Private Capital makes a £4.4bn contribution to the Welsh economy

New data has found that businesses backed by private capital generated £4.4bn for the Welsh economy in 2025.

New analysis conducted by the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, ahead of the Wales Investment Summit, shows that in 2024 alone, private capital invested £131m into businesses in Wales. Private capital employs an active ownership model which is a hands-on approach that helps drive value creation in portfolio companies through strategic and operational improvements, whilst supporting wider economic development.

As of 2025, private equity and venture capital firms support 253 businesses across Wales, up from 232 in 2023. These businesses are significant employers, supporting around 74,000 jobs - a 17.5% increase compared with 2023. 

The new analysis highlights that University spinouts are increasingly driving regional growth and attracting venture capital investments. Swansea University, Cardiff and Bangor University sit within the top 50 for producing spinouts in the UK and according to data from Beauhurst, Wales saw 200 spinouts headquartered there since 2011, with £175m invested. 

Recent technology scaleups in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea, along with university spinouts in areas like semiconductors, med-tech and AI, have shown that combining the Development Bank of Wales with leading UK funds can deliver high-quality, well-structured rounds. Angel–institutional partnerships are also beginning to unlock clearer follow-on pathways for early-stage companies. 

At the same time, investors note ongoing challenges: deal visibility remains lower than in larger English regions, some founders need additional support to reach investor-ready maturity, and management capacity can constrain scale-up potential. Even so, where co-investment is well executed, it provides the alignment, confidence and syndicate strength that private capital investors need to back Welsh companies with genuine growth ambition.

While there is much to celebrate about the scope and scale of investment in the nation’s businesses, it could be even more substantial and close the gap with other parts of the UK. Policymakers at both the Senedd and Westminster, regulators, and industry all have a role to play in helping to facilitate greater levels of investment in Wales and to ensure that opportunities are not lost. 

Therefore, the BVCA recommends that: 

• The Welsh Government should continue to use its devolved economic development powers to attract co-investors by promoting Welsh deal flow through targeted roadshows and strengthening fast and commercially aligned co-investment frameworks. Partnering with local ecosystem experts, alongside industry groups like the BVCA, will help to create clearer pathways for international investors to participate in the growth of exciting Welsh businesses. 
• The UK Government should ensure that the LGPS is set up to facilitate long-term investment strategies that also prioritise local opportunities, thus increasing the flow of capital to businesses in Wales and delivering better returns. 
• The UK visa system should be streamlined and modernised, to introduce a more efficient, user-friendly process for high-skilled visa routes such as the Global Talent, Innovator Founder, and High Potential Individual (HPI) visas. Decisions should also be made in days rather than months and ensure cost effectiveness to prevent the UK losing top talent to more agile jurisdictions.
• The BVCA recommends that the Government provide predictable, pro-innovation regulation that establish stable frameworks and clear roadmaps, especially in capital-intensive sectors like energy and advanced manufacturing, so investors can plan with confidence. Alongside this where appropriate, UK regulations should be simplified in order to streamline investment opportunities for private capital and make doing business here more attractive to investors.
   

Commenting, BVCA Chief Executive Michael Moore said: 

“Wales is an exciting destination for private capital, whose investment is supporting the development of over 250 businesses right across the nation. These businesses bring real value to local communities through the 74,000 jobs they support.

“However, while there is much to celebrate about the scope and scale of investment in Welsh businesses, it could be even more substantial and close the gap with other parts of the UK. Policymakers, regulators, and industry all have a role to play in helping to facilitate greater levels of investment across every nation and region of the UK to ensure that opportunities are not lost.”

Notes to Editors  

For further information, please contact:  
BVCA Press Office 
Email: [email protected] 
Phone: 07854897974
 

Case Studies

Trigify.IO - Trigify.io is a Cardiff-based SalesTech business founded by Max Mitcham and Hugo Millington-Drake in 2023. The company uses AI and deep data analytics to help sales operations target the very best sales prospects by seeking out signals across digital platforms, news feeds, and job boards to create Triggers for sales leaders to prospect far more targeted leads. The founding team has been supplemented by CTO Morgan Parry, who has been instrumental in building out the SaaS platform.

River Capital completed an equity co-investment participating in a funding round of up to £1 million alongside Haatch Ventures. The investment reflects confidence in Trigify's AI-powered approach to transforming the outbound sales process and the founding team's proven track record in sales leadership roles.
 

Max Mitcham, CEO of Trigify said:

"We are delighted to have River Capital on board to support Trigify.IO's journey. Since starting Trigify, it has been our mission to surround ourselves with people who can help make our journey a success. River Capital have great connections in both the Data and Sales sectors, which will prove invaluable when it comes to improving our AI model for predicting buyer intent through signals."

IQ Endoscopes - Cardiff based IQ Endoscopes has created a single-use endoscopy platform which is not only cost-effective and scalable but also sustainable and has the potential to revolutionise early diagnosis of a range of cancers and gastro-intestinal conditions. Their platform is devised to increase the capacity of endoscopy provision across the country, allowing patients to be diagnosed earlier and ultimately help people live longer, healthier lives.

Of the 70 million endoscopy procedures currently completed each year, 98% are performed with reusable devices. These require reprocessing after each use, which is both costly and time-intensive, as well as having a significant environmental impact and posing the risk of cross-contamination.

BGF first backed the company in 2022, with further investment in February 2025 to support the business into the next stage of its development. In July 2025 the IQ Endoscopes’ innovative product launched in an initial four health centres.
 

Vista Technology Support - Vista Technology Support was established in 1995 and specialises in providing technology deployment and on-going support in fast-paced physical trading environments including retail, hospitality, healthcare, leisure and entertainment.

Today, Vista is the market leader in its field, providing specialist retail and hospitality IT Managed Services and technology refresh projects to brands including McDonalds, Wagamama, Costa Coffee, Coop and Spar.

Vista partnered with LDC in October 2017 to help accelerate its growth strategy and fund new acquisitions.

In July 2024, Vista announced the acquisition of Store Computer Technology (SCT) Ireland, which further expanded the company’s retail and hospitality support capabilities in Ireland and Europe. Since the acquisition, the SCT business has gone from strength to strength experiencing a 23% growth in revenue. The wider Vista Technology Support group has also experienced a 30% increase in annuity-based revenues which successfully transition to the business throughout 2025.

In July 2025, Vista unveiled its ground-breaking new training facility, the McTraining Centre, a fully operational replica that mirrors the technology and layout of a real McDonald’s restaurant and enables engineers to train in a realistic, hands-on setting. 
 

Background

About the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association  

The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) is the industry body and public policy advocate for the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) (private capital) industry in the UK. With a membership of over 600 firms, we represent the vast majority of all UK-based private capital firms, as well as their professional advisers and a large base of UK and global investors. The private equity and venture capital industry has a vital role to play in driving national and regional growth. Currently over 13,000 companies, employing more than 2.5 million people, are backed by private equity and venture capital investment in the UK.