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: | 2x |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 6 months |
| Next deadline: | 31 Oct 2025 |
Important documents
| Sector: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 2x |
| Minimum investment: | £25,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 6 months |
| Next deadline: | 31 Oct 2025 |
Important documents
Praetura Group (“Praetura”) has been investing in early-stage businesses since it was founded in 2011. Praetura Ventures was set up in 2018 as a specialist EIS fund management business focused on companies based in the North of England.
To date the firm has raised £71.4 million, including £14.5 million in its first fundraise in 2019 – at that point the largest maiden EIS raise. Praetura Ventures also manages funds on behalf of British Business Investments Regional Angel Programme, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and recently launched a VCT (Praetura Growth VCT).
The Fund is managed by a large, dedicated venture capital team which, together with other Praetura employees, board members, and Operational Partners, has collectively invested £9.0 million into the EIS funds (June 2025).
- Target return of 2x over 4-8 years, not guaranteed
- Expects to fully deploy capital into a portfolio of 8-10 companies within six months of a soft close date (not guaranteed)
- Minimum investment of £25,000 – you can apply online
- Deadline: 31 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
Praetura was founded in 2011 to capitalise on what the founding partners believe is a sizeable opportunity to invest in early-stage businesses in the North of England. Today it consists of seven subsidiary businesses, including Praetura Ventures, which provides a range of operational and financial services. The Group currently manages £805 million (June 2025).
Praetura has an investment team of 18, split between three sub teams: technology, healthcare, and portfolio. The technology and healthcare teams are responsible for due diligence and deal selection while the portfolio team provides post-investment strategic support. Praetura’s network of seven Operational Partners – who previously had senior roles at companies such as AO.com and JD Sports – serve as mentors to the portfolio. Praetura staff and Operational Partners have personally invested £9.0 million into the EIS funds (June 2025).
Praetura has developed its own reporting software, which helps the team understand its portfolio companies. As well as supporting investment and portfolio management decisions, this enables the manager to produce high-calibre investor communications, which we consider some of the best in the industry.
Apex Unitas Limited is the custodian and nominee.
Meet the manager
Watch our interview with Praetura cofounder Dave Foreman
Investment strategy
The North of England accounts for around 20% of the UK’s population, economic output, and active companies but just 7% of the UK’s venture capital investment. Praetura believes there is a funding gap of almost £10 billion for early-stage businesses in the region. The Praetura EIS Fund aims to capitalise on this opportunity.
The manager favours B2B business models, as they typically provide access to larger clients and stickier revenue streams. Companies must be scalable and able to demonstrate momentum at the point of investment, with the potential of doubling revenues each year thereafter.
The portfolio is likely to be weighted towards technology and healthcare, although the team will consider any sector. To aid diversification, the portfolio will be split between seed capital (annual revenue up to £500k), development capital (£500k to £2m revenue) and growth capital (over £2 million revenue). The investment team believes this should give investors a more balanced risk/return potential.
Praetura reviews around 1,400 opportunities each year, sourced through its partnerships with accountancy firms and accelerator programmes, which can provide external validation. Praetura aims to be one of the first institutional investors at the point of investment, looking to lead rounds of £1 million to £3 million and to take an initial equity stake of 5-30%. In addition, Praetura anticipates committing around 60% of funds to follow-on investments.
Once a company receives investment, Praetura will offer strategic support through a range of services, including access to its Operational Partners programme, corporate partnerships, and Praetura’s in-house financial reporting platform which is integrated into each business.
The fund targets a return of 2x before tax relief over 4–8 years – not guaranteed.
Portfolio
Since launching its EIS funds in 2019, Praetura has invested £66.9 million in 49 companies. Investors are expected to receive a portfolio of 8–10 companies.
Below are previous portfolio company examples. They are outlined to give a flavour of the types of companies you might expect but are unlikely to be part of a new investor’s portfolio.
Coadjute
Anyone who’s ever bought a house will know the pain of chasing estate agents and solicitors up and down the chain. Coadjute aims to fix this problem by connecting buyers, sellers, and property professionals in real-time.
