British Business Bank back TSP Ventures with £3m commitment
Press release
The British Business Bank today announces a £3 million commitment from its Regional Angels Programme, delivered via its partner Haatch, to TSP Ventures – an early-stage venture firm.
TSP Ventures invest in hard science and breakthrough technologies that can deliver sustainable, cost-effective and geo-secure supplies of critical resources like energy, food, water and metals.
Founded in 2019 by founders Chris Smith and Mike Doswell, TSP Ventures has already backed 17 seed stage companies spanning metal recycling, metal-organic frameworks, clean hydrogen, sodium ion batteries and bio-electrochemical waste treatment. These companies have gone onto raise over £125m in follow-on funding and created over 150 jobs in the UK.
This £3 million commitment is from the British Business Bank's Regional Angels Programme, which aims to reduce regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance across the UK. The funding will be co-invested alongside capital from TSP's own investor base, supporting founders building high-growth potential businesses across the UK.
Mike Doswell, Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer of TSP Ventures, said:
We started TSP because we believed that resilient resources – abundant green energy, clean air, plentiful freshwater and food – would define the coming decades, and everything we've seen since has only sharpened that conviction. Having the British Business Bank alongside us is a huge vote of confidence, not just in TSP, but in the founders and teams we're backing
Mark Barry, Senior Investment Director at the British Business Bank, said:
TSP Ventures are investing in businesses across the country which are helping to build the resource resilience of the UK through exciting new technologies in the clean energy industry. We are pleased that this £3 million commitment, through our Regional Angels Programme, will support this continued investment.
Fred Soneya, Co-Founder and General Partner at Haatch, said:
The Regional Angels Programme is designed to increase the supply of early-stage capital across the UK, and delivering it through the Haatch Platform allows experienced investors like TSP Ventures to co-invest alongside the British Business Bank in a simple, scalable way. We’re pleased to support TSP and the founders they back.
About TSP Ventures
TSP Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in hard science and breakthrough technologies. We back ambitious founders from lab-scale through to commercial roll-out.
We don’t just provide capital; we roll up our sleeves, bringing deep investment, commercial and operational experience to help turn breakthrough technologies into thriving businesses.
For more information, visit tspventures.co.uk.
Further Information
If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact [email protected].
Notes to editors
About the British Business Bank
The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.
The British Business Bank’s core programmes support £23bnRead footnote text 1 of finance to almost 64,000Read footnote text 2 smaller businesses.
British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. It is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.
The commitment described above does not constitute or imply any endorsement, warranty or recommendation by the UK government, the British Business Bank plc, its subsidiaries or any other party of TSP Ventures or its products or services.
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1
Figures as at end March 2025
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2
Figures as at end March 2025, does not include Start Up Loans
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