The British Business Bank has published Future Fund data that gives a detailed picture of the 745 companies that have been approved for £770.8m worth of Convertible Loan Agreements since the scheme was launched on 20 May. There have been 1,243 applications in total since the scheme was launched.
This data shows where companies are based across the UK and the composition of the senior management teams by gender and ethnicity. This data is self-reported by the companies applying to the Future Fund.
The data reveals 42% of funding approved to companies for convertible loan agreements worth £320.6m have their headquarters located outside of London. Of the total amount of £770.8m, 16% is to companies headquartered in the South (South East and South West), 11% in the North (North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber), 8% in the East of England, 3% in the Midlands (East Midlands and West Midlands) and 2% in the Devolved Nations (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). London accounts for 58% of companies, in-line with the wider market trends for equity investments. The British Business Bank’s 2019/20 Small Business Finance Markets report showed that London received 66% of equity investment by value in 2019.
Of the 745 companies that have been approved and received their Convertible Loan Agreements for signature, 81% of funding is to companies with mixed-gender senior management teams. Since the launch of the Future Fund, more than 30 venture capital firms and angel groups have become signatories to the Government’s Investing in Women Code, alongside the Future Fund.
As part of its commitment to sign HM Treasury’s Investing in Women Code, the Future Fund will supply HM Treasury with statistics on founder gender. HM Treasury intends to publish the inaugural Investing in Women Report later this year.
Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) only and mixed ethnicity management teams account for 65% of funding to companies that have been approved for Convertible Loan Agreements so far, worth £459.2m.
The British Business Bank will publish a report examining the state of Entrepreneurship in the UK in the autumn. This will include data on ethnicity in addition to gender and location.
The Future Fund uses an online platform based on a recognised financial instrument and a set of standard terms with published eligibility criteria. The process provides a clear, efficient way to make funding available as widely and as swiftly as possible without the need for lengthy negotiations.
