Sir Tony Blair’s daughter-in-law has been chosen to head up the government’s £500 million Sovereign AI fund.
Suzanne Ashman, who has been married to Euan Blair since 2013, would join the fund as managing partner, it was confirmed on Tuesday. She has previously worked as a general partner at LocalGlobe and Latitude, two London-based venture capital firms.
Ashman was described by Sovereign AI as one of the “most respected venture investors in the UK” who had “spent a decade backing the founders who have come to define a generation of British technology”.
She has led investments into businesses including Motorway, a used car marketplace which is now valued at more than $1 billion, and Open Cosmos, a space technology company which builds and operates satellites.
Her husband is also a well-known player in the British tech scene having founded Multiverse, the country’s largest apprenticeship provider, in 2016.
The taxpayer-backed Sovereign AI fund was launched in April to support “homegrown” AI companies and reduce reliance on foreign tech. It is chaired by James Wise, a partner at Balderton Capital.
The fund said that it had participated in the latest fundraise from Isomorphic Labs, a London-based drug discovery company which is backed by Alphabet, the owner of Google. Isomorphic was founded in 2021 by Sir Demis Hassabis as a spin-out from Google DeepMind.
The company said that it had raised $2.1 billion from investors including Thrive Capital and Abu Dhabi’s MGX alongside its existing backers Alphabet and Google Ventures. It said that the funding would support its hiring targets and help scale its discoveries worldwide. Isomorphic uses AI in its “drug design engine” which predicts how possible medicines will interact with the body, potentially slashing the amount of time it takes to bring new drugs to market.
Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer at Alphabet and Google, said: “Isomorphic Labs has already made extraordinary progress in harnessing AI to accelerate drug discovery and we are excited by this momentum and the early promise of the technology platform.”
Ruth Porat meets the King during his state visit Henry Nicholls/Getty Images
The Sovereign AI fund did not disclose the size of its investment but it typically invests between £1 million and £20 million. It is the third investment that the fund has made since it was launched.
Joséphine Kant, Sovereign AI head of ventures, said: “Isomorphic is one of the most consequential companies being built anywhere in the world today and it’s being built in Britain. Sovereign AI exists to invest in the companies that will shape what this country becomes next.”
Liz Kendall, the science and technology secretary, said: “Isomorphic Labs’ ground-breaking work has the potential to reshape completely how medicines are discovered, cutting years off development and giving real hope to people living with devastating diseases. This is AI at its very best: pushing the boundaries of innovation to improve people’s lives.”