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30 Jun 2009
Prime minister Gordon Brown has unveiled an investment fund for high-growth tech firms, but channel players doubt they will see any of the money.
The government is pouring £150m into its new Innovation Investment Fund, which is aimed at firms in the digital and life sciences, clean tech and advanced manufacturing sectors.
That investment will be matched by private sector investment on an equal basis and it is hoped the total pot will grow to as much as £1bn over the next 10 years.
However, Scott Fletcher, chief executive of Cisco Gold partner ANS, questioned whether IT services firms would qualify for any funding under the scheme.
“This will be good for innovation but it will not address funding in the IT channel,” he said. “£150m is a good start but it is a drop in the ocean when you look at what the government has put into banks,” he said.
The fund will operate on a ‘fund of funds’ structure – meaning it will invest in a small number of specialist technology funds that then invest directly in companies.
Brown called venture capital finance the “lifeblood of innovation”.
Business secretary Lord Mandelson added: “In our New Industry New Jobs strategy we identified access to venture capital as one of the critical factors in developing innovative new companies in Britain. The UK Innovation Investment Fund will be a shot in the arm for the British venture capital industry.”
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