The British Business Bank has surpassed a major milestone by investing more than £600m into UK science and technology scale-ups, expanding its direct equity portfolio to over 50 high-growth companies.
The Bank has more than doubled its direct equity investment activity since October 2025, deploying more capital over the past nine months than it invested during the previous four years combined.
According to the British Business Bank, the accelerated investment programme is designed to address funding gaps in the UK’s late-stage capital market and help high-growth businesses scale while remaining headquartered in the UK.
Since making its first direct equity investment in Quantexa in 2020, the Bank has built a diverse portfolio spanning life sciences, deep technology, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, defence, artificial intelligence and fintech.
During the 2025/26 financial year, the Bank completed 18 new investments and 18 follow-on investments, compared with 12 investments in the previous year.
Total annual investment increased from £75m to £188m year-on-year, with direct equity deployment expected to exceed £400m during the current financial year.
The Bank’s five-year strategic plan aims to unlock larger pools of scale-up funding by attracting institutional investment and supporting the creation of larger growth-stage venture capital funds across the UK.
Under the strategy, the investment business is expected to deploy around £2bn annually into the UK venture capital ecosystem, with approximately £400m, or 20% of the total, allocated to direct equity investments.
The programme is expected to support between 14 and 18 new investments each year, with initial funding typically ranging from £10m to £40m and long-term cumulative investments of up to £75m per company.
“Supporting UK scaleups is a national economic imperative. The UK excels at creating businesses, but our domestic capital base has yet to match our scientific excellence,” says Leandros Kalisperas, chief investment officer at the British Business Bank.
“Our activity should be interpreted as a clear signal to UK institutional capital that we want them to join us in backing UK scaleups. We now have fuel in the tank and intend to put UK innovation in fifth gear.”
