HS2 launch search for manager to run new Innovation Investment Fund

Credit: HS2

HS2 Ltd has launched its search for a manager to run its new public-private capital investment fund for innovation. Expressions of interest are sought for a fund manager to oversee HS2’s new Innovation Investment Fund from organisations in the corporate venture capital sector with FCA accreditation.

The fund, of up to £50 million, will be formed as a partnership between HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport (DfT) and companies from HS2’s supply chain. The fund manager will act on behalf of partnership members to invest in some of the UK’s brightest transport construction start-ups working to deliver Britain’s new high-speed rail network.

The initiative builds on HS2 Ltd’s successful Innovation Accelerator programme, which has nurtured some of the most promising construction tech start-ups in the UK. The fund will focus on companies that drive innovative solutions to improve construction efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

“HS2 is a strategic national endeavour that is creating opportunities beyond the rail and construction industries, drawing skills, ingenuity and enterprise from across the economy to deliver Britain’s new high-speed railway,” Howard Mitchell, Head of Innovation for HS2 Ltd, said. “The fund will invest in British start-ups and innovative SMEs, taking a small equity stake in their business, helping them to grow and scale their offering as well as adding value to the UK economy as they develop.”

The initiative builds on learnings from a similar Public-Private investment fund in the UK as well as funds operating in Germany, Israel, and the United States. HS2’s Innovation Investment Fund is due to launch in Spring 2023.