Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
- You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
- You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
- You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
- The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
| Sector: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | Unspecified |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 12 to 18 months |
| Next deadline: | 3 Oct 2025 |
Important documents
| Sector: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | Unspecified |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 12 to 18 months |
| Next deadline: | 3 Oct 2025 |
Important documents
Molten Ventures is a listed company with a market capitalisation of around £450 million (April 2025) and one of the most established venture capital firms in Europe.
It favours businesses in the consumer technology, enterprise technology, deep tech & hardware, and digital health & wellness sectors and has backed some of the UK’s most successful tech startups, including Wise and Revolut.
Since 2012, the Molten Ventures EIS fund has invested £204.0 million into 66 companies, generating £105.7 million in exit proceeds with a remaining portfolio value of £165.1 million (March 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
- Targets a portfolio of 8-12 companies, deploying investors funds over 12-18 months - not guaranteed
- Unspecified target return with an estimated holding period of at least three to five years, not guaranteed
- Minimum investment: £25,000
- Next deadline: 3 October 2025
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
The manager
Founded in 2006, Molten Ventures is a listed company with a market capitalisation of around £450 million (April 2025) and one of the most established venture capital firms in Europe. It aims to invest in disruptive, high-growth technology companies through its own balance sheet and its managed funds, including its EIS funds and Molten Ventures VCT.
Molten Ventures has a reputation for backing some of Europe’s most innovative growth companies, including technology unicorns Wise and Revolut. It has also backed 79 seed and early-stage venture funds, giving it exposure to over 2,300 companies from which it can source new investments.
The EIS fund is managed by the same team that oversees the VCT and the plc’s balance sheet investments – and it is expected these will co-invest alongside each other. The investment committee is made up of nine senior professionals and can draw on the wider team of over 30 investment professionals and venture partners.
Apex Unitas Limited acts as custodian and nominee.
Investment strategy
The size and reputation of Molten Ventures plays a key role in the investment strategy. The fund focuses on four sectors in which Molten Ventures has considerable experience and a strong track record.
1. Consumer technology – This includes companies the manager believes have exceptional growth opportunities in international markets underpinned by new consumer-facing products, innovative business models and proven execution capabilities. IPO platform PrimaryBid is an example.
2. Enterprise technology – This includes companies developing software infrastructure, applications and services that could improve productivity and reduce costs for enterprises. Form3, a payments-as-a-service platform, and Thought Machine Group, a core banking platform are examples.
3. Hardware and deep tech – This includes companies developing differentiated technologies that underpin advances in computing, consumer electronics and other industries. Paragraf, which makes electronic devices out of graphene, and Riverlane, which is developing an operating system for use in quantum computers, are examples.
4. Digital health and wellness – This includes companies using digital and other technologies to create new products and services for the health and wellness markets. An example is Endomag (see below), which has developed technologies to improve breast cancer care.
In addition to supporting deal flow and co-investments, the association with Molten Ventures plc provides potential exit routes and follow-on funding, particularly if a company becomes too large to continue to qualify for EIS investment.
The fund gives investors to opt into a “follow-on reserve”. This will see around 10% of an investor’s contribution held back to invest in follow-on rounds into companies backed by the fund. The manager believes this helps to mitigate the risk of dilution. However, investor should note this may result in money being invested in later tax years, and may not be invested at all l – though it is expected to earn interest while uninvested.
Portfolio
Investors can expect a portfolio of 8-12 companies, invested over 12-18 months — not guaranteed.
The companies outlined below are previous investments made by the Molten Ventures EIS Fund, please note that they are unlikely to form part of a new investor’s portfolio.
Recent investment
Riverlane
Quantum computing is an emerging technology used to solve complex problems faster than traditional computers. However, error rates in quantum computing are far higher – around 1 error in 1,000 operations before failure. For quantum computers to be useful, error rates need to be as low as one in a trillion.
Riverlane, which span out from the University of Cambridge in 2016, aims to address this. It developed Deltaflow, a Quantum Error Correction Stack, intended to identify and correct errors and improve computational accuracy. The system is used by a fifth of the world’s quantum hardware manufacturers and aims to become the global standard operating system for quantum computing.
The Molten EIS fund first invested in March 2021, before following on in March 2023 as part of a £15 million Series B round. The combined positions are now valued at 3.7x cost. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Recent investment
Anima Group
Anima Group, founded in 2021 is an integrated care platform that combines online consultations with productivity tools. It brings everything a care team needs in one place, helping streamline workflows and improve patient outcomes.
Anima launched with paying clinics in September 2022 and is now deployed in over 150 NHS clinics providing care to over 1.3 million.
