British Business Bank commits £180m to boost UK AI innovation

The British Business Bank has announced £180m of investment commitments across six venture capital and growth equity funds to support the development and expansion of UK artificial intelligence (AI) and deeptech businesses.

The investment aims to strengthen access to funding for innovative technology companies at every stage of growth, from early-stage development through to Series B funding and beyond.

The six funds have collectively raised more than £1bn and will support businesses developing AI infrastructure, software, automation and other emerging technologies.

The commitments include £55m to Intrepid Growth Partners Fund I, a specialist AI growth investor, and £35m to Crane III, which supports founders developing technologies across AI, software, infrastructure and deep science.

A further £26m has been committed to Headline EU VIII, which focuses on seed and Series A investments across Europe, while £22m will support Entrepreneurs First’s Early Stage Fund, backing emerging technology companies through their early growth stages.

The remaining commitments comprise £22m to Evantic Fund I, which invests in growth-stage AI businesses, and £20m to Connect V, which supports early-stage founders working across AI, hardware and automation.

The investment forms part of the British Business Bank’s strategy to increase the availability of capital for high-growth UK technology companies, supporting the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer at the British Business Bank, said: “The UK has no shortage of ideas or talent. The problem is that our funding landscape does not currently match our technical excellence. This is what the Bank is changing.

“These commitments are part of our strategy to create deeper pools of funding at all stages of growth, helping companies to access greater capital domestically and allowing the UK to capture more of the economic value of its innovation.”

The announcement follows the Bank’s £10m direct investment in Salience Labs, an Oxford University spinout developing optical switching technology designed to address networking bottlenecks in AI data centres.

The Bank has also recently invested directly in several other UK technology companies, including Wayve, Kraken Technologies, PhysicsX, PolyAI and Ineffable Intelligence.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “AI is going to be a transformative technology for our society and for our economy, which is why it is vital that the UK has its own sovereign capabilities.

“We have exceptional talent and world-class research capability, now we are working to make sure that there are funding opportunities for AI entrepreneurs which match that potential.”

The British Business Bank has backed more than 150 venture capital funds and is also working to attract additional institutional investment into the UK technology sector.

Earlier this year, it launched VentureLink, an online platform designed to connect pension funds and other institutional investors with Bank-backed venture capital funds seeking investment.

The platform currently features 18 funds open to additional institutional capital.

The latest commitments are intended to help address funding gaps facing UK technology businesses, enabling more AI and deeptech companies to scale domestically and compete internationally.