£130m fund for Welsh businesses set for autumn launch
Small and medium-sized businesses in Wales are set to benefit from a £130m investment fund which launches this autumn.
The Investment Fund for Wales is part the of the Nations and Regions Investment Funds initiative by the British Business Bank, which is inviting proposals from potential fund managers to operate the new scheme.
The state development bank has committed to deliver £1.6bn of new funding to smaller firms across the UK. The fund will offer a range of commercial finance options, with loans from £25,000 to £2m and equity investment of up to £5m.
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“By increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses in Wales, it aims to tackle an identified funding gap. Similar funds are launching in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the South West of England, along with follow-on funds for the Midlands and the North of England,” the bank said.
The new funds follow the success of the regional investment funds already being delivered by the British Business Bank through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), Growth Finance Fund (NI) and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIoSIF).
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The bank has invested more than £629m into these projects and Northern Ireland, crowding in more than £963m in additional private sector co-investment and supporting over 1,825 smaller businesses.
“The new Investment Fund for Wales is designed to increase the supply and diversity of finance available to smaller businesses in Wales,” said Ken Cooper, managing director, venture solutions at the British Business Bank.
“Given the geographical spread of Wales’s smaller business population, connecting with entrepreneurs in some of the more rural and hard-to-reach areas will be an important focus of the fund.
“Levels of equity investment and also private debt lending are currently below Wales’s share of the UK’s small business population, so we’ll be working closely with the local finance ecosystem to ensure the fund provides support to innovative, ambitious business owners across the country.”
The Investment Fund for Wales will operate across three tiers: smaller loans (£25,000-£100,000), debt (£100,000-£2m) and equity (up to £5m).
Potential fund managers to operate the new Investment Fund for Wales are being invited by the British Business Bank to contact it via its website. It expects to appoint fund managers in summer 2023 ahead of launching in the autumn.
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