Investment firm Ingenious has committed £2 million to comedy club operator Jongleurs to fund nationwide expansion for the company.

Investment firm Ingenious has committed £2 million to comedy club operator Jongleurs to fund nationwide expansion for the company.

Jongleurs already operates three clubs within London’s M25, including one in Covent Garden, plus two more in Portsmouth and Glasgow. More venues are planned for Nottingham, Norwich and Bristol this year, then Newcastle, Leeds and Leicester in 2011.

Other expansion plans include putting on 250 live shows across Britain in 2011, as well as releasing a DVD.

Jongleurs founder Maria Kempinska says the company’s aim is to ‘find the next generation of comedy talent’.

News of the investment comes as Ingenious announces its intention to raise up to £30 million for its Entertainment VCTs (venture capital trusts) in an offer of “E” and “F” shares. The Entertainment VCTs raised £13.6 million in their most recent fundraising which closed on 30 July this year.