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£50 million fund for new start-up businesses

Published On 19 March 2007 at 13:35:10

A national organisation has launched an ambitious five-year project to help fund new business start-ups.

The National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (Nesta) revealed that it was launching the £50 million fund to "demonstrate models of early-stage investment that generate competitive returns and, in doing so, act as a trailblazer for the private sector".

Investing a total of £10 million each year, the fund will provide individual start-ups with seed money of up to £250,000.

As well as receiving the financial assistance, the new businesses will also benefit from ongoing mentoring and business support from Nesta.

"With the private sector vacating early-stage funding after the dot.com era and the government now shifting its focus to more developed businesses, the UK is facing a potential dearth of investment in this area," explained Nesta's chief executive, Jonathan Kestenbaum.

"Our fund is designed to plug this gap both directly and by demonstrating the viability of early-stage investment to third parties."

David Hunter, the managing director of Nesta Investments, added that the new fund would act as a "trailblazer for the private sector" and demonstrate "more of a partnership approach between public funds and their private counterparts".

 

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