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British Business Bank makes a cornerstone commitment of up to $40M to Tapestry VC Fund III to support repeat founders building from the UK

Press release 01 July 2026

The British Business Bank has made a cornerstone commitment of up to $40M to Tapestry VC Fund III, LP, an early-stage venture capital fund that brings transatlantic venture experience to support repeat founders building companies from the UK.

The Bank joins existing UK-based investors Railpen, the DB pensions scheme, demonstrating investment into venture capital from a UK pension fund; and Molten Ventures, which the Bank has worked with since 2018.

Founded in 2018, Tapestry VC backs repeat founders and experienced entrepreneurs across AI, cybersecurity, autonomy, consumer technology and other sectors. Tapestry VC’s transatlantic team and network combine local access to UK entrepreneurial talent with insight from one of the world’s deepest technology and venture markets.

This intercontinental perspective informs investment decisions and supports portfolio companies to build globally from ‘day one’ by targeting international customers, talent and follow-on capital. Examples of portfolio companies growing globally include Nothing Technology, Fin AI, Ladder, Manna Air, Maze AI and Sunrise Robotics.

Repeat founders can bring a distinctive advantage to company building by leveraging learnings from past successes and failures to build faster and more efficiently. The UK has a wealth of repeat entrepreneurs with hard-earned experience that can bring greater clarity, resilience and ambition to their new business.

The commitment provides an opportunity for these founders to benefit from investors who can connect them with US market knowledge, networks and scale-up experience.

Christine Hockley, Managing Director & Co-Head of Funds said,

The UK has a thriving startup culture with a growing base of serial entrepreneurs. Repeat founders bring a powerful combination of experience and renewed ambition to their new startups. By backing Tapestry VC, we are supporting an investor that can pair that founder experience with transatlantic market insight, helping UK-based companies make better early decisions and scale with global ambition.

Robert Greenwood, Senior Director, British Business Bank said,

Tapestry VC has a strong track record of supporting ambitious entrepreneurs at the earliest stages and helping them to commercialise their ideas. Its transatlantic model is particularly valuable for founders building from the UK with international markets in mind, bringing access to US networks, customer insight and scale-up experience alongside deep engagement with the UK ecosystem. This commitment will increase the capital and specialist support available to experienced founders as they build globally competitive companies from a UK base.

Anna Rule, Director of Private Markets and Real Assets Investments at Railpen, said, 

The UK has no shortage of ambition, creativity and talent, what it needs is access to capital so that its innovative, world-class businesses can grow, scale and deliver long-term value. Tapestry VC’s ability to back UK founders with genuine international reach is exactly the kind of strategy we want to support and we're delighted to be part of that story into Fund III.

James Tselentis, Senior Investment Manager of Private Markets at Railpen, said, 

We’ve backed Tapestry VC since inception, and have seen first-hand how their focus on repeat founders and global ambition translates into stronger, more durable companies. We’re pleased to continue that partnership into Fund III.

Patrick Murphy, founder at Tapestry VC, said,

I’ve spent a decade investing on both sides of the Atlantic and the opportunity in Europe has never been clearer. There’s an entire generation of founders returning to build again with sharper instincts, deeper networks and who share our global-from-day-one ambition

Audrey Miller, Partner at Tapestry VC said, 

Today’s Repeat founders represent a generation shaped by expensive experience. They’ve already navigated the realities of building, scaling and exiting technology companies and, second time around, they want partners who have felt the same pressures. This is what Tapestry VC brings.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. In doing so, we help capture the economic value of innovation for the UK and create jobs and prosperity for people across the country.   

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support £23bn 1   of finance to almost 64,000 2   smaller businesses.  

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.   

British Patient Capital Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 11271076, and registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. British Patient Capital makes commitments and invests on its own behalf and on behalf of third-party investors whose investments British Patient Capital manages.

The transaction described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party in respect of Tapestry VC or its products or services. 

About Tapestry VC

Tapestry VC partners with Repeat Founders on their next journey. We are an early-stage venture capital firm invested in breakout companies such as Nothing Technology, Ladder, Fin AI, Maze AI, Sunrise Robotics, Manna Air, Relay & Crossbeam. We are dedicated to supporting our community of Repeat Founders in ideating towards & building the next generation of category-defining businesses across Europe and the United States.

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