Innovation funding

The UK prime minister has announced the creation of the UK Innovation Investment Fund to invest in technology-based businesses with high growth potential.

The new fund will focus on investing in growing small businesses, start-ups and spin-outs in digital and life sciences, clean technology and advanced manufacturing.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, together with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department of Health will invest £150m alongside private-sector investment on an equal basis, known as pari-passu.

It is the government's belief that this could leverage enough private investment to build a fund of up to £1bn over the next 10 years.

Gordon Brown, the prime minister, said: 'This fund will provide crucial support for our most promising start-ups and existing small companies just when they need it most. Venture capital finance is the lifeblood of innovation and crucial to ensuring the commercialisation of the discoveries coming out of our research base.'