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BGF [2023]
Finance and Risk Capital
Impact for scaleups
c.600
Companies backed since 2011
£3.8bn
Invested since 2011
£1m-£20m
Initial investments and follow-on funding provided
73%
of funding invested outside of London and the South East
Key sectors
Since its formation in 2011, BGF has backed almost 600 businesses in the UK and Ireland. The investor supports a range of growing companies – early stage, growth stage and quoted – across every region and sector of the economy. It has invested £3.8bn since 2011.
BGF makes long-term equity investments in return for a minority, non-controlling stake in the companies it backs. Initial investments are between £1m-£20m and can be followed by significant follow-on funding. The ScaleUp Institute’s Female Founder Index has identified BGF as the most active institutional investor in women-led businesses for the past four years.
The company has 15 offices in the UK and Ireland. Roughly three-quarters (73%) of its investments are into companies based outside London and the South East. The BGF portfolio of companies collectively employ more than 60,000 people. Scaleups it has backed include healthcare infrastructure specialist Archus, autonomous vehicle software developer Oxa and iconic foldable bicycle brand Brompton.
BGF has established a clean growth advisory board led by Baroness Brown, chair of the Carbon Trust, to accelerate efforts to invest in companies supporting the energy transition.
BGF has an internal team of nearly 200 combined with a 6,000-strong network of business leaders, sector experts and non-executive directors called the Talent Network. Part of BGF’s model is to connect portfolio companies with members of the Talent Network, who serve as non-executive directors as well as provide ad hoc consultancy services.
The BGF model is internationalising. In 2018, Canada launched its own BGF while Australia did the same in 2020. Both are backed by a combination of banks and major investors.
In September 2022, BGF led the second annual Scaleup Week, a week-long series of virtual events, in partnership with the ScaleUp Institute.
