Fuel Ventures secures £10m to bridge seed‑to‑Series A funding gap
This article covers Fuel Ventures, a venture capital firm, receiving a £10m commitment from the British Business Bank under its Regional Angels Programme. The funding is intended to widen early-stage and follow-on capital for UK tech startups, supporting new Pre-Seed investments and follow-on rounds as companies scale towards Series A.
British Business Bank has committed £10m to Fuel Ventures’ multi-fund VC, a move aimed at widening early-stage and follow-on capital for UK tech startups. The cash comes through the Bank’s Regional Angels Programme and is intended to help Fuel support new Pre-Seed deals and provide follow-on capital as portfolio companies scale toward Series A.
Why it matters
Early-stage companies routinely cite follow-on funding as a sticking point between seed rounds and Series A. This commitment targets that gap by backing a fund that already operates across multiple stages, rather than stopping at initial cheques. For founders who struggle to secure subsequent rounds from first investors, the extra capacity could mean the difference between scaling and stagnation.
Inside the portfolio
Fuel Ventures was an early backer of several notable exits and scale-ups. Its track record includes investing in Volt, described here as one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs and valued at about £256m; ContentCal, acquired by Adobe for £110m; and Capdesk, acquired by Carta for $88m. Since its launch, Fuel’s funds have deployed more than £280m across over 230 UK early-stage companies.
Those examples illustrate the fund’s focus: backing companies that can either achieve rapid scale or become attractive targets for acquisition. The British Business Bank’s money is explicitly intended to expand Fuel’s ability to both start new positions and back existing portfolio companies through subsequent rounds.
Who’s behind the fund
Fuel Ventures was founded by Mark Pearson after he sold MyVoucherCodes. The firm has evolved from an entrepreneur-led seed investor into a multi-stage venture capital operation, offering funds that span Pre-Seed through Series A.
Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at the British Business Bank, framed the decision in terms of the Regional Angels Programme’s role in evening out access to capital across the UK:
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, said the backing strengthens the firm’s support for founders:
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.
The mechanics and mandate
The £10m is routed through the British Business Bank’s Regional Angels Programme, launched in 2019 to address imbalances in early-stage equity finance. The programme works with angel networks and early-stage investors to broaden regional access to capital. The commitment will allow Fuel to widen capacity across its fund structure, supporting new early-stage investments and follow-on rounds as companies approach Series A.
The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in 2014, its remit is to design and manage programmes that improve smaller businesses’ access to finance. Its core programmes support about £23bn of finance to almost 64,000 smaller businesses.
What comes next
For Fuel, the immediate effect is increased dry powder and a mandate to provide longer-term backing. For founders, it means another potential source of follow-on capital from an investor network that spans early and growth stages. That continuity can be particularly valuable in markets where later-stage capital is harder to secure.
The bigger picture
The deal fits into broader efforts to plug regional and stage-based funding gaps across the UK. Public-backed interventions such as the Regional Angels Programme aim to nudge private capital into underserved areas and reduce friction between seed and Series A. Whether that translates into materially higher conversion rates from seed to Series A will be visible only over the next few funding cycles.
In sum, the £10m is a targeted attempt to shore up a specific part of the funding ladder — early-stage follow-ons — through a fund that already has a track record of backing companies that go on to scale or exit. For the UK startup ecosystem, that continuity of capital could help more companies reach the stage where larger institutional investors take interest.
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