Nesta Trust

Nesta Trust

Nesta Trust was established in 1998 as the endowment supporting Nesta, the UK's innovation agency for social good. The trust acts as the sole trustee structure for the foundation, which focuses on climate, health, and education initiatives. Ed Richards chairs the board of trustees while Ravi Gurumurthy leads the operating entity. The trust allocates across private equity, public equities, and real assets. Private equity exposure stands at 16.92 percent. It deploys through Nesta Impact Investments into seed and start-up rounds and maintains a secondaries capability. Confirmed holdings include BibliU, Naked Energy, Skin Analytics, Habitual, WeWALK, CellCentric, MEL Science, Mixergy, Aira, and Q doctor in the United Kingdom. Additional positions exist in Featurespace, Skimlinks, and Applied, which have reached exit. Geographic focus remains the United Kingdom with limited exposure elsewhere. The endowment supports an operating team that includes Challenge Works and the Behavioural Insights Team, the latter acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary in December 2021. The trust maintains membership in the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association as a limited partner. It retains Momentum Global Investment Management as investment advisor and BDO LLP as auditor. January 2024: participated as speaker at the mallowstreet Defined Contribution Congress in London. The trust operates through a hybrid mandate that combines endowment stewardship with mission-aligned venture vehicles. Nesta Mission Studio takes direct ownership positions in selected companies such as Carno and Ogma. This architecture allows the endowment to fund both grant programs and equity investments without commingling structures.