Yvonne Bajela, a former partner at London VC firm Phoenix Court, has closed her debut fund, Evertrue Capital Fund I, at $17M to back pre-seed founders in the UK and Europe.

The close was announced on 3 November. The fund was oversubscribed: Bajela set out to raise around $13M and turned away extra investors rather than grow the fund further.

She runs Evertrue Capital as a solo general partner.

Who is Yvonne Bajela?

Bajela has spent more than a decade investing in UK and European startups. Before Phoenix Court she worked at LocalGlobe and Impact X Capital Partners.

Her past investments include Wise, Moove and Marshmallow.

What will Evertrue invest in?

The fund backs pre-seed founders, with a focus on AI, fintech and frontier technology. Evertrue says it mainly backs founders with European roots, often working on hard problems in markets that look unglamorous at first.

Cheques range from £250k to £500k, with an average of around £350k. Bajela plans to back at least 20 companies over the next three years.

Evertrue has already made seven investments, including agentic AI company Revion and fintech infrastructure company Zuba.

Bajela said the best moment to invest is before the market has proof. She has set out her thinking in more detail in a post on how Evertrue sees the world.

Who backed the fund?

Five institutional investors committed, including the British Business Bank and Basecamp. Evertrue is one of the first-time managers in the British Business Bank's £400m Investor Pathways programme, and around 80% of its LPs are UK-based.

Why did Bajela keep the fund small?

She has said fund size is a strategic decision, not a measure of success. A smaller fund lets her take meaningful stakes in her strongest companies without pressure to deploy money just because it is there.

That matters at pre-seed, where a £350k cheque can lead a round and set its terms.

What this means for UK founders

First-time fund managers are a growing source of pre-seed money in the UK, and the British Business Bank is deliberately backing them. Bizztor has covered the same push in the bank's £180m commitment to six AI and deep tech funds.

For founders, a solo GP with a focused fund often means faster decisions and one clear point of contact. It also means fewer follow-on reserves, so plan your seed round early, and read up on how pro-rata rights work before you sign.

You can see which investors are most active in Bizztor's UK startup investor data.