The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission Roundtable: Enabling More Venture-Backed UK Scaleup Successes

In September '24, VenturePath had the privilege of hosting a roundtable discussion for The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission, joined by Lord Spencer Livermore, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In collaboration with Beauhurst, British Business Bank and King's College London, we brought together 20 leaders from across the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem - founders, funders, industry trade bodies, and policy organisations - the venture funding accessibility barrier and opportunities to improve this to enable more venture-backed UK scaleup successes.

The State of Scaleup Funding

Scaleup investment has reached a 3-year low with trends continuing to decline. The roundtable focused on one central issue: the barriers to venture funding. Our collective goal? To explore how we can improve access to capital and enable more venture-backed UK scaleup successes.

Key Themes from the Discussion

Several consistent themes came out of the conversation:

Data – There is an urgent need to open up public sector data, which can help identify scaling businesses across the country. This visibility would ensure that companies receive the right support at every stage of their growth journey.

Referrals – Collaboration between the private and public sectors must be enhanced. By joining up the investment support landscape and improving visibility of scaling companies based on their lifecycle stage, VCs can more easily find and fund high-growth businesses.

Support – High-growth founders need better access to investor readiness support, regardless of their background or location. Bridging this gap would help level the playing field for promising startups and scaleups across the UK.

Celebrate – We must do more to celebrate the successes within the UK’s startup and scaleup community. A strong narrative that the UK is the best place to build and grow a business - from startup to exit - can inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors alike.

Next Steps 

It was inspiring to hear thoughtful suggestions from Lord Livermore. We are continuing this dialogue with the Government and wider stakeholders to ensure the recommendations from The UK ScaleUp Investment Mission come to life.

This roundtable was just the first step towards improving the conditions for scaleup success, and we’re excited about the work ahead in making the UK a global leader in venture-backed growth.

Special Thanks

We’d like to extend our gratitude to Lord Livermore for his insights, and to all the attendees whose contributions helped shape this important conversation:

Stephen Whelton CBE, British Business Bank

Henry Whorwood, Beauhurst

Philip Salter, The Entrepreneurs Network

Robert Shaw, Innovate UK

Roderick Beer, UK Business Angels Association

Fiona Melville, The Fund Incubator Limited

Christiana Stewart-Lockhart, Enterprise Investment Scheme Association (EISA)

Sarah Adams, British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association

Neil Ross, techUK

Camilla de Coverly Veale, Startup Coalition

Jonathan Crook, Department for Business and Trade

Jeremy Silver

Jamie Cartland, Conduit Bio

Holly Knowler, King's Entrepreneurship Institute

Ute Stephan, King's College London

Robyn Klingler-Vidra, King's Business School

Vassilis Georgiadis, King's College London

Together, we can shape a brighter future for UK scaleups.