UK launches £1bn investment fund backed by Mastercard, Barclays

By Gloria Methri

UK FinTech Growth Partners has announced the launch of the FinTech Growth Fund, the first investment fund of its kind focusing on supporting growth-stage FinTechs as they scale.

With backing for the initiative already secured from industry leaders Barclays, NatWest, Mastercard, London Stock Exchange Group, and Peel Hunt, the FinTech Growth Fund will invest in UK FinTechs, predominantly between Series B and pre-IPO, to enable them to scale into global organisations.

The first deployment of capital into businesses is scheduled for Q4 2023 with a strong pipeline of opportunities already identified. The fund will look to undertake, on average, four to eight investments per year, with investments between £10 million and £100 million. The fund will make minority investments and all investments will be for equity and equity-linked securities.

Alongside the investment capital, the FinTech Growth Fund will provide strategic support to its portfolio companies to help them achieve their corporate ambitions, giving them access to an ecosystem of deep, relevant experience across FinTech, venture capital, and the wider financial services ecosystem.

The UK FinTech Growth Partners executive team combines decades of experience in venture capital, FinTech, and government. The partners of the fund include:

• Angel Issa – former Global Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Investments at Nomura, having previously held similar roles at BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley;
• Joe Parkin – former Managing Director – Head of Banks, Digital Channels, and UK Inorganic at BlackRock;
• Kaushalya Somasundaram – Former Executive Director and UK Head of Payments, Partnerships & Industry Relations at Square; Former Managing Director and Global Head of FinTech Partnerships & Strategic Innovation Investments Director at HSBC, and;
• Phil Vidler – CEO of FinTech Alliance, formerly Group Strategy Director at Pollinate and Head of Global Markets for HM Treasury

The fund is currently recruiting for a number of roles, including regional positions as part of its commitment to supporting businesses throughout the UK.

Phil Vidler, Managing Partner, said, “The UK has always been at the forefront of innovation in FinTech but there is a very clear and well evidenced growth funding gap. The FinTech Growth Fund will address the lack of available growth capital by providing a first-of-its-kind domestic, growth-stage, FinTech-focused venture capital fund backed by strategic investors. Our aim is to not only provide the capital needed for founders to scale their businesses but to also engage with stakeholders across the nation to support the wider ecosystem. In doing so, we believe we can ensure the UK remains a global leader in FinTech.”