Hundreds of technology businesses are calling for the UK government to set up a 1 billion fund of funds for venture capital investments, according to the Financial Times. The call for funding comes amidst fears that the sector is doomed due to a lack of available capital.
Investors can no longer rely on IPOs to exit their investments, so must sell to trade buyers or continue to finance them.
Lord Drayson, minister for science and innovation, and a former biotech entrepreneur, has expressed his concern over the state of funding for UK technology start-ups. Talking at a conference in November, he described the sector as being on “life support”.
In December, the government committed 20 million to the Enterprise Capital Fund, managed by specialist seed stage investment firm TTP Ventures. The fund was set up to support UK SMEs in the IT and cleantech sectors.
D.C.