Innovative Firms Across Sectors Benefit From Future Fund

@RishiSunak announces funding for innovative firms!

Innovative firms across a wide variety of sectors, including education, agriculture and fintech, are benefiting from the Government’s world leading Future Fund, shows data released today (Monday 7 September).

• New data shows the Future Fund has supported innovation across sectors and regions of the UK
• The Fund has supported nearly 16,500 jobs across firms who have convertible loan agreements
• The Chancellor hosts roundtable with recipients of the investment to learn how the funding has helped their business

 Firms that are on the cutting edge of innovation are key to driving the economic recovery, and the Future Fund has been crucial to their success, helping to support nearly 16,500 jobs across the firms who have obtained convertible loan agreements.  To date, more than 651 companies have benefited from £640 million of Future Fund investment. Under the scheme, early-stage, high-growth businesses from a diverse range of sectors can apply for a convertible loan of between £125,000 and £5 million to help them through the Coronavirus outbreak.

Ahead of a roundtable with recipients of the Future Fund to mark London Tech Week,

 Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said:

“These firms are innovating, and we did the same thing in designing the Future Fund to support them. Without that support many of them might have gone under, hitting jobs but also the fresh ideas and thinking that will help drive our recovery. Instead we are helping them grow, and ensuring that if they succeed the taxpayer will benefit.”

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur, CEO of CorrosionRADAR said:

“The Future Fund was a lifeline at difficult and uncertain times caused by the Coronavirus and lockdown. The Future Fund helped in de-risking investment for other investors and unlocked much needed funding for small companies. This allowed CorrosionRADAR to continue its growth plan, save jobs and support the economy.”

The Future Fund has benefited all regions and all nations of the UK with 43% of loans going to firms outside of London, demonstrating how the Future Fund is supporting our most up and coming start-ups all across the country.

Data released by the British Business Bank on 18 August also shows that 82% of funding has gone to firms with mixed-gender management teams, and 64% to businesses with mixed-ethnicity management.

Further ReactionSarah Ellerby, CEO of Nova Pangea Technologies, said:

“The matched funding from the Future Fund which was a quick and efficient process delivered an oversubscription of our pre-series round, which has not only helped us accelerate our commercial strategy but allowed us to complete our executive team recruitment—we are now in a position to execute our growth plan.”

Andrew Veitch, CEO of MachineLabs, said:

“We’d had a great first year with over 300 Shopify e-commerce stores from 23 different countries choosing Machine Labs to boost their sales. Then Covid-19 hit which disrupted our funding round.“The Future Fund filled the gap and put us in a great position to benefit from the surge in e-commerce as retail moved online during lockdown.”