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Mayor’s post-referendum start-up investment tops £2.5m.
David McQuade - November 28, 2016

A company which produces portable incubators for premature babies and another which makes navigation systems for bicycles are among 20 start-ups to have benefitted from £2.5 million in funding from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, since the EU referendum.

The London Co-investment Fund – the Mayor of London’s early stage business fund – uses public-private venture capital for pump-priming investment in some of London’s most innovative science, digital and technology start-ups.

In June 2016 alone, the Fund invested more than £1 million in a range of start-ups despite a downturn in investment across much of the economy – further proof that London is open for business and remains the best place in the world for exciting and innovative companies to thrive.

Start-ups, business experts and prospective investors meet at City Hall to discuss opportunities through the fund and hear from a number of high-profile speakers.

The London Co-investment Fund is funded by the Mayor of London through the London Local Enterprise Partnership and is managed by Funding London on their behalf. Over its two-year history, it has invested more than £11 million in 67 businesses – from artificial intelligence to energy – and has leveraged nearly £70 million in investment from the private sector, creating more than 450 jobs and safeguarding nearly 200 more in the process.

The Fund supports companies which are using technology to improve lives and tackle significant challenges. For example, MoM Incubators – which makes inexpensive, inflatable incubators designed to cut infant mortality, and Pivigo – an online hub which connects businesses with data scientists and has already worked with KPMG, Marks & Spencer, British Gas, Barclays and Investec.

City Hall maintains an equity stake in these companies and provides legal, procurement, supply chain and marketing support. This enables them to grow and, in so doing, generate new jobs.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

“I have promised to be most pro-business Mayor that London has ever had – and now I’m delivering on that promise. And our great city is fertile ground for promising start-up business from a whole range of sectors. The level of investment being made and the performance powering forward shows very clearly how London is open to new talent and innovative ideas.”