British Business Bank Investments, BBB’s commercial arm, has committed €40m (£35m) to the Harbert European Growth Capital Fund II. The fund focuses on fast-growing technology SMEs, particularly those backed by venture capital firms.

The Harbert fund expects to make its first investment soon. Transactions from venture capital, equity crowdfunding, business angels and private equity dipped by 18 percent last year, according to the Bank’s Equity Tracker. While these transactions also fell by four percent in value, there were 1,148 equity deals with an investment value of £3.4bn.