Pathways
How we make direct and indirect investments.
Direct Investment:
We invest directly on commercial terms, taking minority stakes in companies through syndicated rounds - typically from Seed to early growth stages. Our investments are driven by both strategic and financial goals:
- We back technologies with the potential to deliver transformational capabilities for UK National Security and Defence (NS&D).
- We invest where our tools can unlock outsized impact - whether by accelerating a breakthrough, validating product-market fit through early government adoption, or supporting markets overlooked by traditional venture capital.
- We are conviction-driven investors, focused on enabling technology advantage for the UK government.
We work closely with other public investment vehicles, including the British Business Bank, to help companies access the capital they need to scale. Our close ties to the NS&D community allow us to apply rigorous technical scrutiny and bring early user insight to every opportunity - making us a valuable partner in any investment syndicate.
Indirect Investment:
Through our partnership with the British Business Bank, we invest in leading venture capital funds whose strategies align with our mission. This expands our reach and enables us to:
- Deploy capital at scale across relevant sectors
- Access market-leading companies through trusted fund managers
- Strengthen the UK’s innovation ecosystem and NS&D’s ability to tap into it
Our indirect investments complement our direct activity, giving us a broader aperture to support cutting-edge technologies critical to national security.
