London-based investor Yvonne Bajela has closed a $17 million debut fund for her firm Evertrue Capital, bringing a new pool of early-stage investment to founders in the UK and Europe.
The fund was oversubscribed, meaning interest from prospective investors exceeded the amount Evertrue chose to accept. Bajela had initially aimed to raise about $13 million and decided not to increase the fund further despite additional interest.
Evertrue says it has already backed seven companies and plans to invest in at least 20 over the next three years. Its focus is on pre-seed businesses, including those working in artificial intelligence, financial technology and other areas of technology.
Pre-seed investment is aimed at companies at an early stage of development. Evertrue says its initial investments will typically be between £250,000 and £500,000, with an average of around £350,000. Those figures describe its intended approach rather than a guaranteed amount for every company.
Backers and public investment
The fund’s backers include the British Business Bank and Basecamp, a fund that invests in emerging managers and is part of investment group Phoenix Court. Better Society Capital, Bootstrap 4F and Allocator One are also among the institutional investors. The size of each investor’s commitment has not been disclosed.
In June, the British Business Bank named Evertrue as one of 10 funds in the first microfunds group under its Investor Pathways Capital initiative. The bank said it would act as a cornerstone investor in the group, committing up to £90 million across the 10 funds. That figure is not the amount committed to Evertrue alone.
The wider initiative has £400 million available and is intended to help first-time fund managers raise capital and establish investment records. The bank said the first group was selected from 151 applications. Its June announcement preceded the final close of Evertrue’s fund.
Bajela said approximately 80% of Evertrue’s limited partners, the investors who commit money to the fund, are based in the UK. The remainder are spread across Europe, Asia and the United States.
A concentrated portfolio
Evertrue says it will make a relatively small number of investments each year and can either lead a funding round or invest alongside others. Its website describes a concentrated portfolio and an emphasis on founders with a deep understanding of the problems they are trying to solve.
Companies it has backed include Revion, which works on AI for the automotive sector; Poindexter Labs, an AI capability and efficiency business; and Zuba, a financial technology company building infrastructure for global businesses. Another investment, Zaro, is developing a shared knowledge layer for enterprises.
Evertrue also describes support beyond funding. It says it draws on a network of operators and former founders to help portfolio companies. Such support is part of its stated approach; the future performance of individual investments remains uncertain.
Before founding Evertrue, Bajela was a partner at Phoenix Court. Earlier in her career she worked at Impact X Capital, where she led a seed investment in insurer Marshmallow, and at Mitsui & Co, where her investments included financial technology company Wise. She began her career at Goldman Sachs.
The new fund gives Bajela an independent vehicle for her own investments. Its targets for company numbers and cheque sizes set out how Evertrue intends to deploy the money, but do not establish when future investments will be made or how they will perform.
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