Yvonne Bajela Closes Oversubscribed $17 Million Fund To Back Early-Stage U.K. And European Startups

Evertrue Capital, the new venture vehicle founded by longtime investor Yvonne Bajela, has raised a $17 million first fund after attracting more interest than it planned to accept. The London-based outfit will target initial rounds for companies across the U.K. and the continent, writing checks around £350,000 on average and aiming to take meaningful stakes in roughly 20 firms over the next three years. Bajela said Evertrue has already put money into seven companies since launching.

Bajela built her reputation over more than a decade in venture, most recently at prominent European firms, and has helped seed startups that later reached high valuations. She told reporters she launched her own firm to have the freedom to act on convictions shaped by that experience. “I’ve spent years backing founders who are all-in on their ideas; now I want to invest from the perspective I’ve developed,” she said, adding that independence was a major driver for starting Evertrue.

The recent surge in artificial intelligence development reinforced her timing, Bajela said. She argued the cost and speed of building products have shifted, opening more entry points for founders, even as truly durable, scaled companies remain uncommon. “Tools that lower the barrier to start a company are everywhere now,” she said. “But turning that start into something long-lasting still requires rare combinations of clarity and execution.”

Investors and entrepreneurs in the U.K. have benefited from an uptick in tech activity: established urban hubs and emerging regional centers are spawning fast-growing fintech and AI-led businesses that are drawing capital and talent. Still, the fundraising environment is not uniformly easy for newer managers. Data from PitchBook show that first-time and emerging fund teams in the U.K. and Europe raised about $7.4 billion through the end of September, topping the roughly $6.2 billion tallied for all of 2025 — a sign of momentum but also of capital concentration among favored managers. “Institutional money is still gravitating toward large, proven teams,” an industry analyst in London said. “That makes entering the market tougher, even when deal flow is strong.”

Evertrue secured five institutional limited partners, including the British Business Bank and Basecamp, a fund-of-funds affiliated with Phoenix Court. The fund was included in a British Business Bank program that distributed £90 million to ten first-time managers as part of a larger £400 million initiative to broaden investment pathways. Bajela said she initially planned to raise about $13 million but opted to keep the vehicle’s size modest despite excess demand. “I wanted enough dry powder to build meaningful positions where I have conviction, rather than inflate the vehicle just because there was appetite,” she said, noting she turned down additional commitments to preserve deployment discipline.

About four-fifths of Evertrue’s backers are based in the U.K., with the remainder spread across Europe, Asia and the United States — a footprint Bajela said reflects both long-standing relationships and the fund’s aim to support companies that think internationally. More than one-half of her current portfolio already operates in the U.S. market. With a remit tilted toward fintech and AI, she said she looks for founders who bring a distinct perspective on a problem, a demonstrated capacity to execute, and the ambition to expand well beyond a first product. She pointed to her time working in Japan and an early career in investment banking as formative, and said she wants Evertrue to be known for backing founders who go on to build substantial businesses.