London and South East see £165m worth of investment from international firm

A British and Irish investment fund today announces details of its 2021 investments in London and the South East.

BGF invested over £165m in London and the South East in 2021, including 18 new investments, while continuing to provide growth capital and follow-on funding for its existing portfolio.

Notable deals in the region include multi-million-pound investments in energy data and analytics provider Stark, plant-based alternative meat company THIS, and omni channel BMX retailer, Source BMX. BGF also led the £70m Series C funding round for Elvie, the global health and lifestyle brand developing products for women.

In the same time period, BGF completed nine successful exits in the region. These included Cennox, a leading provider of ATM services; Clearway, a vacant property services business; and Dianomi, a provider of native digital advertising services – all of which yielded a high return on BGF’s capital.

In 2021, BGF continued to back companies driving the green economy, with an investment in Reactive Technologies, whose technology is helping to accelerate the clean energy transition.

The last 12 months also saw the appointment of industry veteran Nicol Fraser to lead its investment team in London and the South East. Nicol joined from private equity firm Dunedin where he was a partner in the business.

In addition to Fraser’s appointment, BGF onboarded six investors: Bethany Shiers who joined from CIL Management Consultants, Kamel Kasem from L.E.K. Consulting, Isabella Fox from PwC, Adele Sung of Citi, Dennis Atkinson from ePlanet Capital and Simon Steward.

Nicol Fraser, Head of London and the South East at BGF, said: “Given the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, it’s now more important than ever that we demonstrate our commitment to backing even more founders and entrepreneurs in London and the South East.

“We are proud to have invested in a wealth of new businesses, in addition to supporting the growth of many of our existing portfolio companies.”

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