Ascension Fund III

The challenge

Income levels are not keeping up with the rising cost of living due to stagnant wages, reduced social mobility and the rise of the gig economy, with volatile revenues and an economic system not built to optimise them. In addition, while lower-income households are disproportionately affected by the Poverty Premium, the cost-of-living crisis has driven up the cost of essential goods, impacting a broader segment of the population. This has further exacerbated the negative impact of the pandemic on health outcomes. The pandemic disproportionately hit lower income or underrepresented communities, which affects the ability to earn, increases average spending and in turn creates structural disadvantage in a rising cost environment.

The fund

Ascension III is a pre-seed/seed stage venture fund aiming to reduce social inequality by investing in tech businesses that tackle the cost-of-living crisis through three key themes: increase income opportunities; decrease costs of essential goods and improve access to healthcare.

One example of their recent investments is Juniver, a neuroscience-based programme created by eating disorder clinical experts and a team with experience recovering from eating disorders. Juniver is aiming to transform the eating disorder market through a first-of-its-kind digital solution with an AI-powered assistant for on demand help through urges, personalised insights from health data, peer support and telemedicine care.

User voice

All of Ascension III's investment decisions are supported by a lived experience panel embedding user voice across the investment process. The findings from the user panel showed a strong interest in using the AI-driven Juni programme to curb binges, with 81% of respondents saying they would use the app for managing their eating disorder.