Octopus Ventures is reportedly preparing to take over the Fintech Growth Fund, a new funding vehicle for providing growth-stage capital to UK fintechs.
The Fintech Growth Fund was envisaged in the Kalifa Review of the UK’s fintech ecosystem, which identified a £2bn growth funding gap in the UK.
Aimed predominantly at financial technology companies between Series B and pre-IPO, the first deployment of capital into businesses was scheduled for Q4 2023.
But acording to Sky News, the FGF has struggled to hit its original fundraising target and has yet to formally disclose any investments.
The fund was initally aiming at raising £1 billion from institutional investors to support its mission, with initial seed investments coming from Barclays, London Stock Exchange Group, Mastercard and NatWest to get the new vehical operational.
The plan called for fund to undertake, on average, four to eight investments per year, with investments between £10 million and £100 million.
Sky News reports that Octopus Investments, which is now run by Erin Platt, the former boss of Silicon Valley Bank UK, is said to have significant ambitions for the FGF, which has built a lengthy pipeline of potential investments.
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