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A London VC fund is offering hopeful entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch for a 鈥榤ore realistic鈥� chance of investment, rather than turning to Dragons鈥� Den.

Fuel Ventures says it wants to challenge the wide-spread misconceptions perpetuated by the BBC show and offer聽start-ups the opportunity to meet with its own investors in a 鈥榤ore realistic and informal environment, without the theatrics鈥�.

It also found that in 12 series of Dragons鈥� Den, 46 per cent of deals have failed and a further 27 per cent of companies have dissolved after filming.

In comparison, Fuel Ventures鈥� portfolio of companies have generated more than 拢100 million in revenue since the firm launched in 2014. Its roster includes software platform Paddle, named as the fastest growing software company in the UK Deloitte Fast 50, with revenue growth of 3,300 per cent in the last three years; digital gift card platform WeGift; and social commerce platform Moteefe.

鈥淭he main thing that entrepreneurs need to understand is that Dragons鈥� Den won鈥檛 catapult you from pitches to riches straight away,鈥� Mark Pearson, founder of Fuel Ventures, said. 鈥淎lmost half of deals made on the show fail, so there鈥檚 a lot going on behind the scenes you don鈥檛 see.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檙e offering entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch to our investors in a more realistic and informal environment, without the theatrics.

鈥淚nvestors shouldn鈥檛 be trying to catch you out or trip you up. Pitching should be a normal business conversation like any other 鈥� in the real world, all investors want is to get to know you and your business.

鈥淥ur ethos at Fuel Ventures hasn鈥檛 changed since we launched in 2014 鈥� we only invest in companies we believe have the potential to return 100x and play a very supportive role in both the development and ongoing fundraising to help them on that path.

鈥淲e say we are a fund by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, and that鈥檚 important to us.鈥�
Since the BBC programme launched in 2005, 17 Dragons have invested more than 拢4m in a variety of start-up companies.

At present, Fuel Ventures is investing at the rate of one company a month, setting aside up to 拢2m per portfolio company.