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Development Bank of Wales [2024]
Finance and Risk Capital
Impact for scaleups
430
UK companies backed
£125m
in direct investment
£1.9bn
funds under management
Key sectors
The Development Bank of Wales (DBW), formerly known as Finance Wales, was established by the Welsh Government in 2001 and relaunched in 2017 with an expanded remit to operate as a national financial institution. Wholly owned by the Welsh Government, DBW provides loans, property finance, seed and acquisition funding, and equity investments ranging from £50,000 to £10 million to help Welsh businesses start, scale and succeed. It directs public funds to areas of greatest impact and forms part of the DBW Group alongside Angels Invest Wales and North of England fund manager FW Capital.
In the financial year ending 31 March 2024, The Development Bank of Wales completed 491 investments in 2023/24, with a total value of just over £125m. These investments were associated with almost 3,400 new and safeguarded jobs. Furthermore, micro-businesses received almost 53% of debt and equity investment funds during 2023/24, accounting for more than 1,000 new and safeguarded jobs.
DBW continues to focus on working with the private sector to maximise the flow of private capital in Wales. Scaleups that it has supported include events company Worldspan and biotech Jellagen.
DBW continues to be the biggest equity investor in Welsh businesses – participating in 350 deals across the high-growth ecosystem between 2013 and 2022. It co-invests alongside other banks, VCs, angel investors, crowdfunding platforms and grant funders. It has a network of dedicated, local account managers. The number of investors registered by Angels Invest Wales (AIW) has continued to rise to 334, with 102 of them angel investments in the financial year 2022/23. The DBW’s five year plan to 2027 is to directly invest over £650m into Welsh companies.
