Future Planet Capital Buys VC Firm Midven
Posted on 04/08/2021
Future Planet Capital Holdings Limited (FPC) purchased Midven Ltd., a U.K. venture capital firm. The deal will enable Future Planet to grow its extensive global innovation network, which includes Berkeley, Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, and Oxford, by combining them with Midven’s access to U.K. Government funded scientific research.
Midven, which is supported by investors including the British Business Bank and European Investment Bank, manages the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) and the £35 million MEIF West Midlands Growth Fund, part of the British Business Bank’s £250 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund. Midven was originally established as a venture capital firm by six Midlands-based entrepreneurs over 30 years ago. The company then went through a management buy-out in 2007 when the current investment team acquired the business from the original founders.
Douglas Hansen-Luke, FPC Executive Chairman, said in a press release: “Midven’s exceptional 30-year track record, its strong capital base and the UKI2S Fund’s close relationship with some of Britain’s top research establishments will offer our investors, stakeholders and our portfolio companies greater opportunities. By incorporating Midven, Future Planet Capital will become an important player in the UK’s impact and university venture industry, with more reach, more investors and more capital to invest in companies working to tackle global challenges. The UK is the world’s 3rd most successful economy for innovation output1 and the ideal location to build a global impact fund.”