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Greater London Investment Fund announces the end of its investment period
London, 11 March 2024: Funding London, the successful early-stage institutional investor bridging the funding gap for London-based SMEs, is announcing the end of the investment period for its fund of funds, Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF).
Despite the enormous challenges that arrived with COVID in March 2020, less than a year after the launch of the fund, GLIF has achieved its objective with 159 SMEs supported, 79 of those led or managed by diverse founders. An additional £446.2m of private capital has been attracted, and almost 4,389 jobs created and safeguarded.
GLIF, a £100M fund of funds comprising venture and SME loan funds, was launched in 2019 by the Mayor of London to support London’s startups caught in the funding gap. The fund reached the end of its investment period on 31 December 2023. It has deployed £87.8M across 159 SMEs with a further £12.2M to be invested by December 2025 in follow on rounds.
We partnered with two best of breed fund managers to deploy investment. MMC Ventures and The FSE Group were selected through a competitive procurement process to deliver the equity and loan sub-funds. The equity sub-fund amounts to £45m, while the loan sub-funds amount to £55m.
With a firm commitment to helping diverse founders, GLIF ringfenced £20M for investment in this demographic, aligning its resources to realize its goal of fostering diversity and inclusivity in entrepreneurship. The target was surpassed with £38.6M allocated to London-based businesses managed or led by female, ethnic minority or disable founders effectively backing 79 businesses within this category.
GLIF’s investment strategy focuses on key sectors to the London economy; including the circular economy where we partnered with ReLondon to allocate £14M to support early-stage businesses within this sector. This allocation aligns with the Mayor of London's goal to transform the city into a net-zero carbon urban centre by 2030. Sixteen circular economy SMEs have received investment from GLIF.
We would like to thank the investors in GLIF: the Mayor of London, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and ReLondon.
This moment also marks the end of European Regional Development Fund collaboration with the UK. Funding London secured allocations from three ERDF programmes 2000-2006, 2007-2013, 2014-2020to design and successfully deploy SME investment funds in London. Returns for the earlier programmes have been redeployed into later funds to grow the capital base and continue to support London based SMEs in accordance with our evergreen strategy.
With an evergreen capital base strategy, the Funding London team looks forward to helping London-based SMEs navigate the funding challenges in the years ahead, sustaining its commitment to supporting their growth and success.
Howard Dawber, the Deputy Mayor of London for Business, said: “I’m delighted that Funding London has successfully delivered £100 million from the Mayor’s Greater London Investment Fund, supporting hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses in the capital to bounce back from the pandemic and grow their enterprises. “
“I’m especially pleased that over a third of this funding has been allocated to 79 London-based SMEs owned or managed by female, ethnic minority or disabled founders, helping to build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for all.”
Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, Chief Executive of Funding London, said: “It has been a pleasure to join forces with GLIF’s investors and fund managers to ensure that innovative startups caught in funding gap, are able to raise the funding they needed to launch and grow impactful businesses in London. I am especially proud of the achievements of the funds during the difficult environment caused by COVID-19. Despite end of investment period, our work continues in supporting our portfolio companies for many years to come.”
Kala Desai, Head of Funds London at The FSE Group, said: “I am delighted that the Funds under The FSE Group’s management have been used to support 100 high-growth innovative companies across the capital. The portfolio has used this funding to deliver a significant legacy: creating jobs; securing significant follow-on investment; and driving local economic productivity and growth. All of this whilst ensuring that the principles of sustainability and social responsibility remain core values. We look forward to working with them as they build on and compound the positive impact achieved thus far.”
Simon Menashy, Partner at MMC, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the founders we have been able to back with the support of Funding London with companies like Synthesia, YuLife and Copper demonstrating that London is still the best place to start and scale a business. This Fund has proven that you can generate growth and financial value while promoting greater diversity, creating well-paying jobs and supporting sustainable businesses.”