Yvonne Bajela Launches Evertrue With Oversubscribed $17 Million Debut Fund

After more than a decade in venture capital—most recently at LocalGlobe and Impact X Capital Partners—Yvonne Bajela decided it was time to launch her own fund. Her earlier investments included now-unicorn companies such as fintech Wise, insurer Marshmallow, and robotaxi firm Mooves.

On Tuesday, Bajela announced that Evertrue, her newly established fund, had closed an oversubscribed $17 million Fund I.

“After more than a decade backing founders who risked everything on their vision, it felt like the right moment to place a bet of my own,” she said. “I wanted the freedom to act on my convictions and create a fund that reflects my own investment philosophy.”

Evertrue has already backed seven companies and will concentrate on early-stage investments across the U.K. and Europe. Bajela said the average check size will be approximately £350,000, with plans to support at least 20 companies over the next three years.

Bajela cited the current AI boom as a key factor in her decision to launch now. Beyond reshaping the economics of starting a company, she said it has opened new doors for early-stage investors. “The ability to build has been democratized,” she noted. “Yet the ability to build something enduring remains rare.”

The U.K. startup ecosystem is currently experiencing significant momentum, Bajela said. King’s Cross ranks among the world’s leading AI hubs, and firms such as Revolut, Synthesia, ElevenLabs, and Bezos-backed CuspAI are reshaping what it means to scale successfully in the U.K. market. Bajela sees this as an opportunity to invest early in the next generation of British talent. “I believe globally significant businesses will emerge from a broader set of starting points,” she said.

Still, emerging fund managers face a challenging environment. In the U.S., the market has been described as barbell-shaped, with capital concentrated at the top and among firms with established track records. Conditions appear somewhat brighter in the U.K.; PitchBook data through September shows emerging managers in the region raised $7.4 billion, already exceeding the $6.2 billion raised throughout all of 2025.

Bajela acknowledged that fundraising was demanding. The most difficult rejections, she said, were not flat-out refusals. “They were the ones that came after months of discussions and significant time invested, only to end in a no,” she said. “Time is one of the most valuable resources a founder has, and a drawn-out process without clarity carries a real cost.”

The fund ultimately secured five institutional backers, including the British Business Bank and Basecamp, a fund-of-funds operated by Phoenix Court, which also hosts LocalGlobe. Evertrue participated in the British Business Bank’s £400 million Investor Pathways initiative, which allocated £90 million to ten first-time fund managers. Although Evertrue initially targeted around $13 million, strong investor interest led Bajela to decline additional backers rather than increase the fund’s size.

“Fund size is a strategic decision, not a measure of success in itself,” she said. “I wanted sufficient capital to establish meaningful positions in my highest-conviction investments without feeling pressure to deploy money simply because it was available.”

Approximately 80% of Evertrue’s limited partners are based in the U.K., with the remainder spread across Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Bajela said this international LP base reflects the relationships she has built over more than a decade of cross-market investing. It also underscores the fund’s global ambitions, particularly given that many British founders are focused on U.S. expansion; more than half of her portfolio already operates in the United States.

Evertrue will focus primarily on AI and fintech, Bajela said. She is especially interested in founders who possess unique insight into a problem, an unusual capacity for execution, and the ambition to build something far larger than their initial product.

“I also consider the distance a founder has traveled, what they have overcome, and how those experiences have shaped their perspective,” she added.

Bajela lived in Japan as a senior investment manager at Mitsui and began her career as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. Over the course of her career, she said she has seen how widely ambition and talent are distributed.

“I want Evertrue to be recognized for the quality of the founders I support and the businesses they go on to build,” she said.

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