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British Business Bank backs the next generation of UK science-led startups with agreement to commit up to £46m cornerstone commitment to​ the​ Zinc Science-for-Impact Fund

Press release 02 September 2026

The British Business Bank has agreed to commit up to £46 million to Zinc Capital Management's second institutional fund, the Science-for-Impact Fund, helping to accelerate the creation and growth of innovative UK ​deep tech ​startups tackling critical health and environmental challenges.

The commitment, made through the Enterprise Capital Funds programme, will support Zinc's Science-for-Impact investment strategy, which backs entrepreneurs from the earliest stages of company creation and helps transform scientific breakthrough ideas across the UK into scalable businesses. The investment follows the Bank's previous commitment to Zinc II in 2022 and will enable Zinc to expand its support for founders.

​​​​​​​As the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds, the British Business Bank regularly makes cornerstone commitments, enabling funds to achieve a first close and helping funds to execute their planned strategy more effectively and often to a greater scale.

Zinc’s Science-for-Impact Fund is targeting £70m fund size and building a portfolio of 80 new deep tech companies. The fund’s strategy aligns closely with the government’s Industrial Strategy priorities across Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Life Sciences, as well as engineering, biology and AI.

Zinc is a specialist early-stage investor and venture builder that works with founders at the point where access to finance is often most limited. Through a hands-on approach that combines capital, venture-building expertise and founder support, Zinc helps entrepreneurs develop high-potential ideas into investment-ready businesses.

The firm has built a portfolio of innovative UK companies addressing significant societal challenges, including SignaCor (first in class therapeutics for heart disease), Epiome (an AI-powered biomarker platform for neurodegenerative diseases), Speek (a digital clinical care platform for teenage self-harm), Spine (an AI operating system for grid-scale battery asset management), and CellMine (a waste-free process to recycle lithium-ion batteries).

Mark Sims, Managing Director, Head of Development Equity Funds, British Business Bank, said:

Breakthrough businesses need support from the very earliest stages if they're to realise their potential. Zinc has a strong track record of backing founders tackling significant health and environmental challenges, and we're pleased to support the next phase of its growth. Our commitment to Zinc will help strengthen the pipeline of innovative businesses driving the UK's future economy.

Ella Goldner​​, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Zinc said:

The UK is home to some of the world's most extraordinary scientific talent, yet too many breakthrough discoveries never become the companies that improve lives, protect our planet and create long-term economic value. We founded Zinc to change that by partnering with exceptional scientists and entrepreneurs across the UK at the earliest stages, helping transform world-class research into ventures that deliver lasting impact in health and the environment while building the globally significant businesses of the future. We are proud to continue our partnership with the British Business Bank, whose long-standing support reflects a shared conviction that backing ambitious founders early is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen the UK's innovation economy.

Misodzi Mukungurutse, Senior Investment Manager, Development Equity Funds, British Business Bank said:

What sets Zinc apart is its ability to work closely with founders from day one, helping turn promising ideas into investable businesses. That hands-on approach, combined with a clear Science-for-Impact strategy, positions the fund well to support the UK's next generation of innovative startups.

The Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme aims to increase the supply of equity capital to early-stage UK companies with long-term growth potential and lower barriers to entry for fund managers looking to operate in the VC market, including providing a return structure that makes it more attractive to private sector investors.

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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.

In 2025/26 1 , the Bank supported UK smaller businesses to access £9.4bn of finance, made up of £1.3bn of public funding, £4.3bn of private capital crowded in by the Bank and £3.7bn of lending the Bank guaranteed. The funding benefited 38,000 UK businesses, including around 30,000 businesses the Bank had not previously helped to fund.

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 transaction 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 Zinc Investment Management LLP or its products or services.

The British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) are administered by British Business Finance Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Business Bank plc. The Funds are managed by experienced managers from a variety of backgrounds – including teams from the venture capital industry as well as entrepreneurs with a history of success in building early-stage UK companies.

ECFs are commercially focused funds that bring together private and public money to make equity investments in high growth businesses. The Bank’s rolling investment programme of commitments to new ECFs is a competitive process, with typically two to three investments made per year. The Zinc Science-for-Impact Fund is the 55th ECF in the programme.  

​​​About Zinc Investment Management LLP  

Zinc is a pre-seed venture capital firm backing ambitious founders building Science-for-Impact companies in health and the environment. Investing at the earliest stages, Zinc partners with exceptional teams right across the UK developing breakthrough science and deep technologies with the potential to create category-defining businesses. Through a combination of first-cheque investment and specialist venture-building support, Zinc helps founders de-risk scientific innovation, accelerate commercial progress and build companies capable of delivering both significant societal impact and long-term value creation.

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