Ruya Ventures has closed its debut fund at £40 million, backing deep tech founders from pre-seed stage across artificial intelligence, batteries, robotics, semiconductors, materials science and novel computing. Rooted in Europe, the fund invests globally, drawing on a network spanning Europe, the US and Asia.
Solo GP Rick Hao aims to build a portfolio of 20 deep tech companies worldwide, targeting founders in their first financing round and, in many cases, before incorporation. Beyond capital, the firm supports commercialisation, manufacturing, supply chain development and international expansion.
Capital is already being deployed, with backing for WLF Energy and MegaCool alongside three additional stealth-mode startups across artificial intelligence, robotics and semiconductors. WLF Energy focuses on energy infrastructure from generation to grid, while MegaCool develops cooling hardware tailored to modern compute needs.
Reaching its final close in less than a year, the fundraise was highly oversubscribed, though Hao chose not to increase the fund size beyond what his strategy required. In April 2026, while still operating in stealth, Ruya Ventures was named Newcomer of the Year by EUVC, recognising the firm's approach to venture investing in Europe.
Hao brings more than a decade of deep tech investing experience, having backed and worked alongside founders commercialising breakthrough technologies across multiple sectors.
Deep tech is a marathon not a sprint. Any successful founder in the space will tell you that getting out of the lab is not the hardest part of the journey. Yes, timelines are lengthy and capital requirements hefty but deeptech failures are not down to the science being wrong. Most deep tech companies stall because no one helps founders figure out how to cross the chasm between a working prototype and a product that can be manufactured at scale and adopted by the market. Deep tech (and the supply chains that underpin it) is an inherently global game. A European lens alone is not sufficient. That is why Ruya Ventures is rooted in Europe but deliberately built with a network that spans Europe, the US, and Asia.
