Element Ventures

Element Ventures, which rebranded to 13books Capital in November 2023, has carved out a distinctive position in Europe's venture landscape as one of the continent's most focused B2B fintech investors. Founded in 2019 by Stephen Gibson—the former founder of interdealer broker ICAP—and Michael McFadgen, the firm has backed 19 fintech companies across two funds, deploying capital into everything from embedded insurance platforms to wholesale trading infrastructure.

The firm raised an initial $130 million founder-backed fund in 2021, anchored partly by Gibson's own IPGL vehicle, and followed it with a £121 million vehicle in 2024 that attracted capital from Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company. This institutional backing reflects the credibility the team built through decades of fintech operator experience.

Unlike generalist VCs who sprinkle capital across sectors, Element Ventures (now 13books) obsesses over financial technology infrastructure. The team looks for companies building the pipes that financial services run on—payment APIs, treasury operations management platforms, insurance distribution software, and capital markets tooling. If your company touches money movement and serves other businesses rather than consumers directly, this firm should be on your shortlist.

What sets the partners apart is their operator background. McFadgen made his first fintech investment in 2009 and brings deep networks across London and European fintech clusters. Gibson's entrepreneurial journey from founding ICAP to backing the next generation of fintech founders creates a unique dynamic where founders receive mentorship from someone who has built and sold financial businesses at scale.

The firm typically writes tickets between £500,000 and £5 million, making them a credible first check for Series A rounds and a meaningful co-investor for Series B. If you're building B2B fintech infrastructure in Europe or the UK, understanding Element Ventures' specific thesis and portfolio can dramatically improve your fundraising trajectory.

Element Ventures' investment thesis centers on a single conviction: financial services are being rebuilt from the ground up, and the most valuable companies will be the infrastructure layer rather than the consumer-facing application. The firm looks specifically for B2B and B2B2C fintech businesses that enable banks, insurers, and enterprise clients to modernize their operations.

The team categorizes opportunity across several themes: payments infrastructure (particularly cross-border and B2B payment flows), Banking-as-a-Service providers that let non-financial companies embed financial products, embedded insurance platforms, and capital markets technology covering trading infrastructure and post-trade processing. These aren't abstract categories—they reflect where the firm has actually deployed capital.

Within these themes, Element Ventures applies rigorous filters. Market size matters—they want to back companies addressing problems worth billions in aggregate—but so does the specific regulatory complexity that keeps larger competitors slow and legacy systems entrenched. The combination of technical moats with deep financial sector knowledge creates the wedge the firm looks for.

The partners have explicitly discussed looking for founders who understand that compliance, licensing, and regulatory relationships are features not obstacles in fintech. Companies that can navigate FCA, PRA, or equivalent European regulators while building elegant software solutions represent the kind of operator sophistication Element Ventures rewards.

Geographic focus skews toward UK and broader European companies, though the firm has shown willingness to back businesses with global ambitions. The fund's Mubadala backing signals its ability to support portfolio companies seeking expansion capital in Middle East and Asian markets where the LP network opens doors.

Following their 2021 fund close, Element Ventures deployed capital aggressively across the fintech landscape, participating in rounds for companies like Billhop (B2B payment optimization), Coincover (cryptocurrency protection and recovery services), and Roadzen (embedded insurance for mobility). The portfolio construction reflects deliberate diversification across the fintech infrastructure stack.

By 2024, the rebranded 13books Capital had built a track record of 19 investments, leading the firm to close its £121 million second fund with backing from sovereign wealth funds and family offices. The fund size increase enables the team to write larger tickets at Series B while maintaining their seed and Series A cadence.

The second fund has continued deploying into areas like trade finance technology, treasury operations management, and embedded finance platforms. Companies like Banxware (trade finance) and Werth (artist-focused finance) illustrate the breadth of sectors the firm will consider as long as the underlying business fits the B2B fintech thesis.

Portfolio companies report that the Element Ventures team takes an active partnership approach, making introductions to their broader network of financial services executives and helping with subsequent fundraising rounds. The firm has demonstrated willingness to follow on through pro-rata rights, though their check size constraints sometimes limit participation in later mega-rounds.

Market conditions in 2024 and 2025 have pushed the firm toward more selectivity. B2B fintech valuations have compressed from 2021 peaks, which actually creates opportunity for investors with long time horizons—the firm can now access quality businesses at more reasonable entry points. The team has spoken publicly about using this environment to focus on companies with proven unit economics rather than pure growth plays.

Element Ventures' portfolio reveals the firm's specific taste within fintech. Coincover, a Welsh startup providing insurance and recovery services for cryptocurrency holders, represents the kind of novel risk management play the firm gravitates toward—combining technical sophistication with clear regulatory utility in an emerging market.

Billhop, a Swedish B2B payment optimization platform, demonstrates Element Ventures' appetite for infrastructure that reduces friction in commercial payment flows. The company raised €11 million in a round co-led with EQT, validating the firm's ability to source deals that attract top-tier co-investors. Billhop's focus on helping enterprises manage payment complexity and reconciliation fits squarely within the firm's thesis.

