The British Business Bank has today announced it is investing £180m across six AI and deeptech VC funds, as investors continue to pile into the two hot sectors.
The state-owned investor is investing £35m in London-based Crane Ventures Partners’ Crane III fund, which backs founders from inception to seed; it is also investing £20m in London-based Connect Ventures’ Connect V fund, which backs founders at pre-seed stages; and it’s investing £22m in Matt Clifford’s Entrepreneurs First’s early-stage fund.
It is also investing £55m in Intrepid Growth Partners’ Fund I, a specialist growth fund dedicated to AI; £26m in global investor Headline’s EU VIII fund; and £22m in Matt Miller’s Evantic Fund I.
The new investments follow the British Business Bank's announcement yesterday that is was investing £10m in Salience Labs.
The British Business Bank, which was given increased spending power last year following a government review, has also directly invested in Wayve, Kraken Techologies and PolyAI.
Leandros Kalisperas, chief investment officer, the British Business Bank, said: “The UK has no shortage of ideas or talent. The problem is that our funding landscape does not currently match our technical excellence. This is what the Bank is changing.
"These commitments are part of our strategy to create deeper pools of funding at all stages of growth, helping companies to access greater capital domestically and allowing the UK to capture more of the economic value of its innovations.”