The UK government is seeking a fund manager to deploy up to £150 million to high-growth businesses across northern England as it works to close the region’s scale-up funding gap.
The proposed Northern Scaleup Fund, backed by the British Business Bank, will invest between £5 million and £15 million in innovative companies looking to grow.
The fund will target businesses across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber, including university spinouts and companies operating in sectors such as technology, clean energy, space, and creative industries.
The capital comes from money already allocated to the British Business Bank and is separate from the government’s planned £1 billion UK Scale-up Fund, which is being developed with British pension providers.
For founders, the fund could offer larger cheques at a stage when many northern startups struggle to access sufficient domestic capital to scale and compete effectively in competitive markets.
