We’re excited to share that Shearwater Capital has invested in Lokol, an AI-native company reimagining how consumers discover culture. Lokol is building what it describes as “AI with taste” – technology designed to deliver more thoughtful, curated recommendations across food, travel and lifestyle. While large language models are powerful, they tend to surface what is most common or most searchable. Lokol’s ambition is to combine AI capability with human judgement and editorial nuance.

Our conviction is anchored in the founders.

I’ve known Neil Ackland since 2009, when we were both building digital media businesses. Over the years we’ve stayed in touch and I’ve followed his progress from afar as he co-founded Junkee Media and later moved into senior executive roles within a listed media group. He has consistently demonstrated sharp cultural instinct and the ability to build enduring media brands.

When Neil said he was building again, it was something I was immediately interested in backing.

He is partnered with Aaron Wallis, a seasoned technology founder and long-time CTO with deep expertise in data platforms. Together, they bring a rare combination of editorial judgement and technical capability – cultural taste paired with engineering depth.

Lokol is early, but the vision is clear. Early pilots with respected publishing brands signal strong initial interest. We believe there is room for a new layer in the AI ecosystem – one that prioritises quality over volume and judgement over aggregation.

We’re pleased to back Neil and Aaron as they build a distinctive AI product for cultural discovery.