What Molten Ventures announced
Molten Ventures, the London-listed venture capital firm known for backing Revolut and other European scale-ups, announced on 7 September 2026 the first close of a new Growth Fund at GBP 175 million, roughly EUR 203 million.
The first close sits at exactly half of the fund's ultimate target of GBP 350 million, or about EUR 407 million, and Molten says it will keep raising toward that full figure from additional investors.
Where the GBP 175 million comes from
Two backers make up the first close. The British Business Bank, the UK's state-owned economic development bank, put in GBP 75 million (EUR 87 million) as the fund's cornerstone investor, and Molten Ventures itself committed the remaining roughly GBP 100 million (EUR 116 million).
The table below breaks down how the numbers stack up against the fund's eventual target.
| Fund target | GBP 350 million (EUR 407 million) |
|---|---|
| First close | GBP 175 million (EUR 203 million) |
| British Business Bank commitment | GBP 75 million (EUR 87 million) |
| Molten Ventures own commitment | GBP 100 million (EUR 116 million) |
Closing Europe's scale-up funding gap
The fund's stated purpose is to let Molten write bigger Series B and later rounds for UK and European technology companies working in Space, AI, FinTech, Quantum, DeepTech and Hardware.
That purpose speaks directly to a gap Servola has tracked before: European deep-tech and space companies that raise seed and Series A capital locally, then have to cross the Atlantic, or sometimes relocate outright, once they need a growth-stage check.
What this means for founders and operators
For a UK or European founder past Series A, this fund is not a headline, it is fresh dry powder aimed specifically at sectors that are usually hardest to finance locally at growth stage.
The British Business Bank's role as cornerstone investor also signals that UK state capital intends to keep backing growth-stage rounds directly, which matters to any founder weighing whether to headquarter, and stay incorporated, in the UK as the company scales. Molten's own CEO framed the backing in similar terms: Ben Wilkinson said, "Securing the British Business Bank as a cornerstone investor is a strong endorsement of Molten's strategy..."
A partial answer, honestly scaled
Molten Ventures manages about GBP 2 billion across its funds, has completed more than 40 growth-stage deals, and has invested over GBP 700 million to date in a portfolio that includes the Finnish satellite company Iceye and the UK digital bank Zopa. Molten is separately reported to be bidding to manage an unrelated, government-backed GBP 1 billion Scale Up Fund, a sign of how central the firm has become to the UK's growth-capital plumbing.
Still, GBP 175 million is a first close at half the fund's own GBP 350 million target, a real but partial step, and it remains a fraction of the multi-billion-dollar growth rounds that US investors routinely write, so the gap this fund addresses narrows rather than closes.
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