A new five-year project has been launched to provide start-up businesses with £50m worth of funding.
The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA), which launched the fund, said that up to £10m of funding will be offered each year. Individual start-ups could receive seed money of up to £250,000 and investment up to £500,000.
Companies that receive financial help will also receive support and business advice as their companies develop.
“With the private sector vacating early-stage funding after the dot.com era and the government now shifting its focus to more developed businesses, the UK is facing a potential dearth of investment in this area,” said Jonathan Kestenbaum, NESTA chief executive.
“Our fund is designed to plug this gap both directly and by demonstrating the viability of early-stage investment to third parties.”
NESTA managing director David Hunter was also keen to emphasise the importance of early-stage funding.
“Our aim is to demonstrate models of early-stage investment that generate competitive returns and, in doing so, act as a trailblazer for the private sector,” he said.
“This reflects our desire to bring a commercial ethos to the way in which public funds are invested and to create more of a partnership approach between public funds and their private counterparts.”
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