Fondo de crecimiento empresarial

BGF , fundada en 2011 como Business Growth Fund , es una firma líder europea de capital privado e inversión en empresas medianas que brinda apoyo para el crecimiento de pequeñas y medianas empresas. ^{[ 1 ]} La firma es reconocida como el inversor de capital de crecimiento más activo del Reino Unido e Irlanda .

Desde una red de 15 oficinas en el Reino Unido e Irlanda, ^{[ 2 ]} la empresa ha invertido más de 4 mil millones de libras esterlinas en más de 600 pequeñas y medianas empresas, y ha completado más de 200 desinversiones. ^{[ 3 ]} Alrededor de tres cuartas partes de sus inversiones se han realizado en empresas con sede fuera de Londres y el sureste de Inglaterra . ^{[ 4 ]}

BGF fue fundada en 2011 por los bancos Barclays , HSBC , Lloyds Bank , Royal Bank of Scotland y Standard Chartered , después de la crisis financiera de 2008. ^{[ 5 ]}

El lanzamiento se produjo tras las gestiones realizadas por el empresario Sir Nigel Rudd ante políticos tanto conservadores como laboristas , quien había defendido la creación de una organización que proporcionara financiación mediante capital propio para ayudar a cerrar una brecha de financiación percibida para las pequeñas y medianas empresas. ^{[ 6 ]} El Comité Macmillan ya había identificado en 1931 un déficit de financiación para las pequeñas y medianas empresas en el Reino Unido . ^{[ 7 ]}

BGF was seen as a successor to the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation (ICFC), set up by the Bank of England in 1945 and subsequently renamed 3i.^[8] BGF has been described as the “modern 3i”.^[9]

Stephen Welton, founding CEO, said that a new organisation was needed because 3i’s business model, in line with the private equity industry generally, had evolved to focus on large buyout deals, meaning it had less of a focus on providing growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses.^[10]

In 2017, BGF opened an office in Dublin to administer a €250 million fund to invest in small and mid-sized Irish companies.^[11] The Irish fund is backed by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and BGF’s existing shareholders.^[12]

BGF’s model has been replicated in Canada with the Canadian Business Growth Fund, launched in 2018 and backed by financial institutions including Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Manulife.^[13] In 2019, the Australian Business Growth Fund was launched with backing from banks including Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ Bank.^[14]

Andy Gregory is Chief Executive Officer of BGF and a member of the company’s Board. A founding member of BGF’s management team, Gregory became CEO in 2022, having previously served as Chief Investment Officer. With over 30 years of experience in private equity, his career has included senior roles at Livingbridge, Bridgepoint and Royal Bank Development Capital. Gregory also sits on the Board of the Invest in Women Taskforce and NatWest’s Mid Market Council, and is Chair of the BGF Foundation, BGF's independent charitable arm, which supports initiatives that improve the lives of young people across the UK.^[15]

He took over as CEO from Stephen Welton, formerly of JP Morgan & Co, who led BGF since its inception in 2011.^[16] In 2013, Welton was appointed as an advisor to the UK Government, regarding the establishment of the British Business Bank and, in 2017, served as a member of the Industry Panel advising HM Treasury on the Patient Capital Review. He was also a member of the Prime Minister’s 2021 Business Council and member of the Innovate Council 2018-2021. In 2023, Welton was appointed Non-Executive Chair of the British Business Bank, after stepping down from BGF's Board.^[17]

BGF is a growth capital investor, providing funding and support, in exchange for minority equity stakes in growing companies. It makes initial investments between £3 million and £30 million, with the possibility for follow-on investments.^[18]

The firm provides patient capital, which has been defined by HM Treasury as “long-term investment in innovative firms led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build large-scale businesses”.^[19]

BGF invests in a range of companies, including deep tech and life sciences startups,^[20] private growth businesses^[21] and small cap quoted companies,^[22] across every region and major sector of the economy.

BGF has been recognised as the most active growth capital investor in the UK and Ireland, deploying £2.3 billion between 2020 and 2024. In 2025, it announced its commitment to invest more than £3 billion in UK businesses over the next five years, including at least £300 million to female-powered businesses via the Invest in Women Taskforce.^[23]

BGF is also a certified B Corporation, a member of the Diversity VC Standard, and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and the Investing in Women Code.^[24]

• Gymbox received investments of £39 million ($55 million) from BGF, resulting in a roughly doubled EBITDA and the opening of new locations in almost every part of London.
• Gousto, the recipe delivery firm, first received funding from BGF in 2015.^[25] Gousto became a unicorn in 2020 when it completed a funding round valuing the business at more than $1 billion.^[26]
• Brompton Bicycle ha conseguido una inversión multimillonaria de BGF, lo que valora al emblemático fabricante británico de bicicletas en 200 millones de libras esterlinas y acelera el crecimiento, la expansión internacional y la mejora de sus balances.
• Blue Light Card, el servicio de descuentos con sede en el Reino Unido para personal de servicios de emergencia, el NHS, servicios sociales y las fuerzas armadas, fue expandido por BGF hasta alcanzar los 5 millones de miembros y más de 18 000 socios de marca, y llevó el producto a Australia. BGF vendió con éxito esta inversión a Inflexion.
• La plataforma de publicidad en vídeo social Unruly recibió financiación de BGF en una ronda de financiación anunciada en 2012. ^{[ 27 ]} La empresa fue adquirida por News Corp por 58 millones de libras esterlinas en 2015. ^{[ 28 ]}
• M Squared , que desarrolla láseres e instrumentos ópticos fotónicos, recibió financiación de BGF en 2012. ^{[ 29 ]} BGF vendió la mayor parte de su participación accionaria en la empresa en 2020 cuando el Banco Nacional de Inversiones de Escocia se convirtió en accionista. ^{[ 30 ]}

El historiador Sir Anthony Seldon ha descrito el segmento de mercado de pequeñas y medianas empresas en el que BGF busca invertir como “la economía en crecimiento”. ^{[ 31 ]} Un estudio de PwC reveló que en 2018 existían 21.400 empresas de la economía en crecimiento en el Reino Unido, definidas como negocios de rápido crecimiento con una facturación de entre 2,5 y 100 millones de libras esterlinas. ^{[ 32 ]}

BGF proporciona una fuente alternativa de financiación para estas empresas, que tradicionalmente han dependido de préstamos bancarios para financiar su crecimiento. ^{[ 33 ]}

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