British Patient Capital will continue backing later-stage UK companies up until 2033 after the government extended its mandate in the Spring Statement.
It extends British Patient Capital’s runway five years past the originally planned 2028 end date.
Louis Taylor, CEO of British Business Bank, said: “This extension, and the agreement in principle to recycle our capital to fund new investments, gives us the certainty to plan for the future, and means more high potential companies will be able to access the long-term, patient capital they need to scale up.”
The investment initiative was created as a result of the UK government’s Patient Capital Review in 2018.
Sheffield-based British Patient Capital, a commercial subsidiary of the state-owned British Business Bank, now has more than £3bn in assets under management.
So far this year British Patient Capital has backed Grey Wolf Therapeutics, Perspectum and invested £40m into SV Health Investors’ biotech fund.
In its most recent financial results, British Patient Capital showed that it has invested £341m and four of its investments – Wayve, GoCardless, Lendable and Thought Machine – have become unicorns with a private valuation exceeding $1bn.
“Today British Patient Capital is the largest domestic institutional investor in UK venture capital funds and the most active direct investor in late-stage deep tech and life sciences companies. But there is still more to do,” said Catherine Lewis La Torre, CEO of British Patient Capital.