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Future Fund Publishes Diversity Data of Companies Receiving Convertible Loan Agreements

Press release 25 February 2021

  • £1.12bn worth of convertible loans approved for 1,140 companies
  • 39% of funding to companies outside London worth £438.7m
  • 78% of funding to mixed gender senior management teams
  • 57% of funding to mixed ethnicity senior management teams

Today the British Business Bank publishes Future Fund data that gives a detailed picture of the 1,140 companies that have been approved for £1.12bn (£1,124.3m) worth of Convertible Loan Agreements since the scheme was launched on 20 May. There have been 1,846 applications in total since the launch and the scheme closed to new applications on 31 January 2021.

This data shows where companies are based across the UK and the composition of the senior management teams by gender and ethnicity. This data is self-reported by the companies applying to the Future Fund.

Data by region

The data reveals, 39% of funding approved to companies for convertible loan agreements worth £438.7m have their headquarters located outside of London. Of the total amount of £1,124.3m, 15% is to companies headquartered in the South (South East and South West), 11% in the North (North West, North East and Yorkshire and the Humber), 7% in the East of England, 4% in the Midlands (East Midlands and West Midlands) and 3% in the Devolved Nations (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). London accounts for 61% of companies, in-line with the wider market trends for equity investments. The British Business Bank’s 2019/20 Small Business Finance Markets report showed that London received 66% of equity investment by value in 2019.

Data by gender mix of senior management team

Of the 1,140 companies that have been approved and received their Convertible Loan Agreements for signature, 78% of funding is to companies with mixed gender senior management teams. Since the launch of the Future Fund more than 30 venture capital firms and angel groups have become signatories to the Government’s Investing in Women Code, alongside the Future Fund.

As part of its commitment to signing HM Treasury’s Investing in Women Code, the Future Fund will supply HM Treasury with statistics on founder gender. HM Treasury intends to publish the inaugural Investing in Women Report later this year.

Data by ethnicity mix of senior management team

Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) only and mixed ethnicity management teams account for 62% of funding to companies that have been approved for Convertible Loan Agreements so far, worth £648.1m.

Future Fund data by gender of company senior management team (self-reported by applicant)

Management TeamNo. of
convertible loans
approved		Value of
convertible loans approved
All female team13£13.7m
All male team303£227.5m
Mixed gender team779£832.5m
Chose not to provide data45£50.6m
Grand Total1140£1,124.3m

Future Fund data by ethnicity of company senior management team (self-reported by applicant)

Management
Team		No. of convertible loans approvedValue of convertible loans approved
All BAME team63£55.7m
All white team459£395.3m
Mixed ethnicity team530£592.4m
No info given88£80.9m
Grand Total1140£1,124.3m

Future Fund data by location where company applying to Future Fund is based

 No. of convertible loans approvedValue of convertible loans approved
East Midlands16£18.9m
East of England76£82.4m
London655£685.6m
North East31£25.8m
North West70£61.8m
Northern Ireland12£12.4m
Scotland21£8.3m
South East129£134.7m
South West45£29.9m
Wales20£10.8m
West Midlands34£23.0m
Yorkshire and the Humber31£30.6m
Total1140£1,124.3m

The Future Fund uses an online platform based on a recognised financial instrument, and a set of standard terms with published eligibility criteria. The process provides a clear, efficient way to make funding available as widely and as swiftly as possible without the need for lengthy negotiations.

Official statistics report senior management team composition because Future Fund is available to many companies beyond early stage. Our analysis of the company founder data, where available, shows it tracks above market figures for gender diversity.

Notes to editors

The data shown is as per 6.00pm, February 21st, 2021.

Future Fund

The Future Fund will support the UK’s innovative businesses currently affected by Covid-19. These businesses have been unable to access other government business support programmes, such as CBILS, because they are either pre-revenue or pre-profit and typically rely on equity investment. Initially, £250 million was made available by the government for investment through the scheme, to be matched by private investors, with the Treasury making clear the amount could be increased if needed. Due to the popularity of the Fund, more funding is being made available. Developed by government and delivered by the British Business Bank, the Future Fund launched for applications in May and closed on 31 January 2021.

To date, £1,124.3m worth of convertible loans have now been approved under the Future Fund. This sum has been matched by at least the same amount from third-party investors. Operating on a commercial basis the Future Fund unlocks additional third-party investment on a match funded basis, creating a bridge to the next equity funding round for innovative companies with good potential.

Application processes are expected to take a minimum of 21 days from initial application to funding being awarded, providing applicants provide all the information required.

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank programmes were supporting nearly £8bn of finance to almost 94,800 smaller businesses at end of June 2020. Since March 2020, the British Business Bank has launched four new Coronavirus business loan schemes, delivering tens of billions of pounds of finance to 1.5m businesses.

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. In light of the coronavirus pandemic and EU Exit, the Finance Hub has expanded and it now targets a wider business audience. It continues to provide information and support for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses, but now provides increased content, information and products for businesses in survival and recovery mindsets. The Finance Hub has been redesigned and repositioned to reflect this, during this period of economic uncertainty.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates through a number of subsidiaries, none of which are authorised or regulated by the FCA or the PRA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

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