The British Business Bank has committed £10m towards the Fuel Ventures funds, made through the bank’s Regional Angels programme.
Launched in 2019, the programme seeks to address imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance, specifically targeting angel networks and other early-stage investors to help enhance access to capital.
Fuel Ventures was established in 2014 by Mark Pearson following the sale of his company MyBusinessCodes, and aims to back the next wave of ambitious tech entrepreneurs. It has evolved into a multi-stage venture capital business, with funds designed to support startups beyond initial investment – from pre-seed to Series A.
Since its inception, the Fuel Venture funds have distributed £280m across over 230 early-stage UK companies, including early investment in Volt (one of the fastest growing FinTechs in Europe), ContentCal (subsequently acquired by Adobe for £110m) and Capdesk (snapped up for $88m by Carta).
The new £10m commitment from the British Business Bank will allow Fuel Ventures to improve capabilities across the fund structure, supporting new early-stage investments and continued follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies.
Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at the British Business Bank said: “The Regional Angels Programme exists to close gaps in early-stage access to capital across the UK, and this commitment is a good example of that in practice. Fuel Ventures brings founder-operator experience and its offering structure means the capital we’re providing does not stop at the first round-it keeps working for founders as they grow.”
Mark Pearson, Founder and Managing Partner of Fuel Ventures added: “We’re built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, wherever they’re building. This backing from the British Business Bank is a strong vote of confidence in the model we’ve built at Fuel, it means we can keep standing behind the founders in our portfolio for longer and support them further as they grow.”
