Fuel Ventures 🚀

FOUNDERS what AI tools are you using? 👀 Claude? 👀 Cursor? 👀 Harochi.io?

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞? That’s exactly what Damisa is fixing - and they’ve just raised £2.25M to do it. Founded by Jordan Lawrence (co-founder at Volt.io), Maximilian Marenbach (ex-Kraken Digital Asset Exchange) and Panos Dandolas (ex-Agoda), Damisa is building the fastest, most secure way to move money around the world - without the delays, middlemen or crazy fees. The round was led by us alongside EWOR, Greyhound Capital, Mark Ransford and Damisa’s first customer - a major business already replacing its old-school escrow with Damisa’s smart wallets. This is how global payments 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 work! 💥 ------------------------------- 👍 Enjoyed this? Smash that like button! ✍ Got something to say? Spill the tea in the comments! ♻️ Think others need to see this? Hit repost and spread the word. 🔔 Don't miss out, follow for more good stuff Fuel Ventures 🚀 #VentureCapital #Startups #Technology

60% 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 ‘𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠’. 𝐃𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 $2.3𝐌 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐢𝐭. Most employees don’t know their company’s goals. Even more don’t see purpose in their work. The result? Disengaged teams, poor performance, and massive attrition. Dosen is changing that. Their AI-powered platform aligns employee learning and development with company strategy - turning quiet quitters into engaged, purpose-led performers. Founded by Ronan Wall, Victor Burke and Cian McCarthy, the team has just closed a $2.3 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, backed by ourselves, Affinity Ventures, and Unshackled Ventures. 🤌 Already delivering ROI for multi-nationals, Dosen helps leadership and HR teams build alignment at scale - especially during times of change. One to watch in the future of work! 🕵 ------------------------------- 👍 Enjoyed this? Smash that like button! ✍ Got something to say? Spill the tea in the comments! ♻️ Think others need to see this? Hit repost and spread the word. 🔔 Don't miss out, follow for more good stuff Fuel Ventures 🚀 #FutureOfWork #startups #AI #HRtech #quietquitting

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 £250𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. We’ve just backed mytender.io, an AI-powered platform transforming how tenders are written in construction and facilities management. Founded by University of Southampton students Jamie Horsnell and Samuel Aaron, mytender.io is now the largest investment ever made into a student-founded start-up at the university! They’ve already landed 20+ clients, built a small team, and now with our £250k investment, they’re scaling fast. After a chance meeting with a facilities director drowning in bids, they saw the gap – and taught themselves an entire industry to fix it. Smart, funky, and seriously ambitious – we’re excited to see where they take it next 💪 Congratulations team, welcome to the Fuel Ventures portfolio! ------------------------------- 👍 Enjoyed this? Smash that like button! ✍ Got something to say? Spill the tea in the comments! ♻️ Think others need to see this? Hit repost and spread the word. 🔔 Don't miss out, follow for more good stuff Fuel Ventures 🚀 #AI #startups #venturecapital #constructiontech #mytender #FuelVentures #studentfounders

BOOM and that’s how it’s done *mic drop* Biggest congratulations to Nina Briance and the CULT MIA team!! 🚀 🦄 💪

Join the debate… 👇

How many of these are you guilty of? 👇🤣 Add yours ✍️ ⸻ 🇺🇸 “We’re pre-revenue but raising at a $50M valuation!” Trump Tariff: +80% Your deck’s GDP is inflated. We’re imposing sanctions on your cap table. ⸻ 🌎 “Our TAM is $300B!” Trump Tariff: +65% So is the global toothpaste market, doesn’t mean you’re Colgate. ⸻ 🤝 “We’re in talks with Google!” Trump Tariff: +55% You cold-emailed a PM, got left on read, and now it’s a trade deal? ⸻ 📉 “We had a dip, but we’re calling it a strategic pivot.” Trump Tariff: +49% That’s not a pivot, it’s a trade war with reality. ⸻ 🧠 “We’ve got AI and blockchain powering our platform!” Trump Tariff: +70% So does every startup that read TechCrunch in 2021. Welcome to tariff town. ⸻ 🗽 “We’re going global from day one.” Trump Tariff: +60% So you’re burning money on translations and Stripe tax forms, brilliant. ⸻ 💵 “We’re focused on growth, not revenue.” Trump Tariff: +73% You’ve printed more losses than the US Treasury printed stimulus checks. ⸻ 📦 “Churn is high because we’re still testing messaging.” Trump Tariff: +50% Sounds like a communications crisis, not customer development. ⸻ 🦅 “We’re building the Amazon of [insert niche here]!” Trump Tariff: +66% Meanwhile you’re shipping manually from a garage and calling it logistics tech. ⸻ 📺 “We were featured on BBC/Forbes/Dragons’ Den!” Trump Tariff: +42% PR isn’t product-market fit. And exposure isn’t traction BONUS: “We’ve raised $3M to build an MVP.” Trump Tariff: +71% That’s not an MVP, that’s a budget for a Netflix series.

Which camp are you in? Bootstrapping vs VC backed? Why?

Why Second-Time Founders Have the Edge 💪 🚀 Starting a company is no small feat - but doing it a second time? That’s where things get interesting! Whether they’ve succeeded or failed before, second-time founders come to the table with something that first-time founders simply can’t replicate: 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 Here’s why second-time founders are often exceptional bets: 📈 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚: ▪️ First-time founders: 21% chance of success ▪️ Second-time founders (after success): 30% ▪️ Second-time founders (after failure): 22% (Source: Harvard Business School via NfX) 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞? 🔧 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞-𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬: They’ve faced fires before - whether it was a funding crisis, a product flop, or scaling pains - and they’ve learned what works (and what doesn’t). 💪 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Second-time founders don’t panic when things go wrong. They’ve been knocked down before and know how to bounce back stronger. 🌐 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬: Their first venture built relationships with investors, mentors, and talent - connections they can now tap into for their next big idea. 🎯 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: They know what moves the needle and where to avoid wasting time. Every decision is sharper, faster, and more strategic. ⏳ 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫: First-time founders spread themselves thin. Second-timers know where to focus and when to say no. While experience doesn’t guarantee success, it tilts the odds in their favor. Second-time founders have the scars, wisdom, and confidence to navigate the chaos of building something extraordinary. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤? Are second-time founders the ultimate start-up bets? or is it BS... Share your views! 👇 —————— 💬 Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments. ♻ Useful for your network too? Repost 🔔 Want to see more? Follow Mark Pearson 🔥 👍 Like, Funny, Informative… 💰Looking for funding at the Pre-Seed, Seed or Series A stages Fuel Ventures 🚀

𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 In a bold move to “get Britain building,” the Shadow Chancellor has swapped Westminster for our Bishopsgate office taking on a part-time advisory role to boost the UK's economy. Rt Hon Rachel Reeves says her time at Fuel Ventures will be spent reviewing pitch decks, modelling cap tables, and championing British innovation one Seed round at a time. 🌱 When asked about her motivation, she said: "𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 – 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦." Fuel Ventures says they’ll pay Reeves’ annual salary, for life, to keep her away from government – that’s how anti-business her policies are. So, less about a job, and more about an offer. That way, it’s non-committal - she’s never accepting it, and we’re not saying she’s doing something she’s not...…. 👀 Applications for her office hours open next week. ------------------------------- 👍 Enjoyed this? Smash that like button! ✍ Got something to say? Spill the tea in the comments! ♻️ Think others need to see this? Hit repost and spread the word. 🔔 Don't miss out, follow for more good stuff Fuel Ventures 🚀 #AprilFools #Gotcha #ItsAJokeDontCry