Coadjute creates a virtual deal room for each chain where parties can share property information, track progress, and securely send and sign documents. This not only allows buyers to stay up to date but reduces the time estate agents and other participants spend on the phone, cutting costs and speeding up the entire house-buying process.
In April 2024, the company secured a £10 million investment round, backed by Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest, and Rightmove – the first time the UK’s three largest mortgage providers have invested together in a proptech company.
Praetura first invested in the company through its EIS fund in alongside several US venture capital firms. To date, it has invested c.£2 million through the EIS Fund.
illuma
For decades, brands have relied on third-party cookies to support marketing and advertising. However, with cookies laws tightening, advertisers are looking at alternatives to connect with the right audiences.
illuma circumvents this. It has created technology to improve ad campaign performance without using personal data or cookies. Its AI technology uses contextual signals from live advertising campaigns to help brands make better decisions about where to place ads in real time.
The business counts some of the world’s biggest advertisers such as Procter & Gamble and Apple as clients. In August 2024, illuma announced a partnership with News UK, the publisher of titles such as The Sun and The Times, to help identify additional brand-safe advertising opportunities, delivering an increase of over 10% on average in early trials.
The Praetura EIS fund first invested a total of £1.4 million across three rounds, in January 2021, December 2022 and November 2024. The position is currently valued at 2.8x cost (April 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Examples of previous exits and failures
The Praetura EIS funds have yet to see an exit. However, the team achieved five successful exits from its previous EIS-qualifying investments – including Lloyd’s broker EC3 (see below) – with five failures and one exit below cost. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of previous exit
EC3 Brokers
The company was founded by Danny Driscoll after a multi-decade career in the insurance market which included positions at Integro, Gallagher and Aon. EC3 launched with a book of business acquired from Gallagher and quickly won clients after gaining FCA permissions. The company was profitable within its first year and grew to operate across a wide range of specialist insurance sectors, including cyber insurance, business interruption and specie (protecting high-value, portable items – such as jewels and cash).
Praetura invested a total of £600,000, with the first investment in 2014. In 2017, the business was acquired by its senior management through an MBO. This provided Praetura investors with a full exit at a 19.2x realised return. Five years after the exit (November 2022), the business entered administration. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of previous failure
Orka
An example of failure is Orka, a recruitment service matchmaking companies and temporary workers. The company’s turnover fell by almost a third in 2023, leading to cash flow difficulties. Whilst management took steps to reduce costs and raise funds, they were unable to secure further investment and appointed administrators in May 2024. In total, Praetura invested £3 million into the business through its EIS fund, a position subsequently written down to nil.
Performance
Praetura’s EIS fund was launched in 2019 and has since invested £66.9 million in 49 companies. There have been six failures, and no exits. The remaining portfolio is valued at £56.1 million.
The chart below shows the average performance of EIS investments made in each of the last 10 full tax years (or 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: Praetura Ventures, as at April 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 detail.
| Investor charges | |
|---|---|
| Initial charge | 2.5% |
| Annual management charge | 2% |
| Administration charge | See documents |
| Dealing charge |
— |
| Performance fee | 20% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | Up to 4% |
| Annual charges | Up to £36,000 |
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 (3%) and trail commission (0%) paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Any charges deducted from 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 £1.20 per £1 invested. Performance fees are calculated on an investee company basis.
Other charges apply. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
Our view
Praetura Ventures has built a well-resourced, professional venture capital team and a reputation as a committed regional investor – most of its portfolio is outside London and the South East. This focus, combined with the team’s post-investment support, helps Praetura attract deal flow from across the UK.
The fund looks to back eight to 10 early-stage companies across a variety of sectors. Each business must have demonstrated both a scalable business model and increasing revenues or other signs of early momentum at the point of investment.
The Praetura EIS fund has not achieved any profitable exits. However, Praetura has been investing in early-stage companies for over a decade and experienced some success prior to launching the EIS fund. Additionally, investors may value the quality of Praetura’s investor communications.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 9 June 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.