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South West Investment Fund passes £150m milestone after backing 280+ businesses

Press release 27 July 2026

  • Fund marks third anniversary with £75m directly invested in South West businesses
  • Investment has attracted a further £82m from the private sector
  • £200m Fund supports businesses with loans from £25,000 to equity investment of up to £5m 

The British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund has driven more than £150m into over 280 new and growing businesses across the region during its first three years.

Since launching in July 2023, the Fund has directly invested £75m in 283 South West businesses and attracted a further £82m of private sector investment, taking the total value of funding to £157m.

Image of two female founders of biotech company Mykor, Bristol

The Fund covers Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, with finance delivered through appointed fund managers SWIG Finance, FW Capital, The FSE Group and Maven Capital Partners.

The anniversary comes as the British Business Bank continues to deliver its five-year strategic plan, launched last November, in support of the Government's growth agenda, with smaller businesses at its heart.

The Bank’s priorities include supporting promising businesses in Industrial Strategy sectors to scale and remain in the UK, making finance markets work better for smaller businesses and unlocking the potential in people and places. It will also seek to attract substantially more institutional capital into growing UK companies.

The Bank is also expanding support in the West of England through a new £8.5m innovation cluster, helping drive more equity investment into businesses operating in the eight priority Industrial Strategy sectors.

Movie poster for the latest Mark Jenkin film Rose of Nevada

The South West Investment Fund contributes to those aims by addressing regional gaps in access to finance, supporting innovation and helping businesses secure the investment they need to grow and create jobs.

It has backed South West businesses across a broad range of sectors and at every stage of growth, from early-stage companies seeking their first external investment to established firms raising finance to expand, launch new products or enter new markets.

South West businesses backed by the fund include:

  • Signature Strawberries in Plymouth, a female-founded waterfront brunch bar specialising in dipped chocolate strawberries. 
  • QLM Technology in Torbay, which has developed advanced methane monitoring technology to tackle greenhouse gas emissions. 
  • Film production company Bosena in Penzance, which produced the latest Mark Jenkin film Rose of Nevada starring Callum Turner. 
  • Horizon Agri in Bodmin using modern drone and cleaning technology to support growers, landowners, and solar sites across the country.
  • Female-founded biotech company Mykor in Bristol, making bio-based insulation and building systems; cleantech company. 
  • Luthmore in Chippenham, which has developed a zero-emission battery-enabled electric combi boiler.
  • Female-founded sustainable period and bladder care brand Grace & Green in Bristol.
  • Female-founded Needles and Pins Aerospace in Somerton, manufacturing specialised fabrics for the aerospace and defence sectors.

Keira Shepperson, Senior Director at the British Business Bank, said:

In just three years the South West Investment Fund has facilitated more than £150m into over 280 businesses, demonstrating the strength of entrepreneurial ambition in the region and the appetite among private investors to support it. By connecting capital with opportunity we continue to make markets work better for smaller businesses in the South West.

As we enter the Fund’s fourth year, we want to build on that progress by backing more promising businesses, including those operating in the Industrial Strategy sectors and by reaching talented entrepreneurs who continue to face barriers when seeking finance, including female founders and other under-represented groups. This will help more South West businesses start, scale and remain in the UK, creating jobs and prosperity in the communities where they are based.

The £200m South West Investment Fund was established to increase the supply and diversity of finance available to smaller businesses across the region. It offers commercial finance ranging from loans of £25,000 to £2m and equity investment of up to £5m.

The South West Investment Fund is among a suite of Nations and Regions Investment Funds launched by the British Business Bank across the UK. The British Business Bank is the Government’s economic development bank dedicated to helping UK small businesses survive, prosper and grow.

South West businesses can find out more about the South West Investment Fund and contact their relevant fund manager at southwestinvestmentfund.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.

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.

About the Nations and Regions Investment Funds and the South West Investment Fund

The Nations and Regions Investment Funds increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for UK smaller businesses, providing finance to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.

Operating in a commercially sustainable way the Nations and Regions Investment Funds deliver a £1.6bn commitment of new funding through investment strategies that best meet the needs of the businesses in their nation or region.

The British Business Bank is responsible for administering the Nations and Regions Investment Funds on behalf of the UK government. We are establishing investment funds in areas not currently served by the Bank’s existing regional funding programme as well as launching follow-on investment funds in existing fund areas.

£200m has been allocated to provide a fund for businesses in the South West of England, building on the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund.

The South West Investment Fund offers a range of commercial finance options with small loans from £25,000 and equity investment up to £5m. The fund covers the entire South West region including Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.

The South West Investment Fund has a demonstrable presence across the region linking up with the existing small business finance ecosystem to increase reach and create an impact beyond the funds, helping to boost productivity, innovation and jobs.

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