Directory

InnovationRCA

Incubator / AcceleratorAcademia

InnovationRCA is the Royal College of Art's centre for entrepreneurship and commercialisation, providing incubation, IP strategy, business coaching, and accelerator programmes to design-led founders from the RCA community. Its programmes include a Pre-Incubator, Start-up Programme, and Creative Brands Accelerator, as well as the AngelClubRCA investor network. Based at the RCA's Battersea campus, it has supported ventures across sectors including agri-tech, med-tech, clean-tech, and fashion.

Invest in Change

VCSeedPre-Seed

Invest in Change is an Edinburgh-based angel group founded in 2018 that connects angel investors with purpose-led, impact-focused start-ups. The organisation focuses on early-stage seed investments in companies that aim to generate profit whilst creating a positive social or environmental impact, spanning sectors such as software, education, healthcare and community.

Investing Women Angels

VCPre-SeedSeed

Investing Women Angels is Scotland's first all-female angel investment syndicate, incorporated in 2013 and based in Edinburgh. It backs early-stage, predominantly female-founded and female-led businesses across Scotland, having invested over £2.3 million across more than 25 companies. The organisation also runs education and community programmes to increase the number of women participating in angel investing.

Investment For Growth & Jobs NI

GovernmentGrantmaker

Investment For Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland is the official portal for the Northern Ireland 2014–2020 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) programmes. Managed by the Department for the Economy and the Department of Finance, it supported economic development, job creation, and business growth across Northern Ireland using EU structural funds, and is now in the programme closure phase.

Jenson Ventures

VCPre-SeedSeed

Jenson Funding Partners (trading as Jenson Ventures) is an FCA-regulated, B Corp-certified venture capital firm specialising in SEIS and EIS investments in early-stage UK companies. Founded in 2012, the firm has invested over £32 million across 165+ businesses and has 11 successful exits with an average multiple of 4.69x. Jenson takes a purpose-led, inclusive approach to venture investment across all sectors.

KPMG Acceleris

VCSeedSeries A+Professional Services

KPMG Acceleris is an FCA-regulated venture capital advisory firm based in Manchester, operating as a joint venture between KPMG UK and Acceleris Capital (founded 2000). The firm arranges new capital for SMEs and makes direct investments in technology-based companies, supporting early-stage through to growth-stage businesses across technology, life sciences, and ESG-related sectors. It offers funding, investment advisory, and strategic services to founders and investors across the UK, with a track record of introducing over £150 million into UK SMEs.

Kelvin Capital

VCSeedSeries A+GrowthPre-Seed

Kelvin Capital is a Glasgow-based angel investment syndicate founded in 2009 that backs growth-stage companies across technology, life sciences, and electronics manufacturing. The group has deployed over £150 million into more than 35 portfolio companies alongside other angel syndicates and venture capital firms, and also operates the Kelvin Capital Catalyst Fund targeting established EBITDA-positive UK businesses facing succession or expansion inflection points.

Kero

VCSeedSeries A+

Kero (formerly known as Kero Development Partners) is a UK-based early-stage investment firm that backs innovative engineering businesses with patented or patentable technologies. Founded in 2017, the firm focuses on clean tech, renewable energy, advanced materials, and industrial innovation, providing both capital and operational support to its portfolio companies. Notable portfolio companies include Power Roll (flexible solar film) and ZELIM (unmanned rescue vessels).

King's Ventures

Incubator / AcceleratorAcademia

The Entrepreneurship Institute at King's College London is the university's central hub for entrepreneurial activity, commercialising and scaling innovations founded by King's students, staff, and alumni. It runs the 12-month King's Start-up Accelerator and King's Spin-out Accelerator, offering mentoring, workshops, office space, and investor connections. The portfolio has facilitated over £121 million in investment and supported more than 180 companies.

L Marks

Incubator / AcceleratorProfessional Services

L Marks is a global corporate innovation firm that designs and delivers innovation programmes for major international organisations, including BMW, Lloyd's of London, and Sodexo. Founded in 2014, it operates an award-winning Innovation Lab model connecting corporates with startups, as well as a Venture Studio that builds new revenue-generating businesses from within client organisations, with a 78% deployment rate across more than 120 programmes in Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

LBIC

CoworkingIncubator / Accelerator

The London BioScience Innovation Centre (LBIC) is London's first specialist life science bio-incubator, founded in 2000 and wholly owned by the Royal Veterinary College. It provides fully fitted, serviced CL2 laboratory and office space at its Camden campus and, since 2023, at The Apex within the King's Cross Tribeca development, and has supported over 200 biotechnology and life science companies since opening. LBIC is co-located with the RVC's Camden campus, adjacent to the Francis Crick Institute and the Knowledge Quarter.

LBS Launchpad

Incubator / AcceleratorAcademia

LBS Launchpad is London Business School's startup incubator and pre-accelerator programme, run under the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital exclusively for LBS alumni founders. It provides mentorship, tailored workshops, financial bursaries, investor access, and a structured curriculum to help early-stage ventures progress from idea to scale. Since inception the programme has supported over 160 companies that have collectively raised more than £200 million and created over 1,500 jobs.

