UK-based financial services firm Barclays launched a £100m ($151m) fund on Friday that will provide venture debt to UK-based technology companies.
The fund will provide up to £5m to technology firms that will be repayable over a three-year period.
Barclays stated that it initiated the fund to address the comparatively high development rate for technology companies in comparison to the 15-year average for traditional businesses.
Gaining access to debt financing as an alternative to equity funding will enable entrepreneurs to secure funds without giving up control as their companies grow.
Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays Personal and Corporate Banking, said: “This new fund offers a welcome boost to growing UK technology firms, and will provide a catalyst for their development into larger companies. It is part of our plans to deliver the kind of pro-growth financial backing for UK business that US firms already enjoy.
“We identified a significant gap in the traditional way technology businesses were financed, and with this new drive we will be truly able to support businesses right from their inception, to becoming major global players.”
Barclays already runs a 13-week accelerator programme in London and New York in partnership with accelerator Techstars, and occasionally invests in private companies through its Barclays Investment Bank division.