A London-based venture capital firm is highlighting Bristol as one of Europe’s most attractive places for investment in start-up companies.
Since its launch just over a year ago, Downing Ventures has invested almost a third of its entire portfolio in start-ups based in the Bristol area. 
Its investments include a diverse range of high-growth web-enabled businesses such as Duel, the competitive photo sharing social network; Zenstores, which provides order management and fulfilment software for small e-commerce businesses; and Habu, a room-booking and resource management platform.
Head of Downing Ventures, Matt Penneycard, said: “London attracts the majority of the UK’s venture investment, with far fewer private investors looking outside the capital to find exciting opportunities.
“However, we believe that there are significant growth opportunities in the South West. Fantastic talent, quality office space and great facilities that are more affordable, means that investment capital stretches significantly further.”
He points to the presence of tech giants such as HP, Toshiba, IBM, Sony, Amazon and JustEat in the region as well as its fast-growing and prospering digital, gaming and animation clusters.
The area also has the highest number of new business start-ups in the UK after London.
Downing, which invests into early and growth-stage tech businesses, often in seed-stage deals, has formed a close partnership with Webstart Bristol, the early stage tech incubator for web and app start-ups based in the Engine Shed innovation hub. It is widely recognised as being one of the best in the UK.
Participants receive expert advice on marketing, finance and product development from some of Bristol’s top business people. They are then coached on the best way to pitch ideas to potential investors.
Webstart Bristol founder Mike Jackson recently bemoaned the lack of private equity funding and angel investment for start-ups in the Bristol area, telling the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs held in the city that it was holding back small tech businesses.
But he said: “I’ve been delighted by the interest shown by Downing Ventures in the local start-up community, with three Webstart companies receiving both investment and ongoing business and marketing support.”
Nick Sturge, director of the Bristol SETsquared Centre, also based at the Engine Shed, echoed the positive sentiment. He said: “The tech and digital cluster in and around Bristol and Bath is thriving – not only is there a really creative streak in the region, it’s also highly entrepreneurial.
“If you add the long and distinguished record in technological innovation you have a perfect storm for building a generation of growth businesses supported by investment partners such as Downing.”
Habu co-founder Jak Ollet said Downing’s investment would help the business go to the next level.
“This is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the largest digital cluster outside of London and Downing’s funding means we will achieve our objectives of developing the product and rolling it out to customers both in the UK and overseas.”
