Vidu Shanmugarajah is a London-based investing partner focusing on early-stage technology and life science companies. His investments include Deepset, an open-source NLP startup based in Berlin, and Synthesia, a London-based startup applying AI to video creation.

Growing up around a family-run business, Vidu says he developed an early appreciation of how much goes into taking an idea from conception to reality. “Whether it’s your local small business or a radical piece of technology, there’s so much unseen work that goes into getting something new out into the world.”

Vidu began his career in corporate law at Linklaters, where he led M&A, restructuring, and financing transactions across various sectors. “My years as a lawyer gave me the intellectual tools to break down problems and the work ethic not to stop until I understood them,” he explains. “I’m massively curious and want to understand things from first principles.”

Vidu was previously at Grafton Capital, where he worked on enterprise software investments and spent time in private equity at HgCapital, working on technology buyouts and growth equity investments. He also founded an online platform that provided better access to legal services for startups and small businesses. “I try to be a supportive superpower and knock down as many barriers as possible for the entrepreneurs we back," he says. “The startups we partner with work relentlessly to make their vision a reality, and they can expect that same commitment from me.”

Vidu holds a degree in law from the London School of Economics.