Business Growth Fund
BGF was established to address the SME funding gap in the UK, providing growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses. The firm aims to support a diverse portfolio of companies in fulfilling their growth ambitions, contributing to the economic resilience of the country. With a well-capitalised, evergreen balance sheet of £3bn, BGF invests across various stages, sectors, and regions, offering long-term, flexible funding alongside scaleup support. Their investments span from private SMEs to early-stage and quoted companies, demonstrating a broad investment appetite.
CEECAT Capital
CEECAT Capital is a private equity investment manager focused on investing in small and mid-market companies in Emerging Europe and Turkey. They aim to create long-term value for their investors by investing in and promoting the growth of their portfolio companies. The firm emphasizes responsible and sustainable growth, promoting socially responsible practices, corporate governance, and focusing on the impact of their companies on their carbon footprint, diversity, and involvement in local communities. CEECAT works with CEOs and management teams to develop concrete plans to effect meaningful and lasting change in their communities and the wider environment. Their investment strategy involves growth equity investments in Southeast Emerging Europe, focusing on majority buyout or minority investments with significant control rights. They look for financially sustainable companies where they see an opportunity to grow organically and/or through acquisitions. The firm targets regional champions, supporting themes driven by core convergence, export competitiveness, and import substitution in the fast-growing Eastern European markets. CEECAT Capital is committed to ESG principles and strives towards the “International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards on Social and Environmental Sustainability.” They take a disciplined approach to identifying risks as part of their ESG screening, conducting detailed due diligence as part of the risk evaluation. Post-investment, they aim to build capacity at the portfolio company for the control and mitigation of potential risks and overall improvement in the company's ESG practices. They are a signatory to the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI). CEECAT II Fund invests in companies with 30-100% shareholding, focusing on ultimate control. The target investment period is 5 years.
CRT Pioneer Fund
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
CVC
CVC is a leading global private markets manager focused on private equity, secondaries, credit, and infrastructure. The firm operates with a global network of 30 local offices and manages €205 billion of assets. CVC's investment approach centers on building better businesses through a repeatable value creation process, partnering with management teams to drive operational efficiency and reinvest for growth. The firm is committed to sustainable value creation for stakeholders, applying responsible investment principles across its asset classes. CVC manages funds for over 1000 institutional clients, including pension plans, focusing on delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns across economic cycles. CVC's success is driven by its global network and local presence, enabling it to source opportunities and create value across jurisdictions. The firm's entrepreneurial, performance-driven culture aims to deliver exceptional returns for clients. The stability and experience of its senior team, with an average tenure of 16 years for Managing Partners, contribute to the firm's ability to navigate various market cycles. The firm's strategies are complementary and include private equity (Europe/Americas, Asia, Strategic Opportunities and Catalyst), secondaries, credit and infrastructure. This breadth allows CVC to leverage its global resources across different investment situations. CVC Capital Partners plc is a public limited company listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
Cambridge Enterprise Ventures
Cambridge Enterprise Ventures doesn't explicitly state a single, concise investment thesis on the crawled pages. However, their overall strategy revolves around transforming research from the University of Cambridge into global impact. This involves identifying and supporting promising innovations, technologies, and talented teams emerging from the university's research ecosystem. They aim to facilitate knowledge transfer, commercialization, and the creation of spin-out companies and social enterprises. Their approach includes providing diverse support, from idea development to investment, and expert advice in areas like intellectual property management, licensing, and venture building. Their venture-building and investment arm focuses on accelerating impactful journeys for brilliant minds, specifically founders at the University of Cambridge. The ultimate goal is to create globally-leading economic and social impact by translating Cambridge research into real-world applications. Cambridge Enterprise also plays a key role in convening the University and the wider Cambridge ecosystem to drive entrepreneurship and innovation. Cambridge Enterprise seeks to support ventures that have the potential to address significant global challenges and create lasting value. By connecting the university's research expertise with external partners and resources, they aim to build successful and impactful businesses. They look to partner both inside and outside of the University to share knowledge and expertise with others. They act as a bridge between ecosystems, supporting emerging entrepreneurs, spin-outs and start-ups and shaping the innovation landscape of Cambridge for the future. Overall, Cambridge Enterprise supports innovators, experts and entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and expertise for the benefit of society, the economy, themselves and the University. They offer expert advice and support in commercialisation and social enterprise, including help with academic consultancy services, the protection, development and licensing of ideas, new company and social enterprise creation, and seed funding.
