Believing In Believers
Exceptional Ventures is a London-based VC firm investing in early-stage companies that help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives – maximising what we call the Joyspan®.
Our mission
Exceptional Ventures is a specialist venture capital firm backing founders who are transforming human longevity, health, and happiness.
Founded in 2022 by experienced entrepreneurs, operators, and investors Matt Cooper and Paolo Pio, EV brings decades of domain experience in Wellness, Risk Assessment & Early Detection, and Better Treatment & Care Delivery. With a portfolio of 45+ companies across the UK, Europe, the US, and beyond.
EV aims to be more than capital: we partner with the best founders building scientifically proven innovations to maximise human Joyspan® – helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives.
Our Investment Verticals
Wellness
Risk Assessment &
Early Detection
Smarter Treatment & Care Delivery
The EV Team
Silicon Valley Software Engineer turned Technology Executive turned Venture Capitalist, Paolo is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Exceptional Ventures. Prior to this, Paolo was the Managing Director for Europe at Joyance Partners, a US VC firm investing in health and happiness start-ups, where he led 25 investments across 9 countries and built a team of 8.
Paolo started his career at Cisco in Silicon Valley as Software Engineer, then Product Manager, then moved to Switzerland to lead Business Development across EMEAR and APAC.
Paolo graduated Summa Cum Laude from his MS Engineering in Turin, and received his Executive MBA from London Business School where he won the AQR award for academic excellence in asset management.
Experienced CEO and Chairman. Over the past two decades, Matt has been a very active angel investor, and has chaired and sat on the Boards of numerous high-profile, high-growth U.K. start-ups, including co-founding and Chairing Tandem Bank, and serving as Chairman for ClearlySo Ltd and IGF Invoice Finance Ltd.
In addition to co-founding Exceptional Ventures, which he chairs, Matt is currently Chairman of Octopus Capital and Cudoni. He sits on the Boards of VouchedFor, and Restless. Matt was part of the founding team of CapitalOne Bank in the US. He was also responsible for founding and running CapitalOne Bank (Europe) Plc, the company’s businesses outside of America.
Originally from New Jersey, Matt graduated first in his class in Chemistry from Princeton University in 1988.
