Semantic Ventures

Semantic Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in London with a transatlantic team that includes San Francisco. Founded in 2017, the firm is co-led by Co-Founders Alexander Shelkovnikov — previously Head of Corporate Venturing at Deloitte — and Stefano Bernardi, previously Co-Founder and Partner at Mission and Market. The four-person team, of which three are partners, operates at low cadence and high conviction: roughly 20 to 26 investments across eight years, with Semantic Ventures II as the active flagship fund. The investment thesis centers on 'new rails for data and the digital economy' — specifically open markets, open networks, decentralised infrastructure, and the evolving software and data stack built on top of them. In practice that maps to an overweight position in Web3 infrastructure, fintech, AI agents, and cybersecurity, with portfolio themes spanning decentralised finance, data rails, payments, and developer-facing infrastructure. Typical deal participation runs $5 million to $10 million at seed and Series A. The firm made 5 new investments in 2024 and 3 in 2025 as of October. Named portfolio companies include Morpho Labs (decentralised finance lending infrastructure), Valory (autonomous AI agents), Sidekick, Payso, Due (a $7.3 million seed co-led with Speedinvest in July 2025), and Ryder (financial software, the most recent disclosed investment in October 2025). Semantic's philosophy is rooted in backing the infrastructure layer before the application layer matures — investing where structural change in how data and value move is genuinely underway, rather than reacting to market sentiment. The firm's London and San Francisco presence gives it a practical lens on both the European regulatory environment and the US commercial markets where many of its portfolio companies ultimately scale.