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: | 5x |
| Minimum investment: | £20,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | Discretionary |
Important documents
| Sector: | Technology |
|---|---|
| Target return: | 5x |
| Minimum investment: | £20,000 |
| Targeted allotment: | 2025/26 |
| Next deadline: | Discretionary |
Important documents
Fuel Ventures was set up and is run by Mark Pearson, founder of MyVoucherCodes, the online voucher code business. Since 2013, Fuel Ventures has invested £242 million into 195 EIS and SEIS-qualifying companies.
The SEIS Fund follows a similar strategy to Fuel Ventures’ EIS funds – to back fast-growing Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses, online platforms, and marketplaces – but at a much earlier stage.
Since launching its first SEIS fund in January 2021, Fuel has made £20.9 million of SEIS investments, currently valued at £22.0 million (July 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
- Target return 5x over 10 years – high risk and not guaranteed
- Targets a minimum of 10 and up to 40 companies
- Minimum investment £20,000 – you can apply online
- Deadline: Discretionary
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
Fuel Ventures was founded in 2013 by successful entrepreneur Mark Pearson. He had previously founded online voucher code company, MyVoucherCodes, sold as part of parent company Markco Media for a reported £55 million. Whilst running MyVoucherCodes, Mark made personal investments in nine early-stage technology and software businesses. Fuel Ventures was born as a result of his experience with these businesses.
Since its inception, Fuel has invested £242 million into 195 EIS and SEIS-qualifying companies – typically early-stage marketplaces, platforms and SaaS businesses – across its four funds: the SEIS fund, Follow-on EIS Fund, Scale-Up EIS Fund and the Fuel Ventures VCT.
Fuel Ventures has 16 full-time staff. There are seven investment professionals: four dedicated to EIS/VCT and three to SEIS. Both investment teams are overseen by Mark, who has the final say on investment decisions. In addition, an eight-strong fundraising team helps raise capital both for Fuel’s funds and its portfolio companies, whilst a talent team assists founders with hiring. Mark has historically invested between 5%-10% into each SEIS fund and has committed up to 5% in the current iteration.
Fuel Ventures Limited, an appointed representative of Palace Ventures Ltd, is the investment advisor to the fund. The investment manager is Sapphire Capital Partners LLP.
Before your subscription is invested, the cash will be held by the custodian, Apex Unitas Limited. Shares will be held by the nominee, MNL Nominees Limited.
Meet the manager – watch our interview with Fuel founder Mark Pearson:
Investment strategy
The SEIS Fund follows the same core investment strategy employed across the Fuel Ventures EIS funds, albeit at an earlier stage. It invests in digital businesses Fuel Ventures believes have the potential to scale globally and are managed by exceptional founders. It seeks marketplaces, online platforms and SaaS companies. Fuel Ventures considers these businesses attractive as they tend to be easily scalable, have low costs per unit sold and, once a product generates revenue, typically growth is limited only by market demand, not by the ability of the business to supply it.
Fuel Ventures aims to create value for investors by taking a hands-on approach, using its sector experience to help companies build products and services people want and need, and expand internationally. Note that as the number of companies backed by Fuel Ventures increases each year, any potential added value may be diluted without continued expansion of the team.
Fuel Ventures’ SEIS Fund seeks to invest at the “pre-Seed” stage, with the potential of supporting investee companies with follow-on investments through its established EIS funds.
Fuel Ventures’ hands-on support, combined with its ability to invest at an early stage and follow its money, may help attract the best entrepreneurs, who often have a pick of potential investors. This may provide the SEIS Fund, and subsequently the later-stage EIS funds, with enhanced deal flow, although this is not guaranteed.
Portfolio
Given the high-risk nature of SEIS investing, Fuel Ventures aims to build a diversified portfolio.
In the current tranche of the SEIS fund, investors are expected to receive a portfolio of at least 10 and up to 40 SEIS-qualifying companies – largely depending on the total raised in the tranche.
Across all its SEIS funds, Fuel Ventures has invested £20.9 million in 118 companies. Those investments are currently valued at £22.0 million (July 2025).
Below are portfolio company examples from the previous funds. They are outlined to give a flavour of the types of companies you might expect but will not form part of a new investor’s portfolio.
Recent investment
Damisa
Cross-border payments can be complex and costly for businesses, often plagued by inefficiencies, high fees, and slow settlement times.
