South West Investment Fund provides over £150m to the region
In its first three years, the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund has provided over £150m in support to more than 280 growing companies across the region.
Since launching in July 2023, the fund has directly invested £75m in 283 South West businesses and attracted a further £82m of private sector investment, taking the total value of funding to £157m.
The fund covers Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, with finance delivered through appointed fund managers SWIG Finance, FW Capital, The FSE Group and Maven Capital Partners.
The anniversary comes as the British Business Bank continues to deliver its five-year strategic plan, launched last November, in support of the Government’s growth agenda, with smaller businesses at its heart.
The Bank’s priorities include supporting promising businesses in Industrial Strategy sectors to scale and remain in the UK, making finance markets work better for smaller businesses and unlocking the potential in people and places. It will also seek to attract substantially more institutional capital into growing UK companies.
Regional impact
The fund has backed South West businesses across a broad range of sectors and at every stage of growth, from early-stage companies seeking their first external investment to established firms raising finance to expand, launch new products or enter new markets.
South West businesses backed by the fund include Chippenham-based cleantech company Luthmore; YesRef sports-tech platform (also based in Chippenham); Brinkworth-based Purple Lime chartered accountants and Swindon-based Third Space Learning.
Keira Shepperson, Senior Director at the British Business Bank, said, “In just three years, the South West Investment Fund has facilitated more than £150m into over 280 businesses, demonstrating the strength of entrepreneurial ambition in the region and the appetite among private investors to support it. By connecting capital with opportunity, we continue to make markets work better for smaller businesses in the South West.
“As we enter the Fund’s fourth year, we want to build on that progress by backing more promising businesses, including those operating in the Industrial Strategy sectors and by reaching talented entrepreneurs who continue to face barriers when seeking finance, including female founders and other under-represented groups. This will help more South West businesses start, scale and remain in the UK, creating jobs and prosperity in the communities where they are based.”
South West businesses can find out more about the South West Investment Fund and contact the relevant fund manager at: southwestinvestmentfund.co.uk
Pictured: Tom Hooper, CEO and founder of Third Space Learning which provides AI-powered online tutoring