Anima automatically generates patient communications, clinical notes, admin requests, and paperwork. Its productivity tools can halve the time practices spend on coding, processing and filing documents. Meanwhile, its online consultation platform can save practitioners time and help them deliver better patient outcomes. The platform gathers a comprehensive history of each patient using questionnaires linked to clinical guidelines. The online dashboard helps handle and prioritise patient requests by risk score and assign them to the right team members.
The EIS fund invested in March 2024 as part of an oversubscribed $12 million Series A funding round with participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures and Amino Collective. The company aims to use the capital to accelerate deployment to tens of millions of patients and healthcare professionals worldwide.
Example of previous failure
Fluidic Analytics
Investing in small companies is high risk and inevitably not all will work out as planned. Fluidic Anlaytics is an example.
A spinout of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, Fluidic Analytics developed tools to analyse proteins in biological fluids more quickly and in greater detail than existing technologies.
The company successfully created its initial product line and released further products. However, sales figures were disappointing, leading to a significant need for further capital in August 2023. Given the performance to date and the amount of capital required, the company struggled to raise funds from investors and entered administration in November 2023.
Performance
Molten Ventures launched its first EIS fund 2012. Since then, it has invested £204.0 million in 66 companies, receiving £105.7 million in exit proceeds and with a remaining portfolio value of £165.1 million (March 2025). Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
The chart below shows the average performance of the total subscribed into all Molten EIS funds in each of the last 10 full tax years (or from when the current strategy was adopted if later). The chart is based on the latest valuations provided by the manager, expressed on a £100 invested basis. Please note, individual investor portfolios’ performance will deviate from the average.
Performance per £100 invested per tax year
Source: Molten Ventures, as at 5 March 2025. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The chart shows realised returns (where share proceeds have been returned to investors as cash) and unrealised returns (where cash has not yet been returned and the value of the investments is based on the manager’s own valuation methodology). There is no ready market for unlisted shares. The figures shown are net of all fees and do not include any income tax relief or loss relief.
Risks – important
This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice.
EIS investments are high-risk and should only form part of a balanced portfolio. As must be expected with early-stage investments, some or even all of the companies in the portfolio could fail: the fewer the companies included in the portfolio, the higher the risk of loss if things don’t go to plan. You should not invest money you cannot afford to lose.
There is no ready market for unlisted EIS shares: they are illiquid and hard to sell and value. There will need to be an exit for you to receive a realised return on your investment. Exits are likely to take considerably longer than the three-year minimum EIS holding period; equally, an exit within three years could impact tax relief.
To claim tax relief, you will need EIS3 certificates, normally issued once shares have been allotted. This can take several months: please check the deployment timescales carefully. Tax reliefs depend on the portfolio companies maintaining their EIS-qualifying status. Remember, tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks.
Charges
A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. Some of these will be payable by the investor, others by the investee companies. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
| Investor charges | |
|---|---|
| Initial charge | 2% |
| Annual management charge | 2% |
| Administration charge | £80 p.a. |
| Dealing charge | 0.2% |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | — |
| Annual charges | — |
The fees and charges above are stated exclusive of VAT, which applies in some cases, as determined by the manager. Please check the VAT position carefully in the provider documents. Any fees and charges payable by the investee companies or the underlying businesses do not directly come out of your investment. However, they will effectively reduce the returns generated by investee companies and therefore impact your investment.
More detail on the charges
When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive initial commission (2.5%) and trail commission (0%). These are paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Any charges deducted from the subscription will reduce the amount invested and on which tax relief can be claimed.
Any investee company charges are levied on the underlying companies. They will not affect the amount of tax relief available but can still impact investor returns.
The performance fee applies on returns in excess of £1 per £1 invested applied at fund level by the end of life of the fund. Whilst not uncommon, this is a low hurdle. Performance fees may also be collected on a deal by deal basis during the investment period. See Investment Agreements for details.
Other charges apply. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
Our view
Molten Ventures is one of the UK’s leading venture capital investors, and the EIS fund provides investors with the opportunity to co-invest in the firm’s early-stage, EIS-qualifying deal flow.
The scale and reputation of Molten Ventures – and its ability to invest through its balance sheet – should help make it a destination for founders, particularly in the technology and deep tech sectors. This could potentially give investors access to high-quality deals that might be otherwise difficult to access through an EIS fund.
The offer may appeal to long-term investors who are keen to gain exposure to companies backed by one of Europe’s leading venture capital managers with the benefit of tax relief – tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Investors should note the unusual “follow-on reserve” feature of the fund. Investors who opt into the follow-on reserve will have a portion, c.10%, of their money held in cash to support follow-on rounds. This may result in money being invested in later tax years or not at all – though it is expected to earn interest while uninvested.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 8 April 2025
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.