Search British Business Bank
Popular Search placeholder

British Business Bank backs diverse and emerging fund managers with £500m package

Press release 10 July 2025

  • New £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative launched to back diverse and emerging fund managers
  • Commitment to invest an additional £50m into female-led funds that are aligned with the eight areas of the industrial strategy through existing Bank programmes

Today the British Business Bank has announced a new £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative which will support diverse 1  and emerging fund managers across the economy and make it easier for new entrants, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to break into venture capital. The initiative, which will capture the value of a more inclusive investment ecosystem, is expected to launch in 2026.   

The Investor Pathways Capital initiative will operate across three pillars. It will:

  • Back more diverse fund managers through the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme
  • Invest in microfunds to support small, early-stage funds
  • Back partners investing smaller amounts in talented individuals to build a track record, giving them the opportunity to become investors.

The initiative aims to reduce the significant gap in venture capital investment for underrepresented founders and investors due to industry biases, reliance on closed networks, and limited diversity among investors. It will target at least 50% of investment going to female fund managers.

Research shows that there is a correlation between female representation at venture capital firms and how much they invest in female-led businesses. Just 2p of every £1 invested in VC funding in the UK goes to female-founded businesses and only 13% of senior individuals on UK VC investment teams are women. The 2025 Investing in Women Code report has found that investing in female and ethnic minority-led businesses could add 13% to the value of the UK equity market, underscoring the importance of backing diverse founders.

Louis Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, British Business Bank, said:

  • 1

    Diverse founders could include women, ethnic minority founders, disabled founders, and founders from lower socio economic background.

To deliver the government’s growth mission it is critical that our most promising entrepreneurs can access the finance they need to grow their businesses, no matter who they are or what their background is. The UK equity market currently experiences a significant funding gap for diverse founders, negatively impacting their ability to start a business.

This new £400m Investor Pathways Capital initiative will support diverse and emerging fund managers across the UK, in turn supporting talented entrepreneurs currently underserved by the UK equity market. It has the potential to unlock the UK’s full commercial potential and boost the UK economy.

Additional £50m investment for the Invest in Women Taskforce

The Bank has already committed to supporting the aims of the Invest in Women Taskforce by investing £50m into female-led funds through its existing programmes. The Bank will increase this commitment, investing a further £50m into female-led funds that are aligned with the eight growth-driving sectors of the Industrial Strategy, taking its total commitment to £100m, further expanding access to funding for female investors and entrepreneurs.

Investing in Women Code signatories outperform in support for women

The British Business Bank is a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code, a government-led initiative in response to the Rose Review’s finding that a lack of funding was one of the most significant barriers to women seeking to effectively scale a business. 

The Investing in Women Code report (.PDF, 2.88 MB), published by the Department for Business and Trade earlier today, shows signatories outperform the wider equity market in their support for female-led businesses. 

The 2025 Investing in Women Code report finds that 31% of venture capital deals by Code signatories were in companies with at least one female founder, with 9% of deals in companies with all-female founders and 22% of deals to mixed-gender teams, outperforming the wider market by four percentage points. The total value of equity deals to teams with all female founder was 5%, more than double the rate of the wider market (2%).

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 sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. 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 over £17.4bn 2  of finance to almost 64,000 3  smaller businesses.

As well as increasing the supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.

The British Business Bank is also responsible for administering the Government’s three Coronavirus loan schemes and its Future Fund, together responsible for delivering £80.4bn in finance to 1.67m businesses. These schemes are now closed to new applications.

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.

 

Quick links

Latest news