Select audience

Choose the option that best describes your role.

Search British Business Bank
Popular Search placeholder

British Business Bank commits £50m to Phoenix Court

Press release 23 September 2026

The British Business Bank has committed £50m to Phoenix Court, alongside UK institutional investors, M&G, NatWest and HSBC, to invest in fast-growing British technology and sciences companies.

This commitment is part of the Bank’s strategy to increase the depth of domestic capital for fast-growing UK companies, helping more of the country’s most promising businesses to access the capital they need to build and scale in the UK.

The UK is the world’s third-largest venture capital market, behind only the US and China, but its most successful companies still raise more than 80% of their scale-up capital from overseas investors.

With support from UK institutional investors, Phoenix Court’s funds provide the patient capital UK companies need to grow into global businesses, while giving domestic institutions and their beneficiaries greater exposure to the value created by the innovation economy.

The combination of institutional capital and Phoenix Court’s expertise in backing founders will help more UK companies grow into global leaders with domestic backing, retaining jobs and economic value in the UK.

Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer of the British Business Bank, said:

The opportunity in closing the scale up gap cannot be overstated. The UK already produces some of the best companies in the world, but increasing the flow of domestic long-term capital will be transformative – allowing companies to grow faster, keeping jobs and growth here, as opposed to trickling overseas. As well as making commitments to leading UK fund managers like Phoenix Court, the Bank is working to help institutional investors to access the attractive investment opportunities on their doorstep. It's genuinely encouraging to see the momentum building towards this.

Saul Klein, Co-Founder and Chair of Phoenix Court, said:

Britain has built the world’s third-largest innovation economy, but too many companies still lack the domestic capital to scale here. Our Solar pilot proved the opportunity is real: its 18 companies generate £5bn in annual revenue and have created more than 8,500 jobs. This meaningful partnership with British financial institutions will help us back more exceptional companies from seed to scale, keeping more of the jobs, prosperity and returns they create in Britain. Working with these British institutions we can make sure that British savers benefit from our innovation, not just nurses in Denmark, teachers in Ontario and the Singapore metro system.

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.  

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 Patient Capital Funds programme is operated by British Patient Capital Limited, a wholly owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc. 

British Patient Capital Limited is registered in England and Wales with company number 11271076, and registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. British Patient Capital makes commitments and invests on its own behalf and on behalf of third-party investors whose investments British Patient Capital manages. 

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 Phoenix Court products or services.

About Phoenix Court

Phoenix Court is a venture capital platform backing companies from pre-seed through to scale-up. Its investment strategies include LocalGlobe, which invests at pre-seed and seed stage; Latitude, which invests from Series B onwards; and Solar, which provides long-term capital to high-growth companies. Dealroom ranks Phoenix Court among the top 0.01% of investors globally for identifying at seed stage companies that go on to generate more than $100m in annual revenue.

Quick links

Latest news