AN investment fund set up in 2011 to provide funding for early-stage business across Britain and Ireland has passed the £2 billion milestone.
The Business Growth Fund (BGF) surpassed the landmark when it offered £7.5m for Merseyside-based manufacturer Joloda International.
BGF has already pledged more than £35m of growth capital in Northern Ireland (where it now has a permanent office in Belfast).
Derry house-builder Braidwater was the first to benefit from BGF cash in 2015, and since then the investor has backed five companies, with its Northern Ireland portfolio including coffee shop chain Bob & Bert's, waste management business RiverRidge, software firm AuditComply and kitchen manufacturer Uform.
Paddy Graham, head of Central Scotland and Northern Ireland at BGF, said: “We're proud to have built the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses, doing things differently through a regionally-focused funding model which allows us to invest in and support potential over a long-term horizon.
“We have met and backed brilliant and ambitious entrepreneurs across Northern Ireland and the potential of the region is one of the reasons we’ve now set up a permanent base in Belfast.
“We look forward to creating more partnerships in Northern Ireland, supporting motivated companies not only to scale up their own business, but to drive economic activity through increased employment, exports and growth.”
The fund's chief executive Stephen Welton added: “Our model is not based on a conventional fund – we are a company, with a strong and liquid balance sheet, set up for long-term investing and long-term growth. This is a core part of our appeal to entrepreneurs, vital in meeting the funding gap for growth companies.”
