A company which produces portable incubators for premature babies and another which makes navigation systems for bicycles are among 20 start-ups to have benefitted from £2.5 million in funding from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, since the EU referendum.
The London Co-investment Fund – the Mayor of London’s early stage business fund – uses public-private venture capital for pump-priming investment in some of London's most innovative science, digital and technology start-ups.
In June 2016 alone, the Fund invested more than £1 million in a range of start-ups despite a downturn in investment across much of the economy – further proof that London is open for business and remains the best place in the world for exciting and innovative companies to thrive.
Start-ups, business experts and prospective investors meet at City Hall today (November 28) to discuss opportunities through the fund and hear from a number of high-profile speakers.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I have promised to be most pro-business Mayor that London has ever had – and now I’m delivering on that promise. And our great city is fertile ground for promising start-up business from a whole range of sectors. The level of investment being made and the performance powering forward shows very clearly how London is open to new talent and innovative ideas.”
The London Co-investment Fund is funded by the Mayor of London through the London Local Enterprise Partnership and is managed by Funding London on their behalf. Over its two-year history, it has invested more than £11 million in 67 businesses – from artificial intelligence to energy – and has leveraged nearly £70 million in investment from the private sector, creating more than 450 jobs and safeguarding nearly 200 more in the process.
Founder of smart energy company Powervault, Joe Warren, said: “Powervault has received tremendous support from the London Co-Investment Fund. The additional investment of £80,000 in July this year helped catalyse a further £1.4m from other institutional, angel and crowd investors.
”The Fund’s support has led to the creation of eight skilled jobs in London’s smart energy sector. City Hall has also helped by making relevant introductions and by responding to consultations with us, helping us to shape policy in the sector.”
The Fund supports companies which are using technology to improve lives and tackle significant challenges. For example, MoM Incubators – which makes inexpensive, inflatable incubators designed to cut infant mortality, and Pivigo – an online hub which connects businesses with data scientists and has already worked with KPMG, Marks & Spencer, British Gas, Barclays and Investec.
City Hall maintains an equity stake in these companies and provides legal, procurement, supply chain and marketing support. This enables them to grow and, in so doing, generate new jobs.
Notes to editors
- In August this year, the London Co-Investment Fund (LCIF) was named the UK's most active venture capital fund (https://pitchbook.com/newsletter/europes-11-most-active-vcs).
- The companies supported by from the LCIF since the EU referendum are:
The London Co-Investment Fund is founded and managed by Funding London and Capital Enterprise. It has raised £25 million from the Local Enterprise Partnership‘s Growing Places Fund to co-invest in seed rounds between £250,000-£1,000,000, led by our selected co-investment partners. For more information, visit http://lcif.co.
By January 2018, the fund aims to have supported more than 150 young businesses with more than £25 million to ensure London’s science and technology sectors continue to thrive. The fund will continue supporting and encouraging businesses focuses on emerging technology trends.
About the London Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
The LEP is the Local Enterprise Partnership for London. Chaired by the Mayor, the LEP is the body through which the Mayoralty works with London's boroughs, business and Transport for London to take a strategic view of the regeneration, employment and skills agenda for the capital. The LEP is responsible for overseeing the allocation of over £400 million of funding to drive jobs and growth in the capital and provides strategic oversight of London’s €1.5 billion European Structural & Investment Funds programme.
About Funding London
Funding London – the fund manager of the London Co-Investment Fund – is an independent entity set-up by the Mayor’s office in 2004 to channel funding from Europe and UK to London’s sustainable and ambitious enterprises.
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