# Catherine Lenson

> Catherine Lenson is a seed investor in London backing Software and Information Technology. See 14 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 14
- Last investment: Apr 2024
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-lenson-a0b5769/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/CatherineLenson
- Website: https://www.catherinelenson.com

Catherine Lenson is a seed investor in London focused on Software and Information Technology. Catherine is an investor, board director and executive coach. She is based in London and works globally.She is an experienced international C-suite executive with a strong track record in the People, DE&I and ESG fields. Together with Jonathan Lenson. she invests in exceptional early-stage tech companies across the UK, US and Israel, andbrings in-depth previous board experience as both an executive and non-executive director.She writes and speaks on topics including the future of work, corporate culture and purpose, diversity and inclusion, and work/life integration.As part of her coaching practice, she is the first UK-based facilitator to be certified in the Fair Play method. Catherine was the first female Managing Partner appointed at SoftBank Investment Advisers, the world’s largest technology investment firm with $175 billion under management in the two SoftBank Vision Funds and SoftBank Latin America Funds. As the founding Chief People Officer for five years (2017-2022), she led the HR, ESG and Real Estate teams globally.An experienced and trusted executive coach at C-suite level, she worked with companies within the Vision Fund portfolio on leadership, talent, DE&I, ESG, and operating challenges, including as a Board Director.Catherine built SBIA’s ESG practice and designed its strategy for Social Impact. She led SoftBank’s early stage venture funds focused on diverse founders, including the $100m+ SB Opportunity Fund (US) and Emerge (EMEA), including as an Investment Committee member.Catherine is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (Class of 2021) and a founding member of Sustainability30 (which brings together Chief Sustainability Officers from 30 of the world’s leading companies).She spent the formative years of her career at UBS AG, Switzerland’s leading financial services firm, and is proud to have progressed from intern to Managing Director in the same firm. In her final role there, she led Reward for UBS across the UK and EMEA region.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $93k–$6.3M |
| Pre-Seed | $92k–$1.1M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 4 | 29% |
| Information Technology | 4 | 29% |
| Internet | 3 | 21% |
| Employee Benefits | 3 | 21% |
| Wellness | 2 | 14% |

35 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 10 | 71% |
| Pre-Seed | 2 | 14% |
| Grant | 1 | 7% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 10 | 71% |
| Israel | 1 | 7% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Tangent | Tangent is an employee referral platform that makes referrals accessible to everyone and NOT just the privileged few with the best networks. We connect jobseekers from low socioeconomic backgrounds to tech employees, who mentor and refer them into their companies. | $1.1M | Pre-Seed | Apr 18, 2024 |  |
| Fertifa | Fertifa is an innovative employer benefit solution making fertility care more accessible and affordable.The company works with employers to offer a valuable employee benefit which bridges the gap between an employer and their employees when dealing with the sensitivity and privacy of employees’ reproductive issues. It also offers guidance andadvice, next-generation fertility treatment, and access to a range of holistic services for the best chance of success. The company was founded in 2019 and based in London, United Kingdom. | $6.3M | Seed | Jun 30, 2023 |  |
| Surfboard | Surfboard provides scheduling and building workforce management through customer service software. | $4.9M | Seed | Nov 21, 2022 |  |
| Roleshare | Get full-time balance with the smart matching site for shared roles. | $1.2M | Seed | Aug 17, 2022 |  |
| Passionfruit | Passionfruit is bringing together the next generation of leading independent marketing talent and providing a digital home where they can work, learn and earn, so startups and enterprises can work with them on-demand. | $4.3M | Seed | Jul 20, 2022 |  |
| The Lowdown | The Lowdown is a one-stop shop for women to choose, access and use the right contraception and reproductive healthcare for them. Powered by user-generated content, medical advice and prescriptions, they use their unique community-first approach to put women in control of their healthcare decisions.The Lowdown was founded in 2019 and isheadquartered in London, England. | $2.5M | Seed | Jul 20, 2022 |  |
| xigxag | At xigxag, we're leading the biggest-ever innovation in digital reading and shaping the future of books. | $593.9K | Seed | Jul 12, 2022 |  |
| Fairgen | Fairgen is a case-independent method for identifying occurrences of bias in machine learning algorithms and their supporting data sets and taking corrective action. It is a platform-independent tool for detecting, mitigating, and responding to bias in machine learning models and their underlying data sets. Customers benefit from our data-centricapproach, which makes integration simple. The company's automated systems should ensure that all customers, regardless of their profile, are treated fairly. | $2.5M | Seed | Jun 01, 2022 |  |
| RideTandem | RideTandem focuses on transportation technology. It transforms local transportation companies into smart shuttles for work, education, and other purposes. | $2.2M | Seed | May 03, 2022 |  |
| Ravio | Ravio understands compensation in the market with its real time platform. Ravio allows its clients to compare the company against the market on its dashboard. Ravio connects to human resource software to fill out spreadsheets and track changes. | $10M | Seed | Apr 26, 2022 |  |

10 of 14 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Speedinvest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/speedinvest) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [7percent Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/7-percent) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cornwall-isles-of-scilly-investment-fund) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Passion Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/passion-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Portfolio Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/portfolio-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [SFC Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/startup-funding-club) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Catherine Lenson invest in?

Catherine Lenson invests primarily in Software, Information Technology and Internet startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 14 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Catherine Lenson's check size?

Catherine Lenson typically joins rounds of $93k–$6.3M at Seed and $92k–$1.1M at Pre-Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Catherine Lenson participates in.

### When did Catherine Lenson last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Catherine Lenson closed in Apr 2024. Shizune tracks 14 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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