Barclays Injects £100m Into Fast Growth Technology Companies

In a UK first, Barclays is launching a new £100m fund to help fast growing technology businesses accelerate to the next level.

The new drive will see the backing of some of the most innovative UK technology businesses with lending of up to £5m, repayable over three years.

Until now, this type of lending has not been widely available to UK businesses, whereas their US counterparts have been able to grow rapidly through access to debt finance.

This new fund offers a welcome boost to growing UK technology firms, and will provide a catalyst for their development into larger companies. It is part of our plans to deliver the kind of pro-growth financial backing for UK business that US firms already enjoy. 

Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking

Because fast-growing technology firms develop much more rapidly than the 15 year average of traditional businesses, they stand to benefit from new access to debt finance, as an alternative to selling equity. This will also allow leading entrepreneurs to retain control of their company’s development and concentrate on accelerated growth.

A recent report by Barclays showed that UK technology businesses are expected to grow four times faster than GDP in 2015.

Launching the new fund during a visit to high-growth technology firms in Cambridge, Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said: “This new fund offers a welcome boost to growing UK technology firms, and will provide a catalyst for their development into larger companies. It is part of our plans to deliver the kind of pro-growth financial backing for UK business that US firms already enjoy.

 “We identified a significant gap in the traditional way technology businesses were financed, and with this new drive we will be truly able to support businesses right from their inception, to becoming major global players.

 “Entrepreneurs and SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy and the technology sector is an incredible incubator for many of these talented individuals and businesses. The rapid growth we’ve seen in the UK rivals the activity and dynamism of Silicon Valley with record levels of investment from the US into London-based technology firms in particular.”

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