The British Business Bank has committed £10m to the Fuel Ventures funds through its Regional Angels Programme. The London-based firm has deployed more than £280m across over 230 early-stage UK companies since 2013.
Fuel Ventures was founded in 2013 by Mark Pearson after the sale of his business MyVoucherCodes. It began as a backer of early-stage technology founders and now runs a multi-fund structure covering pre-seed through to Series A.
The state-owned development bank has now committed £10m to those funds. The money comes through the Regional Angels Programme, which the Bank launched in 2019 to address imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance across the UK.
The programme works by backing angel networks and other early-stage investors rather than investing in companies directly. The split of the £10m between Fuel's individual funds was not disclosed.
Fuel said the commitment will widen capacity across its fund structure. It will go towards new early-stage investments and follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies as they move towards Series A.
Follow-on capital is the stated focus. Fuel positions its later funds as a route for early-stage companies that struggle to secure further funding from their existing investors, the point at which founders are typically most exposed to a down round or a stalled raise.
On the firm's own figures, the Fuel Ventures funds have invested more than £280m in over 230 UK companies, an average of roughly £1.2m per company across all rounds. The new commitment is equivalent to about 3.6% of capital deployed to date.
The firm cites three early investments as reference points. It was among the first investors in Volt, which it says is valued at £256m; in ContentCal, acquired by Adobe for £110m; and in Capdesk, acquired by Carta for $88m.
Mark Barry, senior investment director at the British Business Bank, said the programme exists to close gaps in early-stage access to capital and that Fuel's structure means the Bank's money continues to work for founders beyond the first round.
Pearson said the backing was a vote of confidence in the firm's model and would allow it to stand behind portfolio founders for longer.
The commitment adds to a run of British Business Bank allocations to UK venture managers this autumn, including cornerstone cheques for Molten Ventures, Phoenix Court, PXN, Haatch and Zinc. Most of those went into single funds with a defined stage or regional remit; this one is spread across a manager's fund range.
Fuel Ventures Limited operates as an appointed representative of Palace Ventures Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The firm has not disclosed the current size of its funds or a timetable for deploying the new capital.
Original source: British Business Bank / Fuel Ventures press release, 06 Oct 2026 — no public URL supplied
