The British Business Bank has published Future Fund data on the 971 companies that have been approved for £975.5 million worth of Convertible Loan Agreements since launch last May. The Future Fund is designed to support early-stage ventures that typically do not have the capacity to borrow money as they generate losses. The UK government created the program so the entrepreneurial class, important for long term growth, was not devastated by the COVID-19 health crisis.
Both Crowdcube and Seedrs have utilized the scheme to help raise capital for early-stage firms by offering convertible securities that receive match funding from the Future Fund.
The British Business Bank reports that there have been 1,432 applications in total since the scheme was launched. The Bank said the data provided was via self-reporting by the companies applying to the Future Fund.
Data by region
- The data indicates that 39% of the funding approved for companies, relating to convertible loan agreements worth £384.9m, was for businesses with their headquarters located outside of London.
- Of the total amount of £975.5m, 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), 8% 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 the gender mix of the senior management team
- Of the 971 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 as a signatory to the code, the Future Fund will supply HM Treasury with statistics on founder gender. HM Treasury intends to publish the first annual Investing in Women Code Report in the first quarter of 2021.
Data by ethnicity mix of the senior management team
- Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) only and mixed ethnicity management teams account for 63% of funding to companies that have been approved for Convertible Loan Agreements so far, worth £570.4m.
| Management Team | No. of convertible loans approved |
Value of convertible loans approved |
| All female team | 12 | £13.3m |
| All male team | 259 | £191.3m |
| Mixed gender team | 660 | £727.4m |
| Chose not to provide data | 40 | £43.5m |
| Grand Total | 971 | £975.5m |
Future Fund data by ethnicity of company senior management team (self-reported by applicant)
| Management Team |
No. of convertible loans approved | Value of convertible loans approved |
| All BAME team | 49 | £40.8m |
| All white team | 384 | £331.5m |
| Mixed ethnicity team | 460 | £529.6m |
| Chose not to provide data | 78 | £73.5m |
| Grand Total | 971 | £975.5m |
Future Fund data by location where company applying to Future Fund is based
| No. of convertible loans approved | Value of convertible loans approved | |
| East Midlands | 14 | £18.0m |
| East of England | 65 | £73.3m |
| London | 558 | £590.6m |
| North East | 28 | £25.0m |
| North West | 52 | £51.8m |
| Northern Ireland | 10 | £12.1m |
| Scotland | 17 | £6.0m |
| South East | 112 | £119.9m |
| South West | 41 | £24.8m |
| Wales | 14 | £7.0m |
| West Midlands | 30 | £20.6m |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 30 | £26.6m |
| Total | 971 | £975.5m |