Future Fund: Breakthrough

What is Future Fund: Breakthrough?

Future Fund: Breakthrough is a new £375m UK-wide scheme that is intended to encourage private investors to co-invest with the Government in high-growth, innovative UK companies that invest heavily in research and development (R&D).

The scheme will launch in early summer 2021 and be delivered by the British Business Bank, via its commercial subsidiary British Patient Capital. It will crowd in private-sector investment to support the growth of those companies whose applications to the scheme are successful.

These R&D-intensive companies accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies which can transform major industries, develop new medicines and support the UK's transition to a net zero economy.

What's happened to the previous Future Fund?

This new initiative is separate from the Government's Future Fund, which is now closed to new applications. The Future Fund addressed the immediate funding challenge that the UK's innovative, equity-backed companies faced due to COVID-19.

A company's participation in the previous Future Fund will have no bearing on its eligibility for Future Fund: Breakthrough, nor will it make obtaining funding from the new scheme any more or less likely.

Key features of Future Fund: Breakthrough

The main features of the new scheme are as follows:

• An initial fund size of £375m
• Focused on R&D-intensive companies
• Minimum investment round of £20m
• Companies must be based, and have significant operations, in the UK
• Applications to be led by established venture capital investors

A company will need to meet a variety of criteria to be eligible for investment. Full details will become available in due course.

The Government will issue more information on the launch of Future Fund: Breakthrough soon. Sign up to receive updates and news from the British Business Bank.