The British Business Bank, the UK government’s economic development bank, has agreed to make a £100m (US$135.5m) commitment to Apposite Healthcare Growth I, a fund investing to support the growth of health technology companies, primarily in the UK. This will be the British Business Bank’s largest fund commitment to date and is the Bank’s first commitment to Apposite Capital.
“The need for scale up funding is especially pronounced in life sciences,” said Mark Andrews, investment director, Funds, Life Sciences, British Business Bank. “However, there remains a shortage of later-stage funds, meaning that many promising life sciences companies cannot fulfil their potential in the UK and may embark on premature or sub-optimal exits. Apposite’s new fund has a clear focus on growth stage investing in life sciences and will help convert world-leading UK science into global companies.”
Apposite Healthcare Growth I will invest in companies across medical products, diagnostics, life sciences tools, digital health, and pharmaceutical outsourcing services.
The fund aims to address the shortage of scale-up capital for UK life sciences companies approaching a growth inflection, which aligns with the bank’s strategy to create deeper pools of scale up funding. It will invest in UK companies developing market technologies and services to improve patient outcomes and access to healthcare, while enabling them to compete globally and create highly skilled jobs.
“The commitment from the British Business Bank will enable Apposite to continue its strong track record of supporting ambitious growing companies and investing in businesses that can achieve better healthcare for more people,” said Sam Gray, managing partner at Apposite Capital. “Apposite Healthcare Growth I will back the next generation of UK healthcare technology leaders. The UK is home to an extraordinary depth of scientific research, entrepreneurial talent, and innovative companies, yet many businesses face a persistent gap in scale-up funding. This fund will bridge that gap, enabling high potential companies to accelerate their growth, commercialise transformative technologies, improve health outcomes and support economic growth.”
British venture
The British Business Bank is the largest investor in UK venture and venture growth capital funds and regularly makes cornerstone commitments to funds that are aligned with its strategy.
“The UK needs growth stage funding, and the bank is stepping up to deliver this,” said Christine Hockley, managing director and head of Commercial Equity Funds, British Business Bank. “Working with the UK’s venture capital community, we are looking to support the creation of growth stage funds capable of writing significant cheques into the next generation of UK unicorns.”
The bank intends to deliver a step change in its support for UK scale ups and is targeting over 60% of its venture and growth investment flow towards scale-ups. As part of this strategy, the Bank aims to support the launch of 10 new to market growth-stage funds over the next five years and will write larger cheques into leading fund managers.
Press release: Press release – 16 April, 2026 | British Business Bank
