Sprk Capital Secures £20M British Business Investments Contribution

This week, British Business Investments announced an initial £ 20 million funding facility to Sprk Capital. The facility will provide capital to smaller businesses in the UK engaged in innovation.

British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, aims to improve access to alternative finance for smaller businesses across the whole of the UK, while supporting the UK’s transition to a net zero economy. Since it was established in 2014, British Business Investments has committed more than £3.8 billion to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses.

Sprk is a specialty lender to companies engaged in the innovation sector. Through the provision of advanced funding of UK R&D and innovation grants, Sprk provides non-dilutive cashflow solutions to smaller businesses. R&D advance funding, also known as an R&D tax credit loan, is a simple way for businesses to access their R&D tax credits at any point in the financial year. Grant advance funding, also known as innovation grant funding, is a way for businesses to finance their grant awards ahead of incurring expenditures.

Currently, innovation incentives such as tax credits and grants account for £16 billion of funding to smaller businesses in the United Kingdom. Since it launched in 2021, Sprk has provided funding to innovation projects totalling north of £150 million. Although Sprk has a sector-agnostic lending strategy, 80% of its loans to date broadly represent the UK innovation market, with lending focused on the manufacturing, IT and communication, and the professional scientific and technical sectors.

Sprk is the first lender focused on the innovation lending sector to receive funding from British Business Investments.

In 2024, the British Business Bank and Innovate UK signed a memorandum of understanding to help create new pathways for business investment and promote growth through innovation. The collaboration will see the two organizations working more closely together to create new opportunities to promote investment and to support UK businesses through better-tailored offerings.

“This £20 million funding facility will enable Sprk to back UK smaller businesses in the innovation sector, providing them with cashflow solutions at critical points in their journey,” British Business Investments’ managing director Adam Kelly said. “We look forward to working with Sprk to help innovative smaller businesses across the UK to access the capital they need to scale up and become successful, high-growth companies.”

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the commitment of British Business Investments to provide funding to SMEs that are critical to advancing UK-led innovation,” added Sprk CEO Dominick Peasley. “The funding provided also enables us to work even closer with UK Research & Innovation through Innovate UK to provide additional capital to grant projects, accelerating UK-led innovation further.”

“We recognize the liquidity challenges that can face cutting-edge businesses bringing new technologies to market,” Innovate UK CIO Scott O’Brien said. “Together, the British Business Bank and Innovate UK support the end-to-end pathways through which innovative UK businesses start, scale and succeed. This new funding facility with Sprk supports those pathways alongside our world-class portfolio of products and services designed to support businesses in bringing the best ideas to market and driving economic growth.”

“The initial £20 million has the potential to help fund hundreds of SMEs to achieve their goals of advancing technology and research in the UK into some of the most complex issues that are faced around net zero, AI and sustainability.”



Sponsored Links by DQ Promote

 

 

 
Send this to a friend