- The British Business Bank is investing up to £90M in 10 first-time venture capital managers through its new Investor Pathways Capital initiative.
- Over half of the general partners are women, and 43% come from ethnic minority backgrounds. These numbers are unusually high in an industry where both groups are still underrepresented.
- The group includes what is said to be the first Black-led venture capital fund in the UK and across Europe, focused solely on consumer brands, as well as a fund that supports immigrant founders at their first institutional investment.
The British Business Bank is backing 10 first-time venture capital fund managers with up to £90 million, creating a group that stands out in the UK investment scene. More than half of the general partners are women, and 43% are from ethnic minority backgrounds. This level of diversity is uncommon at this scale in an industry still led by a narrow group.
These funds are the first investments from the Bank’s £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative, which aims to make institutional venture capital more accessible to underrepresented managers.
Each fund will get a cornerstone commitment from the Bank, ranging from £10 million to £20 million. The funds will focus on pre-seed and seed investments in the technology, deep tech, artificial intelligence, climate, defence, and consumer sectors.
“By backing first-time fund managers and improving access to finance at the earliest stages, we are helping to create a more diverse and resilient pipeline of high-growth UK companies,” says Mark Sims, the Bank’s managing director and head of development equity funds.
A group shaped by focused strategies
What makes these 10 funds stand out is not just their leadership, but also their focused investment goals. Seven out of the 10 funds are led by solo general partners.
Mustard Seed Fund, led by David Olusegun, calls itself the first Black-led venture capital fund in the UK and Europe focused only on consumer brands, supporting founders who are changing how people eat, live, and feel. Blue Lake VC, led by David Gilgur and Lyubov Guk, makes the first institutional investments in immigrant founders in the UK.
Twin Track Ventures, led by Nicola Sinclair, helps defence-founded companies move into commercial markets. The Tech Bros: Fund I, led by Dr Milette Gillow, invests in female technical founders, primarily graduates of The Tech Bros accelerator, which is described as an all-female, all-technical programme.
The other six funds are:Evertrue Capital, led by Yvonne Bajela, which supports founders at an early stage; Common Ventures, led by David Houghton, focusing on state-educated founders at pre-seed; Openseed VC, led by Maria Rotilu, giving initial investments to operators starting technology companies; Almanac Ventures, led by Jo Słota-Newson and Marc Sabás, targeting European deeptech;Future Impact Ventures, led by Jordan Fletcher, Gosbert Chagula MBE, and Mandy Nyarko MBE, focused on climate solutions; and Firstdoor VC, led by Deborah Oklena, investing in what it calls the access infrastructure of the modern economy.
“These funds bring deep sector expertise and highly targeted strategies across sectors like technology, artificial intelligence, climate, and consumer. That specialism is critical at the earliest stages, where understanding emerging technologies and markets can make a real difference to company outcomes,” says Liz Bailey, director of development equity funds at the British Business Bank.
Why structure matters as well as funding
The group was selected from 151 applications. All 10 managers are first-time institutional fund managers, many of whom are building on experience as operators, community builders, or early-stage angel investors.
By being a cornerstone investor, the Bank makes it less risky for private capital to join in. This helps managers build the track records they need for future fundraising. Without a track record, it’s almost impossible to raise money from large LPs. Without large LPs, you can’t build a track record. Investor Pathways Capital aims to break this cycle.
Meghan Stevenson-Krausz, former chief executive of Diversity VC, said the programme has the potential to address a structural problem that runs deeper than individual bias.
“Who gets to allocate capital shapes which ideas are funded, which companies are built and ultimately who benefits from economic growth,” she notes, adding that by de-risking participation for private investors and opening doors to a wider range of investment talent, the initiative could strengthen the UK’s venture ecosystem as a whole.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves linked the initiative to broader government efforts to stimulate early-stage investment.
“We have the right economic plan — backing the next generation of investors to spur growth and ensure businesses start, scale-up and expand across every part of the country,” she says, pointing to changes to the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme and venture capital tax reliefs announced at the last Budget, which the Treasury says will support around £100m of extra investment a year.
The Microfunds segment is part of the larger £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative, which the Bank expects will attract significant private capital alongside its own investments.
