The British Design Fund is delighted to work with Made in Britain to champion British engineering and manufacturing start-ups. All the start-ups that the British Design Fund invests in have developed innovative hardware technologies that have been developed here in the UK.
More and more of the start-ups we talk to are rethinking their manufacturing strategies. Where many had assumed in their business plans that their core production and value-add assembly would take place in China, they are now choosing to base these activities within the UK. There are many reasons for this, political uncertainty within China, unpredictable access to critical assets within those factories, increasing costs and slower lead times. Of course, supply chains are global and it is almost impossible to completely isolate any manufacturing operation from that. Most businesses we review have materials and elements of manufacturing carried out overseas. But what we observe with interest is this shift in where many start-ups are placing these critical elements of manufacturing, those value-added processes that need to be closely monitored and controlled.
A large part of what we do at the British Design Fund is to support the start-ups within our portfolio following the investment. Often that support involves helping them to identify suitable manufacturing partners here in the UK, getting the final design iterations across the line and getting the innovations up to TRL9 and launched into market.
The British Design Fund has recently launched its fifth seed fund, BDF5, and this is now open to both investors and potential investees. The British Design Fund remains the only fund in the UK that invests exclusively in early-stage product design and manufacturing businesses. Every business that receives funding also gets a bespoke mentoring package to help launch and scale their products, accelerate growth and build long-term value for investors and business owners.
For more information visit www.britishdesignfund.co.uk
Join us for an introductory chat between British Design Fund founder and CEO Damon Bonser and Made in Britain CEO, John Pearce, with an integrated open Q&A session for members interested to work with BDF makers and the fund in general. BOOK NOW
By Made in Britain 1 year ago | By Made in Britain