South West Investment Fund marks £100m milestone
The British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund has driven almost £100m of investment into new and growing businesses across the region.
Launched in 2023, the £200m fund is increasing the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for smaller businesses across the whole of the South West, offering loans from £25,000 up to equity investment of £5m.
The South West Investment Fund has so far delivered £51.8m of direct investment, leveraging an additional £48.1m from the private sector via 218 deals, with 203 businesses across the region receiving funding.
The Fund’s latest deal includes a £1.275m investment in Eden Conveyancing, an award-winning, fully digital conveyancing platform, via fund manager Maven Capital Partners.
Mark Sterritt, Senior Director, at the British Business Bank, said, “Hitting the £100m milestone is a great achievement for the South West Investment Fund and demonstrates the scale of impact it is having in the region. With more than 200 businesses already supported, the Fund is backing innovation and ambition across a wide range of sectors. This includes businesses like Eden Conveyancing, allowing the business to scale and expand its services.”
Bath-based Eden Conveyancing offers a fully digital conveyancing platform that aims to transform the residential property transaction process by blending expert legal insight with cutting-edge technology. Its MyEden platform centralises key elements of the transaction including documents, financials, and communications into one secure hub.
The investment will allow the business to further scale its sales and marketing resource and create new jobs, while continuing to expand its service and develop the platform. Funding will also support the growth of its partnership model with estate agents and mortgage brokers, including the launch of a new remortgaging service to build longer-term customer engagement.
Melanie Goward, Partner at Maven, said, “Eden have built a scalable and agile system with built-in automation, while its proprietary legal technology analyses property titles and streamlines conveyancing, making the process faster, more cost-effective, and client friendly. With the UK’s residential conveyancing market valued at £3.66 billion, Eden is well positioned to scale. We’re delighted to support Bruce and the team at this point in the company’s journey and look forward to working with them to achieve their growth objectives.”
Bruce Griffin, Chief Executive Officer of Eden Conveyancing added, “The investment will allow us to further develop our market-leading digital conveyancing platform and provide a new type of conveyancing service to even more homeowners. Maven’s experience, coupled with our expanded Senior Leadership Team will enable us to build a business that impacts the future of conveyancing.”
The South West Investment Fund operates across the whole of the South West region including Bristol, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Pictured above: (Left to right) Bruce Griffin, Helen Balmer and Annie Jenkins of Eden Conveyancing, with Melanie Goward of Maven
