Future Fund

The scheme closed to new applications on 31 January 2021.

The Future Fund was designed to support innovative UK companies with good potential that typically relied on equity investment and were affected by COVID-19.

These companies could apply for a convertible loan of between £125,000 and £5 million, as long as they had access to the same amount (or more) from private investors.

The Future Fund provided convertible loans of between £125,000 and £5 million to UK-based companies that could at least match the amount with private investment (as long as these companies satisfied the scheme’s eligibility criteria).

The minimum aggregate loan amount was £250,000, while the maximum amount of the government loan was £5 million. There was no cap on the amount that the matched investor(s) could loan to the company.

The scheme was investor-led, meaning that a lead investor made the initial application and provided information about other investors making up the investment round, before the company submitted the full application.

FAQs

A convertible loan is a debt instrument that may at a later date convert into shares of the company receiving the loan.

The Future Fund provides matched funding and so will require third party investor(s) for an application to be made. It does not offer a ‘matchmaking’ service where companies can find investors on the portal.

Investors are strongly recommended to confirm the commitment of any other investors investing alongside them before submitting an application for an investee company.

No. The fund will process applications on a “first come, first served” basis and does not make any distinction on the size of investment.

An investee company must have closed at least £250,000 of equity investment for cash consideration from third-party investors in the period 1 April 2015 to 19 April 2020 (inclusive). Any application will be subject to the eligibility criteria.

No. To be eligible for the Future Fund, a business must be a UK-incorporated private company limited by shares (or a company equivalent to a private company limited by shares if incorporated in a non-UK jurisdiction and applying as a non-UK parent company).

Sole traders, partnerships, LLPs and unincorporated bodies are not eligible, nor are companies whose shares are traded on public exchanges.

Completing the initial part of the application shouldn't take a long time. However, the lead investor will need certain information to hand, as set out at the start of the application process.

For those investors applying on behalf of a non-UK parent company, the full process of assessing the application may take a little longer to allow for the effecys of jurisdictional changes and any additional requirements.

A lead investor must make an application on your (the investee company's) behalf. You cannot initiate an application yourself. Once the lead investor has submitted the application, you'll receive an email with instructions on how to:
  • proceed with opening an online account
  • move forward with the application
View the full Future Fund FAQs for companies

Regional support

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