Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the £375 million budget of the Future Fund: Breakthrough counts towards the Government’s target of investing 2.4 per cent of GDP on research and development; what estimate he has made of the proportion of that Fund that will be invested in life science businesses; and if he will set a target for investment in that sector.
Future Fund: Breakthrough will encourage private investors to co-invest with government in high-growth, innovative firms.
The fund will provide equity funding to innovative, R&D-intensive UK companies operating in breakthrough technology sectors, including life sciences. The process of securing Future Fund: Breakthrough funding is demand-led: lead investors must apply to the Fund on behalf of the company seeking investment. There are no ringfences for particular sectors.