Cambridge Future Tech
Cambridge Future Tech operates as a deep tech venture builder, focusing on identifying and commercializing cutting-edge technologies to create world-leading ventures. They concentrate on building companies from the ground up, starting from 'day zero,' based on scientific discoveries and engineering breakthroughs sourced from academic and corporate research. CFT aims to bridge the gap between early-stage technology and real-world products, tackling significant societal and environmental challenges. Their model involves a tech-first mindset, leading the best tech scouting function to identify opportunities and then working closely with industry leaders and corporate partners to connect their biggest challenges with breakthrough solutions. The firm's strategy is to develop disruptive deep tech ventures by growing talented teams and building businesses from scratch. They offer not only investment but also operational and strategic support, enabling ventures to scale effectively and secure further investment. CFT actively collaborates with pioneering founders, innovative scientists and engineers, and a network of universities, investors, and corporate partners to bring game-changing companies to market. They emphasize partnerships with industry leaders like Anglo American, ARUP, CERN Venture Connect, Nokia Bell Labs, and Cemex, indicating a focus on collaborative innovation and commercial deployment of technologies. CFT's approach extends to consulting services, where they work directly with industry to integrate their solutions, fostering collaborations that advance industry. They aim to launch pioneering ventures to great commercial success, championing innovations that solve significant global problems. Cambridge Future Tech's team is central to every innovation, investing their time, experience, and expertise to build change-making companies. Owen, the CEO & Founder, aims to create 40 deep tech companies in five years. The firm actively seeks opportunities to invest in their portfolio companies and encourages interested parties to get in touch, showing an open approach to expanding their network and funding base.
Cambridge University
Based on the crawled website content, it is challenging to formulate a traditional venture capital investment thesis for the University of Cambridge. The website primarily focuses on academic programs (undergraduate, postgraduate, professional), research activities, and university administration. While there is a 'Business and Enterprise' section, the provided excerpts do not delve into specific investment strategies, target sectors, or financial vehicles. The university's emphasis is on education, research, and public engagement, with a business and enterprise arm which may oversee commercialisation of research through licensing deals, spin outs or technology transfer, as well as partnering with businesses. It is likely that any investment activity occurs through a separate entity or fund associated with the university, which is not revealed within the available scraped pages. It can be assumed that the University likely engages with or supports the commercialisation of research outcomes, potentially involving investment or funding in spin-out companies arising from university research. Based on this assumption, an investment thesis could broadly be around supporting innovation and entrepreneurship stemming from Cambridge University's research base, targeting deep-tech companies or ventures with strong intellectual property and societal impact. However, without further information on a related fund, this remains highly speculative. The overall impression is that the University's site content concentrates on academia, student life, research endeavors, and community outreach, making it problematic to extract meaningful investment information, strategies or goals from this limited data. It is likely that the university would engage with separate investors to commercialize research outcomes rather than investing directly into ventures.
Carbon13
Carbon13 is a venture builder focused on addressing the climate emergency. They believe entrepreneurs will change the trajectory of climate change. The firm builds and backs ventures capable of mitigating at least 10M tonnes of CO2e per annum once at scale. They harness the entrepreneurial spirit by engaging with academia, business, policy makers, NGOs, consumers, new standards and finance. Carbon13 is committed to creating ventures that wouldn't otherwise exist by connecting founders, encouraging those unsure about entrepreneurship, and helping individuals find the right cofounder. They focus on supporting ventures in becoming more resilient and impactful. Their goal is to build ventures that mitigate over 400 million tonnes of CO2e per annum by 2040.
Catamaran Ventures UK
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Catapult Ventures
Catapult Ventures focuses on value creation through long-term relationships, both with their portfolio companies and investors in the funds they manage. They invest in ambitious entrepreneurs and management teams, providing active board membership roles with the executive team playing a key role in investee company strategy, hiring of senior personnel, and even finding and meeting customers. Catapult also provides financial strategy support, including leveraging banking relationships and introducing new investors for additional funding rounds. Their approach involves tailoring individual investment solutions to meet the specific funding needs of each portfolio company. They provide support to entrepreneurs and business owners to help them achieve their goals and ambitions. The firm emphasizes the importance of working with an investment partner with years of experience and a successful track record. Catapult's executive team members take direct portfolio responsibility, adding the most value to the companies they work with. This hands-on approach ensures active participation in strategic decision-making and operational support. They leverage the team's diverse experience across sectors and stages to provide tailored support and guidance.
