Monday October 10th, 2022
As Ascension continues to scale its fundraising efforts and enhance its portfolio support, we are delighted to welcome Garvin Brown as our newest Venture Partner, joining to support Ascension’s new £50m fund that will back technology businesses tackling social inequalities.
Garvin joins a group of experienced C-Suite individuals, who have both worked and invested in some of the most prominent companies in the world. These include Vin Murria OBE (Advanced Computer Software, Zoopla, HG Capital, Saatchi), Craig Fletcher (Multiplay, GAME), Tony de Fougerolles (Moderna, Ablynx, Biogen) and Erik Blachford (Expedia, Peloton, Zillow and GlassDoor).
Garvin recently retired as Chairman of Brown-Forman Corp (NYSE: BF.B), started by his great-great-grandfather in 1870, the distiller of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and other brands. During his time there, he worked in field sales in New York, held corporate roles in Louisville, Kentucky, operating roles in Europe and was its Chairman from 2007 to 2021. He also has had a lifelong interest in democracy and development issues, and is a Trustee at UK for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s national partner for the UK, a board member of IFES, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, in Washington, DC and endowed the Diamond-Brown Chair in Democratic Studies at McGill University.
Garvin was raised in Montreal, Canada, and has degrees from McGill University (B.A. — Political Science & History), the University of British Columbia (M.A. — Political Science) and London Business School (MBA).
Garvin commented:
“I couldn’t be more excited to join the Ascension team, one of the UK’s top seed funds and thesis impact investors. I’m looking forward to working more closely with impact companies in the portfolio to accelerate their growth and am delighted to start working with the team in the institutional fundraise for Ascension Fund III, a £50m impact fund that will help businesses tackle the cost of living crisis.”
Managing Partner, Jean de Fougerolles added:
“We’re delighted Garvin is joining Ascension. His experience and passion for social impact will be a fantastic driver of value for our portfolio. He will also be instrumental in helping us drive investor relations for our new institutional impact fund.”
For more on Ascension’s work in this sector, see Jean’s latest post on how Ascension’s Fair By Design Fund is reducing costs for low-income households across the UK.
ENDS
About
Ascension is an early-stage venture capital firm built and managed by exited operators and entrepreneurs to back the next generation of tech and impact founders. Since 2015, Ascension has invested in 150+ start-ups across its (S)EIS & Institutional funds — our specialist approach and extensive sector reach allow us to identify and scale pioneering tech enterprises. With over £70m under management, Ascension is one of the most active early stage investors in the UK, with a particular focus on backing impact businesses leveraging the power of technology to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. For more information, see ascension.vc.
Press contact: caspar@ascension.vc
URL: ascension.vc
