TWO Northern Ireland companies are included on a list of 30 additional firms from the British Business Bank in which its Future Fund now holds an equity interest.
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.
There are now 529 companies in which the Future Fund now holds an equity interest, with the latest including Skurio Ltd in Belfast and Right Revenue in Saintfield.
Skurio is a digital risk protection platform that detects data breaches by monitoring the dark web while Right Revenue is a growing rate management software company which provides recommendations on firms' rate strategy using advanced AI.
Ken Cooper, managing director (venture solutions) at British Business Bank, said: “The Future Fund is now entering the maturity phase, which signals three years since the first loans were executed. This is likely to increase the level of transactional activity rapidly over the coming months.”
Launched in May 2020, the Future Fund issued 1,190 companies with convertible loans worth £1.14 billion in total. Third-party investors were required to at least match the Future Fund’s investment.
The fund supported UK companies that typically rely on equity investment to fund their growth. By creating a bridge to the next equity funding round, it supported these companies through a period of considerable economic disruption and now the recovery.
