E490 | Jon Coker, Eka Ventures: Building Systemic Impact, Why Shared Value Wins & The Founder Learning Curve (ImpactVC spotlight series)
EUVC · EUVC
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Show Notes
In this episode, August is joined by Jon Coker, founding partner at Eka Ventures, to unpack how the team behind the £68M Fund I has backed 21 early-stage companies driving systemic change in consumer health and sustainable consumption.
They dive into the team’s shift from MMC Ventures to launching a new kind of impact fund, the lessons learned from backing 3 unicorns, and why founder learning velocity is Jon’s No. 1 metric for long-term success.
Eka Ventures is an early-stage VC fund with a clear mission: to back the founders building a more equitable, sustainable future with business models that scale both shareholder value and societal return.
Here’s what’s covered:
- 01:50 Jon’s journey from analyst to co-managing partner at MMC
- 05:15 Launching Eka Ventures: why impact needs its own home
- 08:30 Choosing the themes: consumer health & sustainable consumption
- 12:45 Building conviction around shared value
- 16:00 Distribution in health: why access is half the battle
- 19:25 Generalist vs. Specialist: where Eka fits in
- 23:10 Fund I analysis: what worked and what didn’t
- 27:45 Operating in the “real world”: why it’s harder, but worth it
- 30:10 Lessons from unicorns and founder growth
- 34:00 The problem with how VCs evaluate “team”