The backer of Revolut, which is reportedly vying to manage a £1bn government-backed fund focused on backing the UK’s most promising startups, has announced the £175m first close of a fund aimed at plugging the scale-up gap.
Molten Ventures is looking to raise £350m in total in its Ventures Growth Fund and has announced the £175m first close of the fund, including a £75m cornerstone investment from the British Business Bank, the government body which is a major investor in VC funds.
Cornerstone investments are designed to pave the way for other investors to join the fund and help a fund to achieve its close.
The fund is investing in Series B and beyond in the UK and Europe across space, AI, fintech, quantum, deeptech and hardware and is looking to bridge the gap whereby UK founders look to overseas capital to scale their startups.
Ben Wilkinson, CEO, Molten Ventures, said: “Securing the British Business Bank as a cornerstone investor is a strong endorsement of Molten’s strategy and of the relationship we have built over many years. “It also underlines the importance of bringing more long-term institutional capital into venture and Growth, so that ambitious UK and European technology companies have the backing they need to scale.”
Molten Ventures, which is listed and also backs Finnish satellite startup Iceye and UK digital bank Zopa, manages £2 billion across its funds.
It is reportedly in line to manage the £1bn government-backed Scale Up Fund focused on Britain’s most promising scale-ups. M&G Investments and Schroders are among those vying to manage the Scale Up Fund, according to Sky News.
The Scale Up Fund is funded by a group of pension schemes, with the British Business Bank working with the pension providers to support the launch of the fund.
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