Catena Capital
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Charlie Oscar Group
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Cheyne Strategic Value Credit
Cheyne Capital focuses on identifying and capturing long-term investment opportunities arising from market dislocations and inefficiencies. The firm invests across the capital structure, from credit to equity, in both corporate and real estate assets. Their approach is research-driven, emphasizing fundamental investing and active portfolio management. They aim to deliver a variety of long-biased liquid and semi-liquid credit strategies, particularly in investment grade and crossover corporate credit. In real estate, they provide innovative lending solutions across the capital structure, with a focus on affordable housing development within sustainable, integrated communities. Cheyne Strategic Value Credit (SVC) employs a value-oriented credit strategy seeking to capture value in primarily European mid-market corporate credit, in stressed and distressed opportunities as well as the provision of bespoke and flexible capital solutions. The firm emphasizes capital preservation and seeks to capitalize on pricing anomalies and idiosyncratic opportunities within a defined risk management framework, in liquid fund format.
Cinven
Cinven is an international private equity firm focused on investing in high-performing businesses with strong growth potential. They create value through close partnerships with portfolio company management teams, setting clear strategic goals to drive outstanding performance. Cinven's approach involves investing behind long-term, structural trends resilient to market fluctuations. They emphasize collaboration, bringing together sector and country specialists to identify untapped potential. Throughout the ownership period, Cinven works closely with management teams to achieve shared success and generate outsized returns. Cinven has nearly 50 years of experience in private equity, with deep expertise across six core sectors. This allows them to effectively implement value creation plans and drive growth for their portfolio companies in various economic landscapes. Their value creation approach involves brand development, product diversification, and strategic shifts in sales channels, exemplified by their work with Kurt Geiger. They also focus on geographic expansion, as seen with Master Builders Solutions. Cinven's investment strategy is supported by a strong governance structure. The Executive Committee, led by Co-Managing Partners Bruno Schick and Jorge Quemada, is responsible for the firm's management, strategy, budget, and human capital. Fund-specific committees oversee investments, portfolio company developments, and exits. The firm's regional and sector expertise allows it to effectively navigate complex market dynamics and drive market consolidation, as demonstrated by their investment in MASMOVIL. Cinven's success is rooted in their partnership approach, combining sector and regional expertise with a focus on long-term value creation. They provide not only capital but also strategic guidance, operational support, and access to their extensive network. This integrated approach has enabled them to consistently deliver strong returns and build sustainable, out-performing businesses.
Circular Plastics Accelerator
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Circularity Capital
Circularity Capital is a specialist growth-stage investor focused on businesses enabling the circular economy. They believe that a growing number of businesses are adopting circular business models to decouple growth from resource constraints, enhance resource productivity, and drive competitive advantage. Founded in 2015, the firm aims to deliver value for investors by supporting growth and innovation in this area. Circularity Capital distinguishes itself by combining deep understanding of circular business models and the challenges these businesses face with a proven track record in scaling growth-stage businesses. They are a supportive, hands-on investor, utilizing their specialist expertise and knowledge to assist their portfolio companies. The firm's mission is to accelerate the transition toward the circular economy by investing in exceptional circular businesses. Their approach involves developing deep understanding of how circular business models drive value, as well the common challenges they face, is key to supporting entrepreneurs with their growth ambitions. This has resulted in them establishing a purpose-built manager which combines an unparalleled network and knowledge in the circular economy with a proven track-record in scaling growth-stage businesses.
City Gold Ventures
City Gold Ventures focuses on aiding startups and SMEs in developing, scaling, and marketing their products to bring their vision to life. They act independently, prioritizing the company's interests. Their services span from initial development to fundraising, supporting companies throughout their growth journey. They aim to fill resource gaps in startups and SMEs, allowing founders to focus on product excellence, technology processes, and achieving product goals by minimizing costs.
Columbia Lake Partners
Columbia Lake Partners (CLP) focuses on providing growth loans to European technology companies. Founded in 2014, CLP aims to offer a less dilutive funding option compared to solely relying on equity financing, enabling founders to scale their businesses. Their investment approach is characterized by a 'light touch,' avoiding board seats, employing light covenants, and maintaining standard reporting procedures. CLP's investment philosophy stems from the understanding that companies often face unpredictable paths to success. They prioritize a transparent and collaborative approach, combined with a persistent curiosity to identify and support high-growth technology businesses across the UK and Europe. CLP's debt solutions are intended to extend cash runways, bridge companies to profitability, and fuel growth. Their team has extensive experience in venture lending, having managed significant portfolios in prior roles. Backed by knowledgeable investors, including partners at Bessemer Venture Partners, CLP aims to build a fund that they themselves would want to work with if they were looking for capital. The firm also emphasizes a commitment to inclusion, diversity, and equality. They are based in London and are proud to be located 'south of the river.' They also have a strong alumni network, meaning they have former colleagues in venture, PE, and at portfolio companies. CLP provides knowledge resources related to venture debt, uses of venture debt, and venture debt terms. They provide insights into loan structures including principal and interest payments (monthly payments over 36 months), principal payment holidays (interest-only period). They also charge closing fees (typically 1-2%), and maturity fees (aka Bonus Interest).
