Creative UK is thrilled to have invested over £11m into the UK’s Creative Sector as it enters the fourth and final year of its Creative Growth Finance fund. Creative Growth Finance is a landmark fund providing vital scale up finance to the UK’s most promising creative businesses with loans of £100,000 to £1million.
Since its inception in 2019, the fund, whose fund partner is Triodos Bank has invested over £11.8 million into 25 companies operating across the Creative Industries. Recipients of the fund include companies from across the UK regions including a wide breadth of sectors such as Film & TV Production, Immersive Media and SaaS.
2021/22 has been the fund’s most successful year, with over £7m of investment made into new portfolio additions.
The companies that have joined the CGF portfolio include long-standing Manchester virtual production studio, Carbon Digital, founded in 1998; Dimension Studio, whose projects include Disney’s Pinocchio; and sport entertainment brand SBX Entertainment, a Welsh company focussing on social impact.
Despite operating through the pandemic, the fund has remained strong, with clients experiencing an average 99% improvement in monthly revenues after joining the portfolio. It also remains ambitious and continues to seek out the most exciting and growth-focussed companies currently operating in the UK’s Creative Sector.
Caroline Norbury OBE, CEO of Creative UK, said:
“In this age of austerity, we want businesses to know our Creative Growth Finance fund is available to help propel the very best of talent and innovation across our amazing Creative Industries. At Creative UK, investments are about much more than just money. When we supply finance to a company, we become part of their growth story and that means that we do all we can to support them in realising their ambitions. Four years on, we can truly see the strength and impact of the fund across some of our portfolio companies. From Dimension doubling their revenues to Carbon Digital bringing ground-breaking tech to Coronation Street, time and again we are seeing our portfolio outdo themselves and shine a much-deserved light onto their sectors. I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months brings for the fund and our existing portfolio.”
Tim Evans, Investment Director, Creative UK, said:
“I couldn’t be prouder of the performance of our portfolio. Creative Growth Finance was put together with the aim of supporting and propelling the UK’s most exciting Creative Sector companies to further boost this incredible industry. The companies we have invested in are making waves across a range of sectors, from architecture through to immersive tech and animation. 2022 has been a particularly exciting year for our portfolio. Moonraker is releasing its fulldome film, Moonbase: The Next Step, FuturLab’s breakout game, PowerWash Simulator came to console and Dimension’s virtual production work on Disney’s Pinnochio was a huge success with its release in September. We’re now in the final year of the fund and I have full confidence we will see even greater successes.
