UK venture funds from the 2002–2021 vintages returned a pooled 1.78x total value to paid-in capital (TVPI), level with the US and ahead of the rest of Europe at 1.67x. Among 2020–2024 vintages, UK funds returned 1.40x, against 1.24x in the US.
The figures come from the British Business Bank's latest UK Venture Capital Financial Returns report, published on 29 September. The state-owned development bank is the largest domestic LP in UK venture, backing managers through programmes such as the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and its growth capital arms.
TVPI measures the combined value of cash distributed to LPs and remaining unrealised holdings, divided by the capital drawn from them. Because most of the value in younger funds is still unrealised, the figures for recent vintages rest mainly on portfolio marks rather than exits.
Newer funds pull ahead
The strongest comparison is among the most recent funds. Pooled TVPI across the 2020–2024 vintages was 1.40x in the UK, compared with 1.24x in the US and 1.27x across the rest of Europe.
UK generalist venture funds from those years returned 1.91x, against 1.20x for comparable US funds.
The report also finds that UK late-stage funds have almost closed the gap with the US. For 2014–2019 vintages, UK late-stage funds trailed their US peers by 0.78x on pooled TVPI. For 2020–2024 vintages, the gap was 0.05x.
Across the full 2002–2024 dataset, UK early-stage funds returned 1.85x, compared with 1.81x in the US and 1.84x in the rest of Europe.
Manager track records persist
For the first time, the Bank looked at whether strong performance carries across a manager's successive funds. Across more than 800 fund progressions from 390 managers globally, 39% of successors to top-quartile funds were themselves top quartile. That is about one and a half times what chance would predict. More than 70% of successor funds finished above the median.
"This research shows the UK is increasingly closing the gap, matching US returns overall and outperforming among the latest generation of funds," said Leandros Kalisperas, the Bank's chief investment officer.
The LP question
The report arrives as UK managers compete for domestic institutional capital. Michael Moore, chief executive of UK Private Capital, said UK pension funds were missing an opportunity by underinvesting in the asset class, and urged Mansion House Compact signatories to act on the data.
Distributions remain the UK's weak point. The UK still trails the US on cash returned to LPs. That matters for pension schemes, because their allocation decisions depend on money actually returned rather than on paper value.
Original source: EU-Startups — https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/09/uk-venture-capital-matches-us-long-term-returns-as-newer-funds-pull-ahead/
