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British Business Investments launches new £500m programme to increase access to patient capital

Press release 15 May 2018

British Business Investments, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank, today launches a new £500m Managed Funds Programme designed to increase access to longer-term venture and growth capital for ambitious and innovative, high potential companies in the UK.

Announced six months ago by the Chancellor at the Autumn Budget, the new Managed Funds programme will invest on commercial terms in large-scale funds of funds, run by experienced managers, to boost the amount of patient capital available to the UK’s high-growth businesses.

This Managed Funds Programme, part of the Government’s response to the Patient Capital Review, will help address the UK’s patient capital funding gap.

In the UK, institutional investors have lower allocations to the venture capital asset class compared with their counterparts in the US. The new programme, launched today, will seek to draw in more institutional capital to the UK’s venture and growth capital markets.

The programme aims to generate a commercial rate of return derived from a diversified portfolio of fund investments, selected by experienced Fund of Funds managers.

British Business Investments has today published the Request for Proposals (RfP) for this £500m programme. View document.

British Business Investments already manages the UK Innovation Investment Fund (UKIIF), an earlier generation of funds-of-funds, to produce attractive returns for the tax payer. Venture capital funds, backed by UKIIF, have already invested in a large number of outstanding UK businesses such as Revolut and Purple Bricks through VC funds Balderton and DN Capital respectively.

The £500m made available today under our new Managed Funds programme will build on this experience by attracting more institutional capital to the venture and growth asset class that is so important for high-growth businesses.

Through this Managed Funds Programme, prospective investors will be able to access high quality venture and growth capital funds that will be investing in the success stories of tomorrow.

Catherine Lewis La Torre CEO, British Business Investments

Further Information

Notes to editors

About British Business Investments

British Business Investments is the trading name of British Business Investments Ltd, the commercial arm of the British Business Bank. It aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any advantage from the government. Find out more at bbinv.co.uk.

British Business Investments Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. Neither entity is authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.