Investor profile

British Business Bank

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GBAI/MLDeep TechBio/PharmaHealthtechFintechClimateB2B SaaSEnterpriseOther

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Investment thesis

The British Business Bank is the UK government's economic development bank, established to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. It operates across the full capital stack — from Start Up Loans and early-stage equity via the Enterprise Capital Funds programme, through to later-stage co-investments and fund-of-funds commitments via British Patient Capital and its Growth Equity portfolio. As the largest LP investor in UK venture capital, the Bank acts as a cornerstone investor in funds and co-invests directly in the UK's most promising scale-ups, particularly in deep tech, life sciences, and the eight priority sectors of the Government's Modern Industrial Strategy. Its mandate is explicitly catalytic: to crowd in private and institutional capital, address persistent market gaps, and ensure that high-growth UK companies can start, scale, and stay in the UK.

Notable quotes

The Bank's co-investing plays a critical role in providing scale up capital, but we need to take this further. There are still plenty of high potential and IP rich companies that need funding to scale into globally significant companies, particularly in the eight priority sectors of the Government's Modern Industrial Strategy.

Leandros Kalisperas · British Business Bank press release – co-invests £250m milestone · 2025-10-13

We are making larger investments in high growth companies like Wayve to support the UK's most promising businesses to start, scale, and stay in the UK. Companies like Wayve deserve deeper domestic backing, but too often UK institutional capital is absent from later stage funding rounds.

Leandros Kalisperas · British Business Bank press release – £25m investment in Wayve · 2026-02-25

The British Growth Partnership will give pension funds access to the Bank's live pipeline of scale up businesses. We intend to hit the ground running as soon as we are ready to launch, providing a bridge between institutional investors and the UK's thriving venture ecosystem.

Ian Connatty · British Business Bank press release – co-invests £250m milestone · 2025-10-13

Team

Louis Taylor

Chief Executive Officer

B2B SaaSDeep TechAI/MLFintechHealthtechClimate

Leandros Kalisperas

Chief Investment Officer

Deep TechAI/MLBio/PharmaEnterprise

Ian Connatty

Managing Partner, BBB Investment Services & Deputy Chief Investment Officer

Deep TechAI/MLGrowthMulti-stage

Christine Hockley

Managing Director and Co-Head of Funds

SeedPre-seedB2B SaaSDeep Tech

Richard Coldwell

Investment Director, Growth Equity

GrowthEnterpriseB2B SaaS

David Hourican

Chief Financial Officer

Recent investments

CompanyRoundSizeDate
WayveSeries D$1.2b2026-02-25
Oxford Quantum CircuitsGrowth2026-06-03
IMU BiosciencesGrowth2026-06-02
IceotopeSeries B$26m2025-01-01
Longwall Ventures (Fund 4)Fund commitment (ECF)2024-01-01
NorthEdge IVFund commitment (Growth Equity)2025-01-01
Lansdowne Partners (latest fund)Fund commitment2025-01-01
Entrepreneur First (UK Fund II)Fund commitment (ECF)2024-01-01
IQ CapitalFund commitment (ECF)2023-01-01
Notion CapitalFund commitment (ECF)2023-01-01

Frequent co-investors

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