Molten Ventures announced the £175 million first close of its Growth Fund, including a £75 million cornerstone commitment from the British Business Bank. Molten Ventures committed the remaining £100 million, and the firm is targeting a £350 million final fund size.
The fund will provide additional growth capital for Series B and later-stage investments in high-growth technology companies across the UK and Europe. It extends Molten’s existing growth investment strategy, through which the firm has completed more than 40 deals and invested over £700 million during the past decade.
Molten said the vehicle is designed to give private institutional investors access to its investment platform through a private fund structure while leveraging the infrastructure and governance associated with its publicly listed business.
The Growth Fund also represents another step in Molten’s strategy of adding third-party capital under management alongside its listed balance sheet. The company said the additional capital should allow it to participate in a larger number of Series B+ rounds and build more meaningful ownership stakes in companies moving from early growth into the scale-up stage.
Molten sees a significant shortage of growth-stage capital available to innovative technology businesses in the UK and Europe. The firm described itself as being capital constrained rather than opportunity constrained, with its investment, operational, governance and reporting infrastructure already in place to deploy additional institutional capital.
The fund plans to invest across technology sectors including AI, space, fintech, quantum computing, deeptech and hardware.
The British Business Bank has worked with Molten for several years. It has been an investor in Molten’s listed platform since 2018 and has co-invested with the firm in technology businesses including SatVu, IMU Biosciences, Thought Machine and Paragraf.
Across the broader group, Molten manages more than £2 billion in assets under management. Since 2016, the firm has deployed more than £1 billion of capital and generated more than £800 million in investment proceeds.
KEY QUOTES:
“Securing the British Business Bank as cornerstone investor is a strong endorsement of Molten’s strategy and of the relationship we have built over many years. It also underlines the importance of bringing more long-term institutional capital into venture and Growth, so that ambitious UK and European technology companies have the backing they need to scale. Molten has a strong track record in growth investing, with more than 40 growth-profile deals completed and over £700 million invested. The Growth Fund builds on that experience and gives us a dedicated vehicle to support more companies as they scale. There is no shortage of exceptional founders or technology businesses in the UK and Europe; what they too often lack is sufficient growth capital to help them become global leaders. This Fund gives Molten greater firepower to back our highest-conviction companies at Series B and beyond, build meaningful ownership positions and channel capital into the next generation of growth. Alongside our other strategies, including Molten Secondaries, the Growth Fund will strengthen our ability to connect long-term capital with companies that are shaping the future.”
Ben Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer of Molten Ventures
“We are delighted to welcome the British Business Bank as cornerstone investor in the Growth Fund. It is an endorsement not only of the relationship we have built with the Bank over many years, but of the strategy this Fund is built on, and it gives us real momentum as we move towards our £350 million target. The Growth Fund gives prospective investors the opportunity to benefit from what Molten has built over the last 20 years: our thesis-driven approach, a differentiated origination engine, access to the broader Molten platform and a track record of over £700 million invested across more than 40 growth deals at top-quartile returns.”
Franco Danesi, Senior Partner at Molten Ventures
“To create deeper pools of late-stage capital for breakthrough technologies, we are helping UK tech investors to launch new growth funds. This commitment is the latest example of that strategy. Molten Ventures is one of the UK’s leading growth investors, with a strong track record of backing fast-growing technology businesses. This fund will help the next generation of tech entrepreneurs scale faster and build global companies from the UK.”
Robert Greenwood, Senior Director, Funds at British Business Bank
