Thema Support selected for the British Business Bank’s Investor Pathways Capital provider panel

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Thema Support has been selected as a preferred service provider for the British Business Bank’s Investor Pathways Capital Microfunds programme.

Investor Pathways Capital is a £400 million initiative designed to back first-time fund managers from underrepresented backgrounds. Of the general partners at the funds backed so far, 57% are women and 43% are from ethnic minority backgrounds, and all are first-time institutional managers.

The Bank made its first commitments under the programme in June, with up to £90 million in cornerstone capital committed across ten Microfunds. Those funds range from £10 million to £20 million in size and are investing at pre-seed and seed stage across areas including deeptech, defence and climate tech.

As part of the programme, the British Business Bank maintains a shortlist of pre-approved service providers that Microfund managers can draw on as they establish and operate their funds. Thema Support is now one of those providers.

Lowering the barriers to fund building

Thema Support is the operational side of our business, built by George Askew to help emerging managers operate with institutional precision from the outset.

The offering spans regulation, legal structuring, fund administration, audit and insurance, with the aim of reducing operational complexity and the upfront financial barriers that can take time and attention away from fundraising, investing, and building a track record.

To date, the team has worked with more than 25 fund managers across the UK and Luxembourg, guiding them through fund structuring and ongoing management.

Thema Support has been built and tested across Fund I through Fund III, giving managers infrastructure that can develop alongside the firms they are building.

We’re already supporting several managers from the first Investor Pathways Capital cohort, including funds backing immigrant founders, the next generation agenda and other emerging areas of the UK venture ecosystem.

For us, building a fund involves much more than getting the initial vehicle established. The operational decisions made early on shape how efficiently a manager can fundraise, deploy capital, report to LPs and scale over successive funds.

Building with institutional infrastructure from day one

The selection is also particularly meaningful given Thema’s own history.

Before co-founding Thema, Sam Ettelaie spent over six years at the British Business Bank. Over almost a decade as an LP, he has deployed more than £415 million, experience that has shaped how Thema Support has been built and the standards we believe emerging managers should be able to access from the start.

Having spent over six years at the British Business Bank, I saw first-hand both the quality of talent across the UK and the barriers that can prevent managers from starting out. The best GPs want to be backed on merit, and our experience has consistently shown that exceptional talent can come from anywhere, regardless of background. 

Investor Pathways Capital is an important step in widening the pool of GPs able to access institutional capital. I’m pleased that Thema Support can play a role in ensuring those managers have access to the institutional infrastructure they will need as they scale, from day one. For me, this is a natural continuation of the work we have been doing for several years, widening access to VC while maintaining an uncompromising focus on quality.

Sam Ettelaie, CIO and co-founder of Thema 

The inclusion of Thema Support on the British Business Bank’s provider panel is welcome recognition of the platform Olivia, George and the wider team have built, as well as the work they are already doing with emerging managers across the UK and Luxembourg.

From first fund to lasting franchise

For managers backed through Investor Pathways Capital, it means one less unknown as they build their firms, with access to a provider already experienced in supporting funds from launch.

For us, it’s another opportunity to support the next generation of venture managers as they build institutional firms designed to last.

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We’re proud to be part of the provider panel. To learn more about Thema Support, get in touch with Olivia Courtney or George Askew.

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