HSBC UK has launched a £250 million growth lending fund aimed at helping high growth tech businesses in the UK.

The banking group said the Growth Lending offering has come in response to the UK government’s call for additional investment in the technology sector during London Tech Week last week.

The new fund will help support well-equitised, high growth, loss-making scale-ups earlier in their growth journey, HSBC said. The Growth Lending fund allows access to up to £15 million in financing and also includes access to HSBC’s expertise and support.

Announcing the fund, HSBC said that high growth tech scale-ups generally own few tangible assets, but are rich in intellectual property and intangible assets, so IP evaluation forms part of the credit decision process.

As part of its credit underwriting process, HSBC UK is working with specialist IP services firm Inngot Ltd to use its online valuation tool Sollomon to quickly and easily identify and value prospects’ IP and intangible assets.

HSBC said it is looking to partner with IP and technology-rich businesses in cloud or software, FinTech, HealthTech or EdTech, or advanced manufacturing and other categories who are at an early stage early in their lifecycle to support their growth.

Growth Lending sits alongside other funds including HSBC UK’s £500 million fund for SME tech businesses, part of a broader £15 billion lending fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK.

Roland Emmans, head of UK tech sector & growth lending at HSBC UK, said: “The Government’s vision for harnessing digital transformation and making the UK the best place to start and run an ambitious digital technology business is aligned with our mission to support ambitious tech businesses.

“Growth Lending is for businesses who want to become global tech players by working with a global bank. This is an ideal option for high-growth tech scale-ups, who are supported by a strong equity backing, have a proven sales track record, and a clear path to profitability.

He added:“HSBC UK has a strong and growing technology sector franchise, and we are very excited to launch Growth Lending to help better serve our high growth scale up tech customers as the go-to bank for internationally focused, UK based tech firms.”

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