Launched on 20 May 2020, and open for applications until 31 January 2021, the Future Fund issued 1,190 companies with Convertible Loan Agreements worth £1.14bn in total. Third-party investors were required to at least match the Future Fund’s investment.

Companies in which Future Fund is now a shareholder include Nottingham-based PBD Biotech, that has developed a rapid screening test for both human and bovine tuberculosis, and Optellum, creators of AI-based software for early diagnosis of lung cancer that utilises the largest real-world dataset of CT scans to identify at-risk patients and help clinicians provide better cancer management and care to patients.

The Future Fund supported UK companies that typically rely on equity investment to fund their growth. By creating a bridge to the next equity funding round, the Future Fund supported these companies through a period of considerable economic disruption and now the recovery.

Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions, British Business Bank said: “The Future Fund was created to ensure a flow of capital, at the height of the pandemic, to companies that would otherwise have been unable to access government support schemes, while ensuring long-term value for the UK taxpayer. We are pleased to see so many of those companies now going on to raise further private sector capital, which will allow the Future Fund to benefit from their continued growth.”

As at 30 September 2022, there were 464 convertible loans that converted into equity shares and in respect of which the Future Fund continues to hold an equity interest.

The scheme used a recognised financial instrument known as a convertible loan. Unlike an equity investment, there wasn’t a requirement under the convertible loan to value the company or the price of its shares, at a time when company valuations had been significantly impacted by Covid-19. Instead, the convertible loans are designed to convert into equity at the next equity funding round, converting at a discount to the price per share agreed between companies and investors in the funding round.

The British Business Bank will update the list of companies in which Future Fund has a shareholding at the end of each financial quarter – the full list is available here.

Further information on the Future Fund is available here

On 6 July 2021 the British Business Bank published data giving a final, comprehensive picture of how the Future Fund has supported businesses during the pandemic. This is available here

Additional 67 companies in which the Future Fund has an equity interest as at 30 September 2022: