Capital's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Kindred Capital to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.