NESTA Ventures
NESTA Ventures invests directly in early-stage companies in the following sectors:
- Life Sciences and Healthcare
- ICT, Engineering and CleanTech
We have strict investment criteria, and only work with companies that have high potential for growth, are at seed or start-up stage, and have the potential to attract syndicated support.
Stimulating Venture Capital - the need for a new £1 billion fund
In our recent 'Shifting Sands' report, we highlighted the retreat of private venture capital from the early stage venture sector. NESTA is calling for a £1billion fund of funds to be created after warning that the UK's next generation of technologies are at crisis point, with early stage innovative firms suffering from the retreat of private venture capital from the sector.
In our paper 'Attacking the recession', we suggest the fund is aimed at ultimately supporting high-potential, innovative, early-stage businesses suffering from the effects of the 'equity gap'.
We would further suggest that the fund operates on a strictly commercial basis. Discussions are now underway to build on the governments' interest in supporting UK companies through the improvement of access to Venture Funding.