TL;DR

The British Business Bank said on 15 October it has put £180m into six funds, a mix of venture capital and growth equity, that back AI and deeptech companies, covering everything from a founder’s first cheque to Series B and later rounds. The funds have raised more than £1bn between them. The largest single commitment, £55m, goes to Intrepid Growth Partners’ first fund.

The state-owned bank called the move part of its plan to build “deeper pools” of domestic capital, so that more UK AI companies can find the capital they need at home.

Where the money goes

Ranked by size, the six commitments are:

  • Intrepid Growth Partners: £55m ($75m) for Fund I, the AI-only growth investor’s $525m debut fund
  • Crane: £35m for its third fund, which backs founders worldwide from inception to seed in science, software, infrastructure and AI
  • Headline: £26m (€30m) for EU VIII, a $400m vehicle backing AI-focused European companies at Seed and Series A
  • Entrepreneurs First: £22m ($30m) for its Early Stage Fund, which invests from Seed to Series B in companies from its own programme
  • Evantic: £22m ($29m) for Fund I, which backs globally focused AI companies at growth stage
  • Connect: £20m for Connect V, a pre-seed investor working across AI, hardware and physical-world automation

The release’s web address says “five” funds, but its text lists six, and the six amounts add up to the £180m total.

The political framing

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, said the investment would help build “safe, secure, homegrown companies” and keep the UK among “AI makers, not AI takers”. Leandros Kalisperas, the bank’s chief investment officer, said the UK’s funding landscape “does not currently match our technical excellence”.

The commitments follow the bank’s £10m direct stake in Oxford spinout Salience Labs, announced on 14 October. We covered Salience Labs’ Series B round and, in September, the close of Intrepid’s first fund.

Looking forward

The bank says it has backed more than 150 venture funds and is now trying to pull pension money in behind them through VentureLink, a portal that currently lists 18 funds open to further investment. In our view, that is where the scale question sits: £180m of public money matters most if it brings institutional capital with it. Founders should also note that some mandates reach well beyond the UK: Crane backs founders globally and Headline invests across Europe.

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