Richard Bishop (pictured) has joined the UK-based £2.5bn corporate venturing Business Growth Fund as head of investments.
Since 1989, Bishop has been a partner in the growth capital business at 3i, which was set up after the Second World War by the UK government to encourage equity investment in business.
The fund, which launches next week, has £2.5bn committed by six of the UK’s main banking groups – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, Santander and Standard Chartered. It will invest between £2m and £10m per business with a turnover of between £10m to £100m in return for a minimum 10% equity stake and a seat on the board.
Stephen Welton, chief executive of the Business Growth Fund, said: “Our strategy is to base senior people in a number of key regions across the UK where they can work closely with the businesses that we back to provide business expertise and acumen.”