11 Jun 2021

Insights from High Growth 2021

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This week more than 350 innovative entrepreneurs, dynamic management team members and experienced investors connected at our flagship High Growth 2021 virtual event, broadcast live from our studio in London’s Southbank. Over 70 speakers shared their insights and advice across two days on growth businesses at venture and growth capital stages. Themes included valuations of high growth companies, the pitfalls of overfunding, acquisitive growth strategies and the role of ESG in value creation. Speakers included Paul Scully MP, Minister for Small Business, Judith Hartley, CEO, British Business Investments, British Patient Capital, Michele Giddens, Co-CEO, Bridges Fund Managements and senior management from Matillion, TiG, DAME, Hive and Student Beans.



Key insights and takeaways from our speakers

Day 1: focused on Series A investments and how start-ups can accelerate their business with the backing of angels and VCs.


  • Q1 2021 was a record quarter in both the amount invested and the number of deals, with more companies than ever before raising large amounts.
  • 2020 showed the resilience and adaptability of founders and peer to peer networks have been vital in supporting them.
  • The impact of remote working on company growth is incredibly exciting, providing unseen opportunities for company scalability.
  • Businesses are being bolder at the seed stage with global ambition.
  • The pandemic has supercharged certain sectors, such as e-commerce. These macro trends could last for the next 10-15 years.
  • The capital explosion in the biotech industry highlights the impact of these market-driven factors/trends.
  • The British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Fund programme has committed more than £1.54bn of finance to managers since inception, working with 34 fund partners across the UK to unlock finance for smaller businesses. 84% of managers backed by the programme went on to raise a subsequent fund.
  • Venture debt to grow in Europe. Lending against marketing data is also an area that is likely to increase.

Day 2: focused on growth and provided insight into the capital needed to accelerate and grow, the skills needed to effectively scale and the know-how to take businesses to the next level.


  • 5 key lessons learnt from COVID-19:
    – invest in long-term trends, not fads
    – pick the right partners and values should be aligned
    – prioritise and accelerate digital transformation
    – expect a different kind of Government use channels like the BVCA to build effective relationships with them

  • People will demand more from business, with a continued shift towards business with purpose and impact.
  • Three areas that can help improve industry perception were noted: support founders from diverse backgrounds; look beyond London; and build a network through outreach programmes to attract the best talent and build partnerships with all stakeholders.
  • Software earnings barely dipped during the pandemic compared with other sectors.
  • The switch to online during the pandemic has presented new opportunities for accessing talent further afield as well as a global customer base. This has had a huge impact on SMEs, giving them greater potential to accelerate growth.
  • British Patient Capital’s impact to date consists of £1.2bn of commitments; 49 funds in portfolio; 582 companies in underlying portfolio; over £5.3bn invested alongside BPC by other fund managers; 1.15 Portfolio TVPI Multiple; and 10.7% portfolio IRR.
  • Looking ahead the BPC will be focused on making more commitments to venture growth funds; enhanced focus on digital health and life sciences; increased co-investments; further emphasis on diversity & inclusion; and the rollout of the Future Fund: Breakthrough.
  • Expanding overseas requires careful consideration and planning, do not underestimate the cultural nuances, particularly for the US.
  • However, for entrepreneurs there has never been a better time to access the global wallet.
  • ESG should play an important role in every company’s strategy and from an LP perspective, ESG drives capital deployment decisions.



You can find out more about BVCA High Growth, view the agenda from both days and see the entire line-up of expert speakers at bvca.co.uk/highgrowth.

Attendees of the event can view all the content on-demand on our website here. To arrange access to this or for further information please contact our events team at [email protected].

Our next ‘must attend’ flagship event BVCA Summit on 6-7 October will offer exclusive and invaluable content, insights and networking opportunities. Full details will be announced soon.

GPs can book 3 digital places for a total of £195+VAT using this form.

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