LSE Generate

Incubator / AcceleratorAcademiaCoworking

LSE Generate is the London School of Economics' home for entrepreneurship, supporting students and alumni to develop businesses at every stage since 2018. It operates the GenDen, a free co-working space on the ground floor of St Clement's Building, open to teams with at least one LSE-affiliated founder, and also runs incubator and accelerator programmes, a schools outreach programme, and a corporate innovation lab.

LSIP

VCSeedSeries A+Pre-Seed

London & Scottish Investment Partners (LSIP) is a Scottish-based angel investment group founded in 2014, bringing together sophisticated investors from London and Scotland to back high-quality Scottish companies. The group focuses on seed and early-stage investments in sectors including life sciences, technology, energy, food and drink, and manufacturing, typically investing between £300,000 and £500,000 per deal into around six companies per year. LSIP is an active member of the Scottish Angel Network.

Long Arc Capital

PEGrowthForeign

Long Arc Capital is a private equity firm founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, focused on investing in and building growth-stage businesses across technology, financial services, business services, media, and telecommunications sectors in North America and Europe. The firm was founded by six partners and takes an active ownership approach, partnering closely with management teams to scale breakthrough businesses.

Lough Shore Investments

VCSeedPre-Seed

Lough Shore Investments is a Belfast-based venture capital firm founded in 2010 that backs high-potential management teams in Northern Ireland and Ireland, focusing on seed and early-stage investments in technology, logistics, and financial services. The firm aims to bring portfolio companies to exit or IPO, with notable investments including Options Technology and SendMyBag.

Low Carbon Innovation Fund

VCSeedPre-SeedSeries A+Grantmaker

The Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) is a co-investment fund launched in 2010 worth over £100 million supporting SMEs in the East of England that develop environmentally beneficial technologies, products or services. It is operated as a partnership between the University of East Anglia, Turquoise International, and Norfolk County Council, backed initially by the European Regional Development Fund and later by UK Government, with its third iteration (LCIF3) currently active.

M7 Structura

VCSeedSeries A+

M7 Structura is a pan-European venture capital firm dedicated to real estate technology, investing in revenue-generating PropTech companies at seed to Series A stage with initial cheques of £250k–£3m. The firm was established in 2019 in partnership with M7 Real Estate, a European asset manager with approximately €4.7 billion in AUM.

MDX Enterprise Development Hub

Incubator / AcceleratorAcademia

The Enterprise Development Hub (EDH) at Middlesex University is a university-wide initiative for students, alumni and staff who wish to start or grow a business, become self-employed or act more entrepreneurially. It provides workshops, seminars, mentoring, events and access to the MDXcelerator sprint programme offering seed funding and masterclasses with business leaders. The hub is hosted by the Middlesex University Business School at the Hendon campus in north-west London.

MSDUK Innovation Challenge

Ecosystem Bodies, Catapults & InstitutionsGrantmakerIncubator / Accelerator

The MSDUK Innovation Challenge is an annual programme run by Minority Supplier Development UK (MSDUK), the UK's leading supplier diversity organisation founded in 2006. The Challenge supports ethnic minority-owned businesses across the UK and Europe to showcase innovative products and services to global corporates and investors, offering cash prizes and corporate mentoring; since its founding MSDUK has worked with over 3,000 ethnic minority businesses and more than 120 Fortune 500 firms, generating over £800 million in business for ethnic minority enterprises.

MSIF

VCPre-SeedSeedSeries A+Grantmaker

The Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) is a Liverpool-based alternative finance provider that has invested over £151 million into more than 1,690 small and medium-sized businesses since its establishment in 1996. It operates through four funds — the Liverpool Seed Fund, MSIF Small Firms Fund, MSIF Mezzanine Fund, and MSIF Venture Fund — providing finance ranging from £3,000 to over £2 million. Investments are managed by its subsidiary River Capital and focus predominantly on the Liverpool City Region and broader North West England.

MTI Ventures

VCSeedSeries A+Growth

MTI Ventures is a UK-based venture capital investment management firm founded in 1983, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It raises, structures, and manages venture capital funds investing in early-stage technology companies across health technology, net zero, digital, and the third economy sectors, with a strong emphasis on cleantech, materials technology, and medical technology.

MTech Capital

VCPre-SeedSeedSeries A+Foreign

MTech Capital is a venture capital firm founded in 2018 and specialising in insurtech and financial services technology. The firm invests in early-stage companies applying AI to transform customer experience and employee productivity across insurance, asset management, health and wellness, employee benefits, retirement savings, and enterprise software. It maintains offices in Santa Monica, California and London, UK.

Magenta Partners

PEGrowthSeries A+

Magenta Partners is a London-based private equity firm that invests £5–20m into founder-led UK growth businesses that are profitable and operating in niche markets, including technology, tech-enabled services, media, financial services, and business services. The firm takes both control and minority positions and emphasises a flexible, operationally-engaged partnership approach.