Conception X Angel Syndicate
Conception X is an angel syndicate focused on launching the next generation of deeptech founders. Their primary objective is to transform ambitious research into foundational companies, technologies, and systems that will redefine how we live. They work with scientists and engineers, recognizing their unique approach to problem-solving, which starts from evidence, systems thinking, and consequence consideration. They support researchers in building venture-scale companies, enabling them to commercialize discoveries faster. Conception X activates talent and infrastructure across the UK and Europe, creating a distributed network for academic founders and promotes building while at university, leveraging access to world-class facilities, talent, and expert communities.
Conduit Fund
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Connect Ventures
Connect Ventures focuses on backing exceptional founders building outlier product companies. The firm emphasizes a product-centric approach, prioritizing companies with strong developer experience and a deep understanding of their users' needs. They aim to be more than just investors, positioning themselves as long-term partners who understand the intricacies of building product-led businesses. They seek founders building solutions to problems they personally experience, leading to innovative products that resonate with a wider audience. Connect Ventures looks for companies where they can establish a high level of trust and alignment with the founders, acting as a sounding board and accountability partner throughout their journey. The firm's investment strategy is to lead or co-lead pre-seed and seed rounds, providing crucial early-stage funding and support. They understand the importance of product development and community-led growth, particularly in areas like marketplaces, market networks, and networked SaaS. The partners have experience as founders themselves, providing firsthand understanding of the challenges and opportunities that startups face. The firm actively supports their portfolio companies with fundraising strategies and leadership development. Connect Ventures places high importance on the founder's journey and their ability to create impactful products. The quotes from portfolio founders highlight Connect's understanding of product, commitment through thick and thin, and willingness to be hands-on when needed. Their investment decisions are driven by a belief in the power of product to drive growth and category domination, and they actively experiment with new frameworks like Minimum Viable Category Design to help their portfolio companies succeed.
Copa Ventures
Venture capital firm investing in high-growth technology companies.
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF)
The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) was an initiative launched by the government-owned British Business Bank, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. Launched in February 2017, it completed its investment phase in December 2023, facilitating over £200m of direct and private sector co-investment to growing companies across the South West. CIOSIF aimed to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly region and foster economic growth through enterprise, targeting SMEs with commercial debt and equity finance ranging from £25,000 to £2 million to support their growth and job creation. The fund addressed barriers to accessing finance and an equity gap in start-up, early stage, and development capital, specifically tailored for small businesses across the region. It offered a mix of debt and equity funding to SMEs at various stages of development, utilizing a combination of ERDF, LEP, and HMG grant funding. Although CIOSIF has completed its investment phase, the region continues to be served by the South West Investment Fund, which launched in July 2023 and is open to investments. The new fund aims to deliver £200m of investment to growing companies, building on CIOSIF's legacy of supporting businesses through debt and equity financing. The investment strategy included both debt and equity options, recognizing the different needs of businesses whether for working capital, rapid growth, or longer-term backing.
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF)
The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) aimed to transform the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly region and to realize the region’s potential to achieve economic growth through enterprise. The fund provided commercially focused finance through a Debt and Equity Fund. It addressed the equity gap in start-up, early-stage, and development capital for SMEs in the region. The investment phase for CIOSIF concluded in December 2023, but the fund facilitated over £200m of direct and private sector co-investment to growing companies across the South West during its operational period. CIOSIF was a collaboration between the British Business Bank and the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (CIOS LEP). The up to £40m Fund supported access to finance where barriers existed for SMEs. The funding was drawn from several sources including the UK Government and the European Regional Development Fund, including an allocation from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (CIOS LEP). CIOSIF has transitioned to the South West Investment Fund, which launched in July 2023 and is now open for investments. The new South West Investment Fund will deliver £200m of investment to growing companies. It is intended to continue supporting the growth of companies across the South West region by offering both debt and equity financing options.