An impact-driven venture fund based near Bath has completed its first deal, investing £235,000 into a start-up aiming to end disadvantage for women in the workplace.
Aer Venture Studios has been launched by Aer Studios, a creative technology firm headquartered in Corsham.
It plans to work with founders and their teams by providing the creative technology expertise and financial backing to progress their ideas.
The investment in Bristol-based HeyFlow will support the build and architecture of its tech platform and employee insight product, enabling it to reach even more clients.
HeyFlow, which specialises in female reproductive health inclusion, aims to create meaningful change for women at work globally at a time when 31% experience severe reproductive health symptoms every year. 
Some 85% of women face at least four reproductive health conditions and mothers suffer a 60% drop in earnings following their first child compared to fathers.
Majority-female owned HeyFlow aims to transform organisations through employee experience insight that reshapes workplace behaviour and fuels meaningful change for women’s inclusion.
This can result in organisations retaining talent, promoting talent, boosting profitability and creating an equitable future.
Following its launch last year the firm has worked with progressive companies including Hitachi Vantara, BIMA and Digitas UK to provide insight into their female employee experiences and management’s ability to support at all levels, informing leadership gender inclusion strategies and empowering them to create change.
Aer Venture Studios director Geoff Wells, pictured, who is also a director of Aer Studios and has joined the board of HeyFlow, said: “Our mission is to help organisations realise their vision for digital experiences that have a positive impact on people and planet.
“Our ambition and values are perfectly aligned with HeyFlow’s, making it the ideal collaboration and partnership.
“We are excited at the opportunity to bring the full force of our creative and technical talent in Aer Studios to realise HeyFlow’s vision and accelerate its impact.”
Geoff Wells and fellow Aer Venture Studios director Tom Harber will also play active roles in the future of HeyFlow, bringing extensive expertise in delivering award-winning creative technology solutions for organisations including BBC, Breast Cancer Now, Diabetes UK and Women’s Aid.
HeyFlow is now actively seeking an additional pre-seed investment of £250,000 to take the employee experience and diagnostics platform to market globally to provide progress measurement and on-demand industry benchmarking.
The firm is also looking at harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to provide on-demand learning and delivering against mandated gender pay and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting, globally.
HeyFlow co-founder Sophie Creese, pictured, centre with fellow co-founders Sabrina Walls and Nick Dean, said: “We’re honoured to secure Aer Venture Studios' investment and trust in HeyFlow’s vision.
“Its backing is a testament to our early success and powerful validation of our mission to champion reproductive health inclusion and close workplace gender gaps.
“At a time where only a small percentage of investment goes to female-founded companies, Aer Venture Studios’ belief in HeyFlow sends a clear message that innovative, women-led start-ups are worthy of investment.”
Launched by Sophie Creese, Nick Dean and Sabrina Walls, HeyFlow also recently recruited Kate Thompson, an applied behavioural scientist and co-founder of London management consultancy businessfourzero, as a non-executive director.
With financial backing from Bristol-based recruitment firm ADLIB, the team brings together many years of expertise in gender equality work and talent solutions.
