Back to teamZoe Peden
Partner
Zoe Peden
Partner
A man gets knocked down seven times, and she gets up eight times.
My backstory
As a child, I wanted to become pretty much what I am doing now – I wanted to be an investment banker! At the age of fourteen, I saw Wall Street, the movie, and I wanted to be Bud Fox. I was good at maths, so I thought, yes, this is what I want to do, and that’s why I went to the London School of Economics. I wanted to earn lots of money to solve the social inequity that I saw all around me, the poverty-related health and education issues.
I moved to London at the age of 18. London is definitely important to me, because it was the melting pot where my dreams came true. It took a while, though; it wasn’t overnight. In London, you get a lot of rejection, but that also makes you more resilient. When you build a start-up, you need to be used to getting rejected a lot.
After getting an undergraduate degree from LSE, and MBA from Henley Business School, I started my own company. It’s exciting for me to now be on the other side of the table, after having been an impact tech entrepreneur for a decade. Being a VC with Ananda, my former investor, is the chance of a lifetime because now I can multiply my impact by a hundred!
My passion
People. I am with Ananda because of the people. You only have one life, so surround yourself with people who you think will get the best out of you and vice versa. Being around this team is really stimulating.
I’m driven by equality and social mobility and making sure more people reach their full potential. I’ve been doing this for almost twenty years. Why? Because this is the right way to do business.
I built an impact tech company, so the easy thing to say would be that my main area of focus is technology. But it’s not the only area. I am passionate about venture capital and if I can make a genuine impact in people’s lives, it really doesn’t matter in which field.
When I’m away from the grind, and not lending my voice to promote female entrepreneurship, I attend flamenco classes or spend time in karaoke booths blasting out rock anthems. I also love sci-fi movies, particularly Star Wars; I even have an alter ego name, Zobi-Wan!
More about me
Interview
Bloomberg — VC Spotlight: Climate Tech Investing
Podcast
Nature Backed — Biodiversity Brigade: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned with Zoe Peden from Ananda
Blog post
Medium — My Journey from Welfare to Venture Capital Partner