Souk raises $1.6m to wake up the inactive 80% of B2B partner programmes with AI
Funding round led by SVV with participation from Antler, Fuel Ventures and strategic software angels
Souk has built an AI Partner Manager to turn forgotten B2B partnership networks into revenue engines
Founding team includes experienced Deel, GitHub and Blackrock alumni
Souk, the British tech startup building an AI Partner Manager to power go-to-market partnerships, has today announced a $1.6 million pre-seed funding round.
The round was led by SVV (Sure Valley Ventures), with participation from Antler, Fuel Ventures, and strategic angel investors from across the B2B software industry.
Souk has built an AI Partner Manager to reactivate dormant partner relationships for companies.
While partnerships drive the vast majority of commercial activity, global systems remain heavily under-managed. Industry data from Forrester indicates that 75% of world trade flows through indirect channels. Yet, most companies continue to manage these critical programmes through spreadsheets, email, and outdated tools.
This reliance on legacy workflows creates severe friction. CRN Research highlights that 70% of partners stop selling within a year without ever formally leaving, while industry data consistently demonstrates that roughly 80% of partner revenue originates from under 20% of partners.
Companies routinely focus on signing new partners while existing relationships go quiet. Souk was founded to automate this process and reactivate the dormant 80%.
Souk is built on an autonomous AI agent, Coco, which handles the entire partnership lifecycle: sourcing partners, maintaining continuous engagement, tracking performance, and managing payouts. In early deployments, Coco has sourced partnerships expected to contribute seven figures in pipeline, won contracts with several unicorns, and reduced partner acquisition from hours of manual work a day to zero.
The fresh capital will be deployed entirely into product development as the team builds out Coco's core architecture.
Leo Crowe, CEO and co-founder of Souk, comments, “Partnerships are how most business gets done, yet the software supporting them has barely evolved. Companies spend enormous energy signing partners only to watch 80% of them go silent. With Souk, we are building Coco to handle the heavy lifting, keeping partners active and turning dormant networks into predictable revenue engines. This funding allows us to focus entirely on product development and deliver an AI-native partner manager that scales seamlessly.”
Barry Downes, Managing Partner at SVV, comments, “The moment we met Leo, Sofia and Ayo, it was clear they understood a problem most companies live with but few have truly solved: partnerships that start with huge promise and then slowly fall silent. They're building Souk to finally keep those relationships active and turn them into dependable revenue. We couldn't be more excited to lead this round and to support them as they build something genuinely category-defining."
Mark Pearson, Founder and Managing Partner of Fuel Ventures, comments, "Partnerships are one of those areas every B2B company says matters and then quietly neglects, which is exactly the kind of overlooked, high-value problem we look for. Leo, Sofia and Ayo bring a special mix: operational experience actually running partner motions at scale, institutional rigour on the capital side, and the technical depth to ship AI infrastructure that works in production. We're glad to be part of this round alongside SVV and Antler."
Souk was founded in July 2025 by a team combining deep domain experience across partnerships, cross-border capital flows, and AI infrastructure.
Leo Crowe, CEO, is British and began his career at Anthemis Group, investing in insurtech and fintech startups, before spending several years as an Officer in the British Army Reserves. He subsequently joined Deel as an SDR and within two years was leading the company's UKI partnerships motion, creating playbooks that continue to generate millions in revenue today.
Sofia Hamilton, COO, is British-Venezuelan and previously spent several years at BlackRock as an investor on the Emerging Markets team. There, she evaluated and oversaw cross-sector exposure to cross-border capital flows, FX risk, and financial infrastructure across high-growth economies.
Technical co-founder Ayo is Nigerian and brings deep software engineering expertise. A former engineer at GitHub and founding CTO at Tymbah, he built and shipped production AI systems across desktop platforms. He previously worked on identity, fraud prevention, and banking infrastructure at Trudenty and Union Bank of Nigeria.
Adam French, Partner at Antler, comments: “We backed Souk from inception because the team combines exceptional operational execution with deep, hands-on category experience. Leo built high-performing partnership playbooks at scale, Sofia brings rigorous institutional market insight, and Ayo has proven technical experience shipping AI infrastructure. They are uniquely qualified to build the category-defining platform for AI-powered partnership management, and we are proud to continue supporting their journey.”
About Souk
Souk is an AI Partnerships Manager that helps B2B companies turn their partner programmes into revenue. Its AI agent, Coco, handles the whole cycle: sourcing partners, keeping them active, and tracking and paying them. Founded in July 2025 and based in London, Souk is backed by Antler, SVV, Fuel Ventures and angel investors from across the B2B software industry. Learn more at joinsouk.com.
