British Business Investments Extends its Commitment to SFC Capital to £25m
Summary
Further \xa310m commitment comes as the UKs most active seed-stage investor surpasses 500 portfolio companies12th February 2025 SFC Capital (SFC), the UKs most active seed-stage investor, has received an additional \xa310 million commitment from British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, through its Regional Angels Programme, which is designed to reduce regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance across the UK.SFC expects this new commitment to fund 100 early-stage businesses across the UK, unlocking a total of \xa3100 million in new funding for startup and scaleup businesses across all sectors. SFC has also achieved several successful exits from the commitment, including Peopleforce, an HR software business which SFC exited to a leading European HR tech investor in a deal that returned 5x the original investment.This latest commitment comes as SFC passes a key milestone, having invested in more than 500 startups across the UK since 2012 including notable names such as Onfido, Cognism, and Transcend Packaging. SFCs most recent investments include 4D Biomaterials, a Nottingham-based biotech company, Neurosight, a Canterbury-based HR software company, and CareLoop, a University of Manchester spinout focused on tackling severe mental illness.Joseph Zipfel, Chief Investment Officer, SFC Capital: We are incredibly pleased to receive this extension and grateful to British Business Investments for their continued trust. This was made possible by the strong performance of the companies that we have invested in so far under the programme, a testament to the strength of entrepreneurial talent that we have in the UK. The Regional Angels Programme is a formidable case study of how the private and public sector can collaborate to boost the startup ecosystem nationally while providing a positive return to taxpayers.Adam Kelly, Managing Director, British Business Investments, said: Our Regional Angels Programme is designed to address imbalances in access to early-stage finance in the UK, and to increase the overall amount of capital available to smaller businesses through angel networks.