Damisa was launched in late 2024 to address this and facilitate faster and lower-cost cross-border payments. Through Damisa Connect, businesses can integrate via API with local partners and transact in more than 25 currencies. The company is initially targeting industries such as logistics, real estate, and travel and completed its first transactions in April 2025.
Behind the platform is an experienced founding team, including Jordan Lawrence, who previously co-founded open banking payments fintech Volt, one of Fuel Ventures’ most promising previous investments, currently valued $350 million.
Fuel Ventures backed the business February 2025, investing a total of £1.75 million through its SEIS and Scale-Up EIS funds as part of a £2.25 million funding round at a pre-money valuation of £11.8 million.
Hotel Manager
Founded in 2020 by a team with both technology and hospitality experience, Hotel Manager has helps hotels deliver better guest experiences and improve revenue and profit margins. Its all-in-one hotel management software and guest experience platform streamlines operations and makes it easier for guests to use the hotel services through a branded guest app. Whether it's checking in early, ordering dinner, or booking a spa treatment, the app simplifies guest interactions.
Hotel Manager reports it has served over 100,000 guests to date with clients reporting an up to 25% increase in guest spend and a 43% reduction in wait time. So far the business has won more than 500 hotel clients, including members of hotel groups Accor, operator of the ibis and Mercure brands, and a host of boutique hotels.
Fuel Ventures first invested £150,000 under SEIS in August 2022, then £2.2 million through its Scale-up EIS fund in April 2023, and £1.7 million through its Follow-on EIS fund and VCT in April 2024. The initial SEIS investment is currently held at 2.5x investment cost. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Examples of previous exits and failures
The SEIS Fund is still comparatively young, having launched its first tranche in January 2021, so the track record remains limited and it has yet to experience any cash exits.
However, as is to be expected when investing in young businesses, failures often precede successes, and to date the funds has experienced one failure (detailed below). Please note, SEIS investments are very high risk, and you should expect some failures.
Example of previous failure
Hibana
Hibana was founded during the Covid pandemic, by successful entrepreneur Peter Dakin and brand strategist Nick O’Quinn. They aimed to create a marketplace for independent brands, replicating the shop browsing that had disappeared during lockdown.
By May 2021, when Fuel Ventures invested £115,000 through its SEIS fund, the website already listed over 75 brands from across the UK.
While Fuel continues to believe both the technology and the founders were strong, the route to market proved more difficult than expected and cost of acquiring customers too high. As a result, Hibana became insolvent and dissolved in July 2022 having not been able to raise further investment.
Performance
Since launching its first SEIS fund in January 2021, Fuel has invested £20.9 million in 118 companies. The stakes are currently valued at £22.0 million (July 2025). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
The chart below shows the average performance of the total subscribed into the 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 of Fuel SEIS Fund after launch per £100 invested (100 companies)
Source: Fuel Ventures, as at 17 July 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.
SEIS 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 SEIS 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 SEIS holding period; equally, an exit within three years could impact tax relief.
To claim tax relief, you will need SEIS3 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 SEIS-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.
The fund relies heavily on the knowledge and experience of Mark Pearson. He is wholly committed to Fuel Ventures, but there is key-person risk. As the number of companies grows, he will not be able to provide the same level of coaching and support to all.
Charges
A summary of the main charges is shown below. Some of these will be payable by the investor, whilst 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 | 5% |
| Annual management charge | — |
| Administration charge | — |
| Dealing charge |
— |
| Performance fee | 30% |
| Investee company charges | |
| Initial charge | — |
| Annual charges | 1% |
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 (4%) and trail commission (0%). These are paid by the provider – there is no additional cost to you.
Investor charges may be deducted from the subscription. This 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 a portfolio basis.
Other charges apply. Please see the provider’s documents, including the Key Information Document, for more details.
Our view
In our view, the SEIS fund is a natural addition to Fuel Ventures’ existing offering.
Previous SEIS funds have now invested over £21 million and enabled Fuel Ventures to build a portfolio of over 100 SEIS-qualifying companies. This has helped establish Fuel Ventures as a destination for entrepreneurs seeking SEIS funding.
Fuel Ventures’ investment strategy of focusing on marketplaces, platforms and SaaS companies, providing hands-on support, and potentially follow-on funding from Fuel’s EIS funds, could prove a compelling combination to attract high-calibre entrepreneurs.
The offer could appeal to experienced investors looking to complement a wider investment portfolio with exposure to a selection of early-stage digital businesses under SEIS.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 5 September 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.