In partnership with British Business Bank, Aviva Investors and Lloyds Banking Group, Lansdowne Partners has launched a new venture capital fund to support high-potential UK companies.
The fund has announced a first close of more than $150m and is launching a final close in December, with indicated interest above the $200m fund cap.
The new strategy aims to bridge the gap between early innovation and financial success by helping founders develop their ideas and maintain financial discipline.
Peter Davies, partner and head of developed markets at Lansdowne Partners, said: “The UK has at least as much intellectual property per capita as any country in the world.
“Yet too often the companies built around those ideas struggle to access the capital needed to scale globally.”
By backing a set of concentrated early-stage businesses, the Lansdowne team hopes they will be able to realise their potential and become global leaders.
Anthony Barker, director of venture capital at Aviva Investors, added: “We believe Lansdowne’s experience and its disciplined approach to capital deployment position the Fund well to nurture the next generation of UK scale-ups, which we believe can also support long-term investment outcomes.”
