Ascension Ventures, a UK-based venture capital firm focused on pre-Seed and Seed investments, has received a new commitment of up to £10 mn from British Business Bank, strengthening access to early-stage capital for founders outside London and the South East.
The investment is being made through the British Business Bank’s Regional Angels Programme, an initiative launched in 2019 to address regional imbalances in early-stage equity funding by supporting angel networks and early-stage investors across the UK’s nations and regions.
The commitment follows Ascension’s close of its €19.8 mn Tech4Good pre-Seed fund in 2024 and will be deployed alongside the firm’s existing EIS and SEIS vehicles, as well as its institutional impact fund, Ascension Fund III, Beinsure noted.
Jean de Fougerolles, managing partner at Ascension, said the funding aligns with the firm’s long-held view that entrepreneurial talent is evenly distributed across the UK, while access to capital is not.
He added that the British Business Bank’s backing will allow Ascension to continue supporting high-potential founders regardless of geography.
We have long believed that talent is distributed across the UK, but opportunity is not. This up to £10 mn commitment from the British Business Bank allows us to double down on our mission to back exceptional founders regardless of their postcode.
Jean de Fougerolles, Managing Partner at Ascension
The announcement comes amid sustained capital formation at the pre-Seed and Seed end of the European venture market through 2025 and early 2026.
While Ascension’s latest commitment is modest in size compared with some pan-European funds, it is more targeted in scope, reinforcing regional access to Seed-stage capital within the UK ecosystem.
Mark Barry, senior investment director at the British Business Bank, said Ascension’s founder-friendly reputation and track record of combining commercial returns with impact made it a strong partner for the Regional Angels Programme.
Founded in 2015, Ascension Ventures manages more than £100 mn in assets and has backed over 150 early-stage companies, recording 15 exits to date.
The firm was built by exited operators and focuses on providing patient, long-term capital to technology and impact-driven startups.
Ascension said the new partnership will enable it to write high-conviction cheques and deepen its support for regional founders building category-defining businesses across the UK.
