The British Business Bank launched the £200-million South West Investment Fund aimed at fostering growth and prosperity for small businesses across the South West of England.

The South West Investment Fund (SWIF) will provide much-needed funding to small and medium businesses across the whole South West region, covering Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.

The fund will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for new and growing smaller businesses for various purposes, such as expansion, product or service innovation, and new processes, skills or capital equipment.. It will offer a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to  £2-million and equity investment up to £5-million.

SWIF is the first in a series of six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds being launched by the British Business Bank, the government-owned business development bank. 

A total of £1.6 billion has been committed to the new funds to drive sustainable economic growth, which was first announced by the government in the 2021 Spending Review.

Kim Conchie, chief executive officer for Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’ve already seen the success of the Bank’s Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund in Cornwall over the last five years and the difference it has made to businesses – and business aspirations – in the Duchy. 

“With that fund coming to an end later this year, we very much welcome the new South West Investment Fund operating across the peninsula to build on the success that’s been achieved.”

One Cornish business that has already benefitted from a British Business Bank programme is Liskeard-based Wildanet which secured £1.15-million of equity funding.

SWIG Finance will manage the smaller loans part of the fund, from £25,000 to £100,000, for the whole South West. 

FW Capital and Maven will manage the debt (£100k to £2m) and equity (up to £5m) funds respectively for the north of the region. The FSE Group will manage both debt and equity for the South of the region.

Applications for funding are made directly to the relevant fund managers who can be contacted via the SWIF website www.southwestinvestmentfund.co.uk