Barclays Eagle Labs will deploy £1.75m in a fund-matching scheme for seven startup accelerator projects across the UK.
Using funds from the Digital Growth Grant, which was awarded to Barclays Eagle Labs in January over its previous recipient Tech Nation, the bank-owned startup support network will match investments of £250,000 from the accelerator schemes.
The recipients include Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Edinburgh, as well as Sunderland Software City, Tramshed Tech in Cardiff, Functional Skills UK in Brighton and SETsquared Partnership, which is based across five different universities in Southern England, and Conception X, which is based in London.
Each programme has a different specialist focus, including deep tech, climate tech and health tech.
The announcement comes six months after Eagle Labs first began leading the delivery of funding through the Digital Growth Grant. The Ecosystem Partnership Programme was first unveiled in April.
“It’s vitally important that startups and scaleups are supported particularly in growing sectors in AI, climate tech and the digital space,” said Matt Corbidge, director of Barclays Eagle Labs.
“We hope these projects will go a long way to supporting start-ups and scale-ups, which are vital to growing local economies throughout the UK.”
The Digital Growth Grant was awarded to Barclays Eagle Labs by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
“Britain’s innovative tech startups span the nation and drive global innovation forward,” said Paul Scully, the minister for tech and the digital economy, Paul Scully.
“Directly supporting businesses in this way is the cornerstone of our Digital Growth Grant, which champions a future where every corner of the UK benefits from the job creation and growth technology provides.”
The decision to award Barclays Eagle Labs the £12m grant led to the collapse of the previous beneficiary Tech Nation, which was unable to plug the funding gap.
The Tech Nation brand, now under the ownership of Founders Forum Group, relaunched this week with the goal of helping startups secure £10bn of funding over the next five years.