News

The British Business Bank invests in Passion Capital’s £45 million second fund

Transaction marks the British Business Bank’s 18th Enterprise Capital Fund investment

The British Business Bank today announces that it has invested £17.5 million in Passion Capital II LP, the £45 million second fund from one of the UK’s best known venture investment firms. The commitment marks the 18th investment by the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (‘ECF‘) programme.

Passion Capital is a hands-on investor providing financial support and mentoring at a very early stage, helping to build companies and prepare them for accelerated growth.

The new fund builds on the success of Passion Capital’s first fund, which was also supported by British Business Bank’s ECF programme, and backed the early development of high growth companies such as Adzuna, CarThrottle, Digital Shadows, DueDil and GoCardless. The second fund will continue to have the same focus on early stage technology businesses seeking up to £2 million of investment.

Robert Dighero, Partner, Passion Capital, commented: “Our first fund cohort has made excellent progress and we are now looking to add further exceptional early stage businesses to the Passion portfolio. We are delighted with our on-going partnership with British Business Bank and will continue to invest in the very best, leading edge, UK technology start-ups.”

Ken Cooper, British Business Bank’s Managing Director of Venture Capital Solutions, added: “The Passion Capital team have a track record of early stage investment in UK technology companies. They have a valuable mix of financial and operational skills and a genuine enthusiasm for building strong companies, and we are very pleased to be able to back their second fund. This is a great example of the way the British Business Bank can work through its partner organisations to fill gaps in the funding market to provide real help to the UK’s smaller businesses.”

The British Business Bank’s ECF programme addresses a gap in risk capital investment within the UK market. The programme which has £400 million to invest over the next three years, has backed the creation of 18 funds, providing more than £620 million of investment potential for high growth businesses.

ENDS

About Enterprise Capital Funds

Enterprise Capital Funds are managed by experienced investors from a variety of backgrounds – including teams from the venture capital industry as well as serial entrepreneurs with a history of success in building early stage UK companies. They are commercially focused funds which bring together private and public money to make equity investments in high growth businesses. There is a rolling investment programme of commitments to new Enterprise Capital Funds. The process is competitive with typically 2 to 3 investments made per year.

About The British Business Bank

The British Business Bank makes finance markets for smaller businesses work better, enabling the sector to prosper, grow and build economic activity.

Its objectives are to:

  • increase the supply of finance available to smaller businesses where markets don’t work well
  • create a more diverse and vibrant finance market for smaller businesses, with a greater choice of options and providers
  • build confidence in the market by increasing smaller businesses’ understanding of the options available to them
  • achieve this whilst managing taxpayer resources efficiently and within a robust risk management framework.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales registration number 08616013, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.
British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such.

A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found at www.british-business-bank.co.uk

About Passion Capital
Passion Capital (http://passioncapital.com, @passioncapital) is one of the premier early stage venture capital funds in Europe. Established in 2011 and based in London, the managing partners Eileen Burbidge, Robert Dighero and Stefan Glaenzer have more than 50 years’ collective experience in entrepreneurial, founding and executive operational roles at tech firms. The three of them were personally involved in four of the largest European exits of the year over the last ten years and pride themselves on the strength of their portfolio company founders.

For more information, please contact:
Nick Taylor, Seven Hills
nick.taylor@wearesevenhills.com / +44(0)207 199 2205

Nithiya Gnanathas, Seven Hills
Nithiya.gnanathas@wearesevenhills.com / +44(0)207 199 6196