Venture capital firm Hambro Perks has announced the first close of a £100m fund focused on B2B SaaS and patented hardware start-ups.

British Business Investments and Phoenix acted as co-anchors to the fund, with Foresters Friendly Society also joining the first close. Additional commitments have come from family offices and angel investors.

The launch of the Hambro Perks Growth Debt Fund comes after the raising and deployment of several funds, including the Hambro Perks Leaders fund – a pan-European fund focused on finance, health, sustainability, work and education; Access Fund II and Access Fund III for high-growth tech companies; and the Hambro Perks Environmental Technology Fund, which invests in emerging environmental technologies.

Venture debt is a loan to early-stage companies in between equity rounds. They are rare and tend to be paid back within 18 months from the proceeds of the next funding round.  

>See also: Hambro Perks to invest £200m on environmental impact scale-ups 

Dominic Perks, co-founder and chief executive of the London-based VC, said: “Following a period of strong and sustained growth by Hambro Perks, establishing a new venture debt franchise and launching our first fund is the obvious next step for the firm.  

“Feedback from our investors and entrepreneurs alike is that venture debt is an underserved market within the UK and Europe, so we believe the new fund will hugely benefit the UK start-up ecosystem.”  

David Hayers, who has recently joined the VC from Virgin Money and is now head of the new fund, added: “I am excited to establish the new venture debt team at Hambro Perks. The firm is known for its innovative and pioneering work to support entrepreneurs and founders and I am delighted that myself and the team are a part of that.  

“The new fund will enable management teams and existing investors to accelerate growth without needing to commit more capital or introduce new investors.”  

More on early-stage funding 

TSP Ventures to back 10 climate tech start-ups in 2023 

Triple Point Ventures to deploy £15m into B2B tech start-ups in 2023