Runa, which provides employment benefits infrastructure including earned wage access, shows the firm's willingness to back fintech plays addressing workforce financial health. The company enables employees to access earned wages before traditional payroll cycles, a use case that requires regulatory compliance and deep integration with employer payroll systems—exactly the complexity Element Ventures rewards.

Roadzen, an embedded insurance technology company focused on mobility and automotive sectors, reflects the firm's thesis around insurance infrastructure. The company's platform allows mobility companies to embed insurance products seamlessly, requiring both technical integration and regulatory licensing across multiple jurisdictions.

Hepster, a German embedded insurance platform, and Duco, a financial data automation company, round out portfolio diversity. The firm has also backed nCino (banking-as-a-service infrastructure, publicly traded), Fenergo (client lifecycle management for banks), and ErisX (exchange infrastructure, acquired by Cboe Global Markets), showing the team can identify winners across stages from seed to public markets.

The founding team quality is non-negotiable for Element Ventures. Partners Gibson and McFadgen want to see domain expertise—not just technical skill, but genuine understanding of how financial services operate in practice. Founders who have worked at banks, insurers, trading firms, or adjacent fintech companies carry credibility that pure software engineers typically lack at this stage.

Regulatory sophistication distinguishes strong candidates. The firm wants to back entrepreneurs who view compliance as a competitive advantage rather than a burden. Startups that have secured necessary licenses, built compliant infrastructure, or established regulatory relationships demonstrate the operational maturity that Element Ventures rewards.

Business model clarity matters significantly. The firm prefers companies with clear revenue models—whether subscription, transaction-based, or hybrid—rather than businesses still experimenting with monetization. Revenue traction, even at early scale, provides the validation needed to justify investment at their target check sizes.

Technical differentiation within fintech matters. Element Ventures looks for companies with proprietary technology, exclusive data assets, or specialized integrations that competitors cannot easily replicate. The moat doesn't need to be impenetrable, but founders must articulate what makes their infrastructure advantage durable.

European market positioning is explicitly valued. The firm has seen too many European fintech companies attempt to compete directly with US incumbents on their home turf and fail. Instead, they prefer founders building specifically for European financial services regulation, enterprise客户, and market structures that create natural protection from American challengers.

Warm introductions from portfolio founders carry enormous weight. If you have relationships with any Element Ventures portfolio CEOs—Coincover's David J. F. Wolf, Billhop's founders, or any other company in their portfolio—leverage those connections. The firm trusts the judgment of founders they have backed and use portfolio referrals as a primary sourcing channel.

Institutional introductions from other VCs who co-invest in fintech also work well. Element Ventures frequently appears alongside firms like EQT, Anthemis, and other fintech-specialist investors. If you have attracted attention from these co-investors, the conversation can flow naturally toward Element Ventures involvement.

For cold outreach, the team responds to well-crafted emails that demonstrate clear thesis alignment. Lead with what you build and why it fits the firm's specific interests—B2B, not consumer; infrastructure, not application; UK/European focus. Avoid generic fundraising templates and show you have researched the firm's actual portfolio.

LP network warm-ups can open doors indirectly. Since the firm has backing from family offices and institutional investors like Mubadala, reaching out through LP contacts can create introductions that cold outreach cannot replicate. This is a longer pathway but can be highly effective for well-connected entrepreneurs.

Fintech founder communities and accelerators provide another angle. Companies emerging from relevant programs that the partners monitor can secure meetings through program alumni networks. The team maintains relationships with European fintech accelerators and responds when credible programs vouch for promising teams.

Element Ventures evaluates fintech companies with particular attention to financial model rigor. Unlike consumer startups that can sometimes bootstrap to scale, B2B fintech companies need clear paths to revenue generation that satisfy both investors and regulators. Founders must demonstrate understanding of how their pricing translates to actual margin.

Regulatory capital requirements affect many fintech business models, and Element Ventures expects founders to articulate how much capital they need to maintain required licenses and reserves. The due diligence process will probe whether you have modeled compliance costs accurately and whether your fundraising request accounts for regulatory headwinds.

Unit economics matter when valuations have compressed. The firm wants to see customer acquisition costs, lifetime value calculations, and path to profitability modeled with discipline. Strong fintech pitches include granular breakdown of how individual customers generate margin—not just top-line growth metrics.

Working with a fractional CFO who understands fintech fundraising can differentiate your pitch. Professional financial guidance ensures your data room includes investor-ready models that address regulatory considerations, capital requirements, and realistic growth trajectories. This is particularly valuable for first-time founders navigating venture fundraising for the first time.

Financial projections should reflect regulatory reality—revenue recognition in financial services often differs from software norms, and investors who focus on fintech understand these distinctions. Be prepared to explain your revenue recognition approach, your cost structure, and how you will reach a state where the business can fund itself.

Whether you are preparing to pitch Element Ventures or seeking co-investors in the B2B fintech space, professional financial preparation signals operational maturity that this firm rewards. Our team has helped numerous fintech startups build investor-ready financials and navigate the specific questions that fintech-focused VCs ask during due diligence.

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