The commitment marks the 18th investment by the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (‘ECF‘) programme.

Passion Capital is a hands-on investor providing financial support and mentoring at a very early stage, helping to build companies and prepare them for accelerated growth.

The new fund builds on the success of Passion Capital’s first fund, which was also supported by British Business Bank’s ECF programme, and backed the early development of high growth companies such as Adzuna, CarThrottle, Digital Shadows, DueDil and GoCardless. The second fund will continue to have the same focus on early stage technology businesses seeking up to £2 million of investment.

Robert Dighero, Partner, Passion Capital, commented: “Our first fund cohort has made excellent progress and we are now looking to add further exceptional early stage businesses to the Passion portfolio. We are delighted with our on-going partnership with British Business Bank and will continue to invest in the very best, leading edge, UK technology start-ups.”

Ken Cooper, British Business Bank’s Managing Director of Venture Capital Solutions, added: “The Passion Capital team have a track record of early stage investment in UK technology companies. They have a valuable mix of financial and operational skills and a genuine enthusiasm for building strong companies, and we are very pleased to be able to back their second fund. This is a great example of the way the British Business Bank can work through its partner organisations to fill gaps in the funding market to provide real help to the UK’s smaller businesses.”

The British Business Bank’s ECF programme addresses a gap in risk capital investment within the UK market. The programme which has £400 million to invest over the next three years, has backed the creation of 18 funds, providing more than £620 million of investment potential for high growth businesses.