“Most of the money is in London,” says Tony Stott, CEO of Midven and investment director at Future Planet Capital. “We’d like people from London to come up to the West Midlands to invest more”.
The region, which has a tech sector valued at £15.3bn, has been creating new funding resources for its startups and SMEs. Last month, the West Midlands Combined Authority and West Midlands Pension Fund set in motion a new £25m SME fund, which will managed by Midven. The fund will invest in green tech, advanced manufacturing and life sciences companies.
Stott believes initiatives like these can help usher funds from beyond London, Oxford and Cambridge and into the Midlands.
“The easier it is for them to invest, the more likely they are to come out of London,” he tells UKTN....