Woodford plans venture for £250m tech start-up boost

Working with several institutional funds

Neil Woodford is planning to join forces with several institutional funds for a new project investing in early-stage technology ventures.

According to the Sunday Times, the fund manager (pictured) is working with the British Business Bank and other institutional funds to raise £250m for an investment company supporting technology start-ups. Instead of launching a new fund the firm said Woodford will make allocations of capital from his existing portfolios, which already back a number of technology companies. Woodford is discussing this plan with the UK government and at least half of the overall backing is expected to come from the taxpayer, the paper reports. The new vehicle would invest £5m-£10m in early-stage tech...