£85m investment fund for London tech startups

by Startacus Admin

Jolly good news if you happen to be a tech startup in London

Up to £85Million of venture capital has just been announced, which will see 150 new London tech businesses benefit from a substantial cash injection between now and 2017.

Aimed at fresh high growth startups working within the science, technology and digital spheres, the London Co Investment Fund (LCIF) should help make securing large levels of seed investment, significantly more straightforward for startups who meet the selection criteria.

With £25Million in backing from the Mayor’s Growing Places Fund and the management of Funding London and Capital Enterprise, the money will find its way to some of the best and brightest tech businesses that London has to offer.

In fact, by the end of the co-investment project, it is hoped that 150 new businesses will have benefited from the fund and achieved a target of creating 2500 new jobs within the specified sectors.

Following the launch of the fund Mayor Boris Johnson said:

“London’s tech sector is flourishing and the city is a hotbed of talented young and ambitious people buzzing with exciting ideas who are setting up new companies in their droves. Despite this boom, we know that many budding startups find it difficult to raise the finance they need to grow. This new fund will ensure the tech giants of the future can get the support they need to bring their ideas to reality and deliver jobs and growth for the capital.”

Co Investment

As the fund’s name suggests, the investment process will take the form of a collaboration between Funding London, Capital Enterprise and 6 strategic partners, specifically selected for their connections to the early stage startup scene.

Crowdcube/Braveheart Consortium, Angel Lab, Wellington Partners, PLAYFAIR Capital, Firestartr.co, and London Business Angels will all operate as investment partners, under the proviso that for every £1 of initial investment taken from the fund they will invest at the very least 1 additional pound. This means that should all £25 million of the government’s input be allocated, a further £25 million in private funds will also be released. It is predicted though that actual partner investment figures will be much higher, with every £1 being matched with a £2.90 private input.

That would mean a total investment pot of almost £100m.

The Details

The focus of this fund is high growth and it’s designed to be a way of significantly increasing the level of capital investment which is available to burgeoning new businesses at any one time. The money will be released in seed rounds carried out by each of the 6 co-investment partners, with sums of between £250,000 and £1,000,000 being drilled into successful applicants.

The hope is that such large investments will accelerate their growth and help them to develop and mature as quickly as possible, creating jobs for the local economy and reaffirming London’s status as a leader of global technology.

Pop over to the LCIF site  for more info.

(There’s no hurry though, since this particular fund is going to be around for quite a while).

Interested in investment?  Check out some of our recent posts on the matter:

Explaining the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme 

Angel investment- Expalined

Asking your Family and friends to invest in your startup- The Basics

How to make the most of crowdfunding

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Published on: 10th December 2014