Future Fund publishes Diversity Data of Companies receiving Convertible Loan Agreements

• £236.2m worth of convertible loans approved for 252 companies
• 45% of funding to companies outside London worth £106m
• Almost 80% of management teams are mixed gender
• 50% of management teams are mixed ethnicity

For immediate release 23 June 2020: Today the British Business Bank publishes Future Fund data that gives a detailed picture of the 252 companies that have been approved for £236.2m worth of Convertible Loan Agreements since the scheme was launched on 20 May. There have been 623 applications in total in the first month of operation. Government has said it will keep the size of the scheme under review and consider increasing it if needed. This data shows where companies are based across the UK and the composition of the 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, almost half (45%) of funding approved to companies for convertible loan agreements worth £106m have their headquarters located outside of London. Of the total amount of £236.2m, 22% 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), 6% in the East of England, 3% in the Midlands (East Midlands and West Midlands) and 3% in the Devolved Nations –(Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). London accounts for 55% 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 management team

Of the 252 companies that have been approved and received their Convertible Loan Agreements for signature, 79% of funding is to companies with mixed gender 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.

Data by ethnicity mix of management team

BAME only and mixed ethnicity management teams account for 56% of funding to companies that have been approved for Convertible Loan Agreements so far, worth £118.5m.