£200m South West Investment Fund passes £2m investment milestone
The £200 million South West Investment Fund has passed the £2 million investment milestone having completed £2.4m of debt and equity investments in businesses across the region.
The government-backed fund was launched in July by the British Business Bank to boost the supply of finance to small and medium-sized businesses throughout the South West.
The Bank announced last month the fund’s first equity investment of £500,000 in tech-led commercial waste and recycling business Binit.
Now it has confirmed that the South West Investment Fund has also completed a range of debt funding deals from £26,000 up to £500,000, making a total of over £2.4m invested by the fund in South West businesses to date.
One Devon-based business that has benefitted is Exeter Eyewear, a children’s eyewear specialist based on Exeter Science Park. They have received a £32,000 investment from fund manager SWIG Finance to support the creation of a new, innovative range of children’s glasses frames.
The business is led by qualified optician Rob Barrow, who has been helping children see the world better for over 20 years. Rob and his team design adjustable glasses frames for children which have far-reaching benefits, particularly for those with craniofacial abnormalities.
Rob said the investment would be a significant boost to Exeter Eyewear’s growth plans, helping to kickstart production of more than 4,000 specially designed children’s frames.
“The money has enabled us to begin the process,’ said Rob. “All the product is now at the manufacturing stage and we’re expecting a January launch. Having that investment behind us means we’ve been able to set our stall out from day one. We’ve been working with several high-profile paediatric clinics across the county and now all the knowledge we have built up over the past 20 years is finally being used to bring out our own product in our own name.
“Having the investment from the South West Investment Fund has given us the confidence to start this. You get the feeling that someone is listening to you and believes in what you’re doing.”
Among the other businesses in the South West to benefit from investment are a landscape and garden design business in Bath, a Thai restaurant group and a nursery in Dorset, a book publisher in Cornwall and a creative filmmaking business in Bristol.
The South West Investment Fund covers the entire South West region and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions, at the British Business Bank, said: “Within weeks of launching the South West Investment Fund our appointed fund managers had received hundreds of enquiries from businesses across the region, so we’re delighted to see these first investments coming through and supporting businesses that might otherwise not receive investment.”
The South West Investment Fund is managed by a team of four fund managers that have been appointed by the British Business Bank. They are SWIG Finance, FW Capital, Maven and the FSE Group.
Many of the fund’s initial investments have come from the smaller loans part of the fund (£25,000 to £100,000), which is managed by SWIG Finance across the region.
John Peters, Managing Director of SWIG Finance, said: “I’m really pleased with the positive impact the fund is already having. We’re continuing to experience high demand and want to support as many viable small businesses as we can, from all corners and communities in our region.”
The purpose of the South West Investment Fund is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the South West.
And it is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for South West smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.
The South West Investment Fund was the first in a series of six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds to be launched by the British Business Bank, the government-owned business development bank. A total of £1.6 billion has been committed to the new funds to drive sustainable economic growth, which was first announced by the government in the 2021 Spending Review.
Applications for funding are made directly to the relevant fund managers who can be contacted via the South West Investment Fund website www.southwestinvestmentfund.co.uk
