Fuel Ventures 🚀

🚔 AI that frees up the frontline. 🚓 VRFY Inc. (www.vrfyinc.com) is transforming public safety with secure AI transcription that cuts police admin time by up to 80% and costs by 70% - allowing officers to spend less time at desks and more time keeping communities safe. 👮 We’ve led their pre-seed round, backing founders Jeff Meyers and Mike Willford, two veteran police officers with over 60 years of experience between them, as they bring this game-changing platform to UK forces. Beyond efficiency, VRFY’s technology helps protect the wellbeing of police admin staff - many of whom are repeatedly exposed to traumatic content when manually transcribing cases. By automating this process securely, VRFY is reducing stress, improving retention, and helping create healthier working environments. Read the full story below 👇 https://lnkd.in/dvGmCGGM

💡 Up to half of every doctor’s day is spent on paperwork. We’ve led an investment round into Synthax, along with our friends over at Antler and Mount Venture Capital Fund 🥳 Synthax, the AI-powered operating system for outpatient clinics - founded by NHS doctor Shaheer Aslam Joiya, MD and technologist Mark Murtagh are helping clinics cut administrative time, surface patient data instantly, and operate with the same efficiency as large hospitals. Levelling the playing field for thousands of independent clinics. 🩺 Built from frontline frustration Clinicians spend a significant amount of their day on admin with outdated systems. Synthax automates documentation, accelerates decisions, and improves revenue performance - giving time back to patients, not paperwork. 🌍 Scaling global healthcare This oversubscribed round will accelerate Synthax’s expansion across the US and UK healthcare markets. We’re proud to back a team that’s redefining the operating system of modern medicine! Read the full story below 👇 https://lnkd.in/dkdqhh-Q

🗣️ “All the HNWIs I know are leaving the UK…” It certainly makes for compelling dinner conversation… but as ever, it’s wise to look at the data rather than the anecdotes. Let’s take a closer look ✈️ According to Henley Private Wealth’s recent Migration Report, the UK is projected to see a net outflow of 16,500 HNWIs in 2025, which, on the surface, would be a record-breaking figure globally. But zooming out: the UK is currently home to 2.86 million HNWIs, so that figure equates to just 0.58% of the base. Meanwhile, Statista’s forecasts suggest that the UK’s HNWI population could grow over 48% to 4.24 million in the next two years. So while headlines may highlight exits, the broader picture points to continued engagement with the UK as a key financial and innovation hub. 🤖 On the innovation front, the UK continues to attract significant activity: record AI investment of £2.9 billion in 2024. The AI sector now contributes an estimated £23.9 billion annually, supporting 86,000+ jobs across 5,800+ companies. For founders, access to customers, regulatory frameworks, and institutions creates a distinctive environment for experimentation and scale. 🏦 On the funding front, the UK captured 32% of European tech funding in 2024 (£7.4bn), more than France and Germany combined. Furthermore, Cambridge as a UK hub generates 16.9x value per VC dollar – which sits ahead of even Silicon Valley’s benchmarks. Despite delisting concerns, IPO proceeds tripled to £3.4bn in 2024, while the London Stock Exchange raised £24.3 billion total – fourth globally behind only the US, India, and Japan. 💭 So next time the topic comes up, perhaps in a meeting, on a call, or over dinner, it’s worth remembering that while some headlines speak of departure, much of the data still points to resilience and momentum within the UK landscape.

🌍 Tech momentum is building From the UK–US Transatlantic Taskforce to the EU’s new FiDA regulation and the reopening IPO markets, the past few weeks have shown clear signs of renewed global confidence in venture. Read our latest roundup covering what’s driving the shift across tech, fintech, and capital markets, and why the UK continues to lead as Europe’s launchpad for innovation 👇

Last week, we were pleased to support the The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (The CISI) Financial Planning Conference in Windsor. Our team took part in a panel discussion alongside Andrew Elson - 👉 Helping you maximise retirement 👈, Haatch, and Puma Growth Partners, exploring the role of SEIS and EIS within financial planning and how advisers can use these schemes to deliver meaningful outcomes for clients. We would also like to extend our congratulations to boosst - Financial Planning on their well-deserved award win for Firm of the Year! 🏆 It was a pleasure to connect with so many delegates over the two days, sharing insights on the opportunities and challenges in the tax-efficient investment market. 𝐀 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭!

