UK taxpayers now shareholders in a variety of startups

The pot of cash was set up by the former chancellor Rishi Sunak with the aim of supporting start-up firms struggling to capture investment during the depths of the pandemic and has supported 1,190 companies with funding worth £1.14bn.
 
British taxpayers are now shareholders in a further 65 companies because of a government rescue funding scheme set up during the Covid crisis – including a medical cannabis firm, a video game studio and a chain of bars offering activities like ping pong.
 
A list published by the government’s development bank reveals an eclectic range of firms that have received convertible loans as part of the Future Fund.
 
The latest data, released by the British Business Bank (BBB), reveals stakes in companies including the video game studio Just Won’t Die, kombucha maker Flower of Life, and Lightpoint Medical, which develops robot technology for cancer surgery. Taxpayers also have a slice of State of Play Hospitality, which runs activity bar brands such as Bounce, Flight Club and Puttshack, that offer table tennis, darts and mini-golf respectively.
 
The state also holds shares in Avida Global limited, a producer of medicinal cannabis oils, which is chaired by Benjamin Mancroft, who entered the House of Lords in February 1988 – and once made headlines for controversial remarks he made about NHS nurses who were treating him at the Royal United hospital in Bath.
 
Around a third of the businesses that have received support from the Future Fund have had their loans converted to equity after they raised private funding that at least matched that from the government. This means the taxpayer now has an equity stake in more than 400 companies.