The British Business Bank has committed £180M across six venture funds, splitting the money between AI and deeptech managers at seed, early and growth stage.
The largest single ticket is £55M into Intrepid Growth Partners’ first fund, which is dedicated to AI. Headline’s EU VIII fund takes £26M, while Crane Ventures Partners receives £35M for Crane III and Connect Ventures gets £20M for its fifth fund covering pre-seed.
Two smaller cheques round out the list. Matt Clifford’s Entrepreneurs First takes £22M for its early-stage vehicle, and Evantic Fund I, run by Matt Miller, receives the same amount.
The announcement lands a day after the bank put £10M behind photonics startup Salience Labs. It has also written direct cheques to Wayve, Kraken Technologies and PolyAI, and was handed wider spending powers last year after a government review.
Chief investment officer Leandros Kalisperas framed the gap plainly. The UK has no shortage of ideas or talent, he said, but its funding landscape does not match its technical strength, and the bank is trying to build deeper pools of capital at every stage so more of the value stays at home.
For UK founders, the practical effect is more domestic money competing at seed and growth, the two points where British companies have historically looked abroad.
