The Creative Growth Finance II (CGF II) fund from the not-for-profit has been entrusted with the task of expanding the creative sector in line with the recently established government goal of growing the UK creative industry by £50 billion over the decade
A £35 million investment fund targeting tech startups in the cultural sector has been launched by industry body Creative UK.
The Creative Growth Finance II (CGF II) fund from the not-for-profit has been entrusted with the task of expanding the creative sector in accordance with the recently established government goal of growing the UK creative industry by £50 billion over the decade.
Creative UK Chief Executive Officer Caroline Norbury OBE said: This country’s talented creative businesses are experiencing a considerable gap between their huge growth potential and access to the vital capital they require to succeed.
CGF II follows on from the group’s first fund, launched in 2019, which has since invested over £17 million across more than 30 startups in film, TV, virtual reality, gaming and software development.
As per the Salford-based group, the portfolio of its first fund has so far experienced an average revenue improvement of 108%, creating 225 jobs and going on to raise around £19 million in further third-party funding.
Previous startups backed by Creative UK include advertising software company Covatic, ecommerce services firm Venture Stream and customer data insight specialist Bulbshare.
CFG II will be delivered in collaboration with Netherlands-based Triodos Bank.
Four years on from the launch of the first Creative Growth Finance fund, our partnership with Creative UK goes from strength to strength and continues to support firms at the forefront of innovation, said Triodos Bank’s UK director of business banking, Philip Bate.
He added: For a bank only centred on financing projects with positive impact, we can see the social importance of these organisations to the UK. Creative UK’s expertise has been vital to helping us increase our funding of this important sector.