November 2026

Raising a first venture fund is hard in any market. Yvonne Bajela just did it, and she turned money away. The veteran investor announced that her new firm, Evertrue Capital, closed an oversubscribed $17 million Fund I to back early-stage startups across the U.K. and Europe. Quick Facts Who Is Yvonne Bajela? Bajela spent more than a decade as a venture capitalist, most recently at LocalGlobe and Impact X Capital Partners. Her track record includes bets on companies that went on to become unicorns, such as fintech Wise, insurance company Marshmallow and robotaxi startup Mooves. She also lived in Japan as a senior investment manager and began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. She said launching her own firm gave her independence to act on her convictions and build an approach that reflects her own style. The Fund’s Game Plan Evertrue has already backed seven companies. Over the next three years, Bajela plans to invest in at least 20, writing checks averaging about £350,000. She wants to back founders with a unique insight into a problem, an unusual ability to execute and the ambition to build something much bigger than their first product. She also pays attention to the distance a founder has traveled and what they’ve overcome. Why Bajela Says Now Is the Right Time Bajela credits the AI boom for her timing. It’s changed the economics of starting a company and opened new doors for early-stage investors. As she put it, “The ability to build has been democratized,” but building something that lasts is still rare. She believes more globally significant businesses will emerge from a wider range of starting points. A Tough Market for First-Time Funds Emerging managers face a challenging environment. In the U.S., the market is often described as a barbell, with capital concentrated among firms that already have strong track records. The U.K. looks somewhat brighter. PitchBook data through the end of September shows emerging fund managers in the region raised $7.4 billion, already above the $6.2 billion raised in all of 2025. Bajela still called fundraising a grind. The hardest rejections, she said, came after months of conversations, since a prolonged process without clarity costs founders and investors valuable time. Who Backed the Fund Evertrue landed five institutional backers, including the British Business Bank and Basecamp, the fund-of-funds of Phoenix Court, which is also home to LocalGlobe. The fund was part of the British Business Bank’s £400 million Investor Pathways initiative, which put £90 million into 10 first-time managers. Around 80% of limited partners are U.K.-based, and the rest are spread across Europe, Asia and the U.S. Why She Turned Money Away Evertrue aimed for roughly $13 million but saw heavy interest. Bajela chose to decline extra investors rather than grow the fund. She called fund size a strategic decision, not a measure of success, and said she wanted enough capital for high-conviction positions without pressure to deploy it just because it was available. U.K. Startup Momentum TechCrunch notes that the U.K. startup scene is having a moment. King’s Cross is one of the world’s top AI hubs, while companies like Revolut, Synthesia, ElevenLabs and CuspAI are redefining scale in the market. More than half of Bajela’s portfolio already operates in the U.S., reflecting British founders’ global ambitions. What to Watch Next Source: TechCrunch