BGF tops £50 million invested in the Midlands

BGF has invested more than £50 million in the Midlands in the first half of 2021, cementing its commitment to the region following a decade of investment.

With offices across Birmingham, Nottingham and Milton Keynes, BGF has provided growth capital for 12 businesses, with £28 million of the total invested supporting new investments and more than £23 million of follow-on funding for existing portfolio companies based across the region.

Deals include an investment in award-winning mobile data specialist and eSIM Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), Jola Cloud Solutions Ltd for £10.25m, together with a £7 million investment in East Midlands-based secure lock and hardware supplier, Brisant Secure.

BGF has also provided follow-on funding to seven existing portfolio businesses, including £8 million in TiG – one of the UK’s leading Cloud, Data Analytics and Managed Services providers to the financial services sector. The investment helped to facilitate the acquisition of ThirdSpace – the Microsoft Identity and Cyber Security solutions provider – which is the third acquisition that TiG has made since BGF’s investment.

“It’s been a really strong start to what is our tenth year of investment in the Midlands market. The combination of new investments in highly scalable businesses, together with a number of successful exits that have generated excellent returns, demonstrates the strength and depth of the BGF investment model.

“The Midlands is rich with ambitious growth economy companies, and we’re delighted to be backing a diverse range of businesses, whether that’s through fresh investment or follow-on funding across the regional market.”

Gurinder Sunner, Head of BGF in the Midlands

BGF’s Midlands team has also led six successful exits in the Midlands in the past six months, generating significant returns for all shareholders. The deals included: BGF’s exit of Nottingham life sciences incubation business, BioCity, CHS Healthcare, Olive Communications ReBOUND and Click Travel.

BGF backed ReBOUND in October 2018 to accelerate the company’s growth. In this period, annual sales increased by 130% and the returns management platform secured many of the UK’s most successful fashion brands as customers.