Excellent news for British Innovation this week as the Chancellor unveiled measures to unlock over £20bn of new investment in British technology. Many of the pledges were in response to the Treasury's Patient Capital Review (read our submission here) and included £2.5bn seed funding for a British Business Bank incubated patient capital fund, measures to facilitate pension fund access to innovation and the doubling of EIS investment limits.
“A fantastic budget for British Innovation, but once again British Parliament's parochial attitude comes through," Douglas Hansen-Luke, Executive Chairman of Future Planet Capital. told Private Equity News. "Neither British Taxpayers nor British Pension Funds need to fund this; there are countless international investors queuing up to invest in British Innovation. At Future Planet Capital, we are unlocking international capital, eager to invest with Britain’s top universities and research centres. This brings money into the U.K. and boosts our economy; the government should do more to facilitate this kind of inward investment, not least in light of the EIF’s likely withdrawal of future funding.”
