The Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund is a £10 million venture capital fund. We make equity growth investments into high-potential, early-stage companies.

What we do

We partner with ambitious management teams who seek to build high-growth businesses.

As a dedicated early-stage (but post-seed) fund, we can provide meaningful financial and non-financial, board-level support to help businesses deliver on their plans.

We have a small, experienced investment team, and manage an efficient, professional investment process.

Find out more about our investment criteria →

Why partner with us?

• Stable £10m pool of investable capital

• Investment capacity ranging from £250,000 to £1,000,000

• Flexible, entrepreneurial approach to structuring investments

• Professional investment process

• Dedicated investment team with rich early-stage business experience

• Opportunity to engage with other portfolio businesses

• Engage with the wider business school – access student and intern talent, a strong and influential global alumni network

• Receive a mentor with domain expertise who will work with you to help your business succeed

the team

Helen Reynolds

Helen has spent over 20 years in UK early-stage finance. After beginning her career in management consultancy, she worked on the Oxford Technology VCTs and then at YFM Equity Partners.

Helen has board-level experience at a wide variety of high-growth UK businesses, including 3 years as a NED of IXICO, an AIM-listed medical image management and analysis business. She has also spent time working with Crowdcube on the London Co-Investment Fund, as well as with Grant Thornton and Clearly So, an impact investment advisory firm.

Helen joined as the Investment Director of the Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund in September 2015.

Linda Coyle

Linda has worked in early stage investments for over 15 years. She managed a portfolio of high potential growth tech investments with Enterprise Ireland, and has worked on environmentally focused investments with Sustainable Ventures, and on early stage investments for the London Co-Investment Fund.

Linda joined as the Investment Manager of the Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund in November 2018.

TEJ RATHOR

Tej has been working with early-stage companies for the past 3 years, helping founders access capital to take their businesses to the next level.  Previously, he worked as a corporate finance analyst with Aquaa Partners and with Strata Partners.  Tej has an Msc in Investment Management and a BSc in Banking and International Finance from the Bayes Business School.

Tej joined as the Portfolio and Investment Analyst of the Fund in July 2022.

Contact the team at: pcce@city.ac.uk

Investment CoMMITTEE

Peter cullum

The Investment Team is privileged to be advised and supported by Peter Cullum,  widely known for his roles in the insurance industry, co-founding Global Risk Partners and Towergate. Peter is also the Chairman of Minority Venture Partners, a UK Fund that provides funding to insurance brokers. Peter brings BEF a wealth of knowledge and access to a wide network used to aid the fund and our portfolio companies.

MEL SIMS

Mel Sims is a Partner at Law Firm DWF who works on a wide range of range of corporate/commercial transactions including private equity, business restructurings, mergers & acquisitions, often with an international multi-jurisdictional application. He specialises in working within Financial Services, notably in the insurance and financial intermediary sectors. Mel is also the Vice Chairman and Advisor to the Cullum Family Trust. He also holds a number of Non Executive appointments in public and private companies.

costas andriopoulos

The Investment Team also enjoys support from Costas Andriopoulos, Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Bayes Business School (City, University of London) and the Director of Avyssos Advisors Ltd., a management consultancy that helps organizations disrupt their industries. At Bayes, he leads MSc, MBA, and Executive Education courses, encouraging learners to find solutions to big problems and take journeys into the unknown by starting new ventures or developing new products in large organizations. He also heads Bayes X (Research Center for Innovation and Disruption), one of the leading scholarly centers focusing on disruptive innovation.

paul long

Paul Long is the Chief Operating Officer at Bayes Business School. His responsibilities cover the non-academic functions within the School, including financial planning, student administration, recruitment and general support services. Paul joined City in 2009 as COO of The City Law School and became COO of Bayes in 2016. Prior to this he held a number of senior positions in the telecommunications industry in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic.

The Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund is an Amazon Web Services Activate Provider