Government launches new fund to help struggling start-ups

A new £1.25bn package, designed to help early stage companies receive the investment they need to survive the coronavirus crisis, has been launched by the government.

The Future Fund will provide government loans to UK companies ranging from £125,000 to £5m, subject to equal funding from private investors.

Announced by the Chancellor and delivered in partnership with the British Business Bank, the Future Fund will launch in May 2020 and run until at least the end of September.

The fund, which will be available to innovative new companies which do not qualify for existing coronavirus rescue measures, will match up to £250m of private investment, with a further £750m available to add to an existing loan and grant scheme for smaller firms focusing on research and development.

According to the government website, firms will be eligible for the Future Fund if they:

• are based in the UK;
• can attract equivalent match funding from third party private investors and institutions; and
• have previously raised at least £250,000 in equity investment from third party investors in the past five years.

Full eligibility criteria will be published in due course.

Further guidelines stipulate that if a company is part of a corporate group, only the parent company will be eligible to receive the loan. Eligible companies shall also be subject to customer fraud, money laundering and KYC checks before any loan is made.

In addition, Innovate UK, the government research and development support agency, will also provide £750m in grants and loans, most of which will be available to Innovate UK’s 2,500 existing members. The first payments will be made in mid-May.

Visit our Coronavirus hub page for all the latest information about support available to businesses