Sussex Place Ventures, founded in 1998 in support of London Business School’s entrepreneurship programmes, is launching a £30m ($51m) fund to invest in early-stage technology companies in the UK. The fund has been dubbed Regents Park Partners II.
Two thirds of the fund has been committed by the UK government’s British Business Bank through its Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) programme. The final third has been secured from private investors, exited technology entrepreneurs, business angels, and London Business School alumni.
The fund will invest primarily in early-stage software companies who are developing strong patent-protectable property and in internet business. Sussex Place will invest alone and in syndicates.
The ECF programme now consists of 16 funds with a total investment capacity of over £530m ($908m). Its aim is to encourage risk capital investment in UK small and medium-sized enterprises.
Ken Cooper, managing director venture capital solutions at the British Business Bank, said: “Our VC solutions, such as the Enterprise Capital Funds, help to create investment capacity to back innovative high growth businesses that would otherwise face a funding gap. The Sussex Place Ventures team has a good track record in making such early-stage investments, and we are delighted to be able to back them with an investment in this new ECF Fund.”
