--- title: "20 Government and University Startup Funds in the UK (Nov 2026)" last_updated: "2026-11-05" rows: "20" free_rows: "10" source: "Official registers and each organization's own website" canonical: "https://theinvestordatabase.com/lists/government-and-university-funds-uk/" --- # 20 government and university startup funds in the UK We list 20 government and university startup funds in the UK as of November 2026: each was checked on its own website or an official register, and the list was last checked on 5 Nov 2026. The cities with the most head offices on this list are London (2), Edinburgh (2) and Sheffield (2). - 20 funds - 9 with a fund filing or dated deal in the last 12 months - 134 named decision-makers on file ## First 10 of 20 government and university startup funds in the UK | Investor | Type | HQ | Stages (our research) | Focus (our research) | Latest fund or deal | Fund size | Checked | Profile | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II | Government or university fund | United Kingdom | Seed, Series A, Growth | Generalist | Portfolio news, Oct 2026 | £660M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/northern-powerhouse-investment-fund-ii/ | | Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund | Government or university fund | London, United Kingdom | Seed, Series A | AI, Healthtech, Fintech, Developer Tools | New deal, Oct 2026 | £15M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/cass-entrepreneurship-fund/ | | South West Investment Fund | Government or university fund | United Kingdom | Pre-seed, Seed, Series A, Growth | Generalist | Portfolio news, Jul 2026 | £200M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/south-west-investment-fund/ | | LYVA Labs | Government or university fund | Liverpool, United Kingdom | Pre-seed | AI, Healthtech, Biotech, Climate Tech | Portfolio news, Oct 2026 | £7M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/lyva-labs/ | | Old College Capital | Government or university fund | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | Pre-seed, Seed, Series A | Deep Tech, Biotech, AI, Climate Tech | New deal, Oct 2026 | | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/old-college-capital/ | | Development Bank of Wales | Government or university fund | United Kingdom | Seed, Series A, Growth | Fintech, Healthtech, Proptech, Govtech | New deal, Dec 2024 | £2.0B (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/development-bank-of-wales/ | | Cardiff Capital Region | Government or university fund | Cardiff, United Kingdom | | Fintech, Climate Tech, Mobility, Generalist | New fund, Nov 2026 | | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/cardiff-capital-region/ | | Investment Fund for Northern Ireland | Government or university fund | United Kingdom | Seed, Series A, Growth | Generalist | Portfolio news, Dec 2025 | £100M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/investment-fund-for-northern-ireland/ | | Cambridge Enterprise | Government or university fund | Cambridge, United Kingdom | | AI, Industrial Tech, Deep Tech, Biotech | Portfolio news, Oct 2026 | | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/cambridge-enterprise/ | | Midlands Engine Investment Fund II | Government or university fund | United Kingdom | Seed, Series A, Growth | Generalist | Portfolio news, Oct 2025 | £400M (own site) | 2026-11-04 | https://theinvestordatabase.com/investors/midlands-engine-investment-fund-ii/ | You are seeing 10 of 20. The full list adds 10 more funds and 134 named decision-makers. Get all 20 funds and 134 named contacts, $49, one-time: https://theinvestordatabase.com/buy/list/government-and-university-funds-uk This page: https://theinvestordatabase.com/lists/government-and-university-funds-uk/ ## Method and limits - Source: No row on this list rests on an SEC filing. All 20 have a website we checked. Filing date and fund size are SEC data where a filing exists. Stage, sector and check size are our research. - Inclusion rule: Organizations that back startups. Individuals, buyout funds and firms we found to be inactive are left out. Type: we class every organization on this list as "Government or university fund", from its own site or a filing. - Order: Activity score out of 100: recency of the latest fund filing or dated deal (50: full marks within 3 months, then stepping down at 6, 12 and 24 months), size of the fund on file on a log scale (35) and completeness of the public record (15). It is a measure of activity and fit, not of quality or returns. - Fill rates: Of 20 rows: stage 18, sector 20, fund size 11, website 20. In the paid file: named decision-makers on 19 rows, firm email on 9, LinkedIn page on 19, check size on 13. ## Questions ### How many government and university startup funds in the UK are there? We list 20 as of November 2026. 9 of the 20 have a fund filing or a dated deal in the last 12 months. The cities with the most are London (2), Edinburgh (2) and Sheffield (2). ### Which sectors do government and university startup funds in the UK back most? On this list: climate tech (10), healthtech and digital health (8), biotech and life sciences (8) and AI (7). Sector is our research and a firm can carry more than one. ### Which government and university startup funds in the UK raised a new fund in the last 12 months? None of the 20 has a fund filing dated in the last 12 months on file; 9 have other dated activity in that time (fund announcement, new deal and portfolio news), most recently Cardiff Capital Region (fund announcement, Nov 2026), Cambridge Enterprise (portfolio news, Oct 2026) and LYVA Labs (portfolio news, Oct 2026). ### Which stages do government and university startup funds in the UK back? Of the 18 with a stage on file, seed (16), Series A (12) and growth-stage (9). A firm can back more than one stage, and 2 rows have no stage on file yet. ### Where does the data on government and university startup funds in the UK come from and how often is it updated? All 20 rows were checked on the firm's own website, with official registers and national venture capital association directories as the starting point. Filing date and fund size come from the filing. Stage, sector and check size are our research. Rows on this list were last checked on 5 Nov 2026 at the latest. The whole file is re-verified twice a year. ### Can I download the list of government and university startup funds in the UK as a spreadsheet? Yes. The file holds all 20 rows in Excel and CSV, with 134 named decision-makers and 9 firm emails, for $49 one-time. 10 rows are free on this page.