👋 Let’s talk about men’s health Jack Fertility, the Oxford-based startup has secured over £500k in pre-seed investment to launch its first product: 𝐒𝐧𝐢𝐩 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤™, a home-to-lab postal vasectomy test kit that lets men check their results discreetly, accurately, and from the comfort of home. With more than 40% 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 post-vasectomy checks due to embarrassment or inconvenience, Snip Check™ removes those barriers entirely - turning the Royal Mail network into a nationwide fertility clinic. Led by Lily Elsner and Nick Shipley, and backed by angels from Microsoft, Alma Angels, and The Beam Network - alongside existing investors Moonstone Venture Capital, FemTech Lab, Founders Factory, and the Oxford Seed Fund - this marks an important step in breaking taboos and normalising conversations around male reproductive health. We’re proud to back the team redefining what proactive men’s health really looks like 💪 Full story in the comments below 👇

🚑 The NHS spends billions every year on temporary staffing. What if AI could change that? That’s exactly what Healsgood's Flexzo Ai is doing - and why they’ve just secured an additional £2.5m seed round led by Octopus Ventures, bringing their total raised this year to £5m. Backed early by us and leading angel investors, Flexzo AI is helping NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs): ⚡ Cut reliance on expensive bank & agency staff ⚡ Standardise rates and manage their own staff banks ⚡ Save millions while improving conditions for clinicians Founder Jack Henderson and his team are building the digital infrastructure to make NHS England workforce management more sustainable, scalable, and smart. We’re proud to have been there from the start and to see Flexzo AI scaling with incredible momentum - joined now by the brilliant team at Octopus Ventures. This is how you combine mission-driven healthcare impact with cutting-edge AI. 

Ever lost an insurance policy in your email? There’s a better way. 📂 🤖 Rehuman has just raised £1M to reshape how policyholders and brokers manage insurance - starting with a simple idea: put everything in one place. Here’s what stood out to us: 🧠 The Rehuman Wallet: a secure, intelligent hub that pulls in policies from inboxes or uploads 📥 Seamless onboarding via Gmail and Outlook scanning 🧾 A clean interface for managing all your insurance, in one view 🤖 Built on Rehuman AI - a proprietary model trained on insurance docs + behavioural data  📈 Powers better retention, smarter engagement, and dynamic product design for insurers and brokers Led by Aaron Sherwood, Rehuman is building the customer experience infrastructure for insurance - helping brokers grow, insurers evolve, and policyholders finally get clarity. We’re proud to lead this round, joined by our friends at Accenture Ventures, and back a bold new vision for embedded, user-first insurance. Read the full story in the comments below 👇

You nailed the product. Now fix the operations. 🍴📎 We’re backing Pesto, the ERP platform cooked up by food industry pros to bring order to the operational kitchen chaos. Food and drink brands are scaling fast - but behind the scenes it’s all half-baked systems, recipe-spreadsheet hybrids, and margins getting sliced. Pesto serves up something better. 😉 Here’s why we invested: 📥 AI reads POs from emails, PDFs and EDI - instantly 📦 Delivery notes, 3rd party instructions and production documents generated automatically 📄 Invoicing on autopilot 🔍 End-to-end visibility from purchase to payment 🫵 Designed specifically for the food and drink industry - not retrofitted Founded by Kate Hofman, Sanjay Sood-Smith and Amish Ralhan - Pesto is what the food industry has been waiting for! 🤝 We’re proud to lead the round alongside Prequel Ventures, Ventures Together, Antler, Mark Philip-Sorensen (CEO & Founder of Sorven Capital Ltd) and a strong group of angel investors! Full story in the comments below 👇

We're delighted to be supporting The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (The CISI) Financial Planning Conference 2025 on the 2nd and 3rd October. As one of the leading gatherings for financial planning professionals, the conference offers advisers the chance to share ideas and explore how best to adapt in an ever-changing advice market. 📢 Panel session: Our Head of IFA Distribution, James D'Mello, will be joining Andrew Elson - 👉 Helping you maximise retirement 👈 on a panel titled “Unlocking the power of EIS & SEIS”, alongside Puma Investments and Haatch, highlighting how venture capital can play a role in tax planning, diversification and long-term estate planning. 🤝 Also attending will be Katie Hopkin, our IFA Distribution Manager, who will be on hand throughout the event to connect with advisers and discuss how Fuel Ventures supports client outcomes. We look forward to meeting many of you in person and sharing our insights on tax-efficient investing. Registration details can be found below (advisers only) 👇 https://lnkd.in/eX2jiXHK