In 2004, the then Mayor of London established SME Wholesale Finance (London) Ltd (now rebranded as Funding London), with a specific long term mandate to support the Economic Development Strategy for London through SME funding activities. Funding London was designed to act as a ‘holding vehicle’ for the Access to Finance Funds. The initial fund was financed by London Development Agency, European Regional Development Fund Programme (2000–2006) and the European Social Fund.

The establishment of an independent company to act as a holding fund was considered to be the most appropriate mechanism for this purpose given the additional possibilities it would allow, such as drawing in private sector finance and becoming a mechanism for funding that could be utilised over the longer term on a London-wide basis. This holding fund model is now replicated across the UK.

The initial operations and day to day functions were carried out from within the London Development Agency. In September 2009, Funding London was ‘spun out’ of the LDA and operations were handed over to the newly appointed Chief Executive, Maggie Rodriguez-Piza. With increased independence (or autonomy) and the new leadership, we transformed ourselves into a commercial organisation, without deviating from our mandate. The management also comprises a board of six non-executive directors who provide strategic advice in their area of expertise. Since spinning off, there have been two major events:

• European Regional Development Fund Grant (2007–2013):
• In September 2011, Funding London was awarded a new grant from the European Regional Development Fund (2007–2013) to invest alongside available fund returns for the creation of a new early stage equity fund for London SMEs. This achievement enabled us to fulfil one of our goals to become an evergreen fund through the reinvestment of returns and leveraging in other capital.
• Growing Places Fund Grant:
• In 2014, we won the Growing Places Fund Grant of £25m which was used to setup the London Co-investment Fund which aims to provide funds to budding tech and science start-ups of London planning to expand their businesses.

Since our inception in 2004, we continue to channel funding from Europe and the UK, through appointed fund managers to sustainable and ambitious London SMEs. Our reinvestment model allow our funds to go back into the London ecosystem, making investments available to the next generation.