Mark Pearson is not a typical investor. In a field where it can seem everyone has a finance background, Pearson seems to have almost stumbled into investing. Leaving school where he says, he “didn’t do very well,” Pearson began his working life as a chef in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. This, however, indirectly set him on his way towards founding Fuel Ventures.
He started his first business, a restaurant in South London when he was 23. And it was here that he realised that his real passion was not food or hospitality, but entrepreneurship. His next move was to start MyVoucherCodes in 2006 with £300. Growing into a multi-national business, when Pearson exited, he found himself in a position where he could help support the entrepreneur ecosystem.
Fuel Ventures’s different approach
Founded by successful entrepreneurs, Fuel Ventures can offer something different to the usual investor. Most of their recent portfolio companies share their London offices, where they benefit not just from the investment, but the advice and experience of investors who have successfully scaled and exited their own startups. It is now also expanding its offer, launching a £45 million fund that will be targeted at early-stage and pre-seed startups....