Schroders Capital UK Innovation
Invest in global category-defining companies emerging from the UK
Backing category-defining companies
Investing in high-growth technology and life sciences businesses emerging from the UK with the potential to lead global markets.
Direct access. Broader reach.
Combining direct company investments with selective investments in leading venture funds, extending access across the innovation lifecycle.
Designed for institutional investors
One investment strategy. Two structures designed to meet the needs of institutional investors.
Backing the technology leaders of tomorrow
Schroders Capital UK Innovation is a specialist UK venture capital strategy that focuses on UK technology and life science companies. Investing across the different stages of the typical company lifecycle, investors can gain exposure to UK innovators that have the potential to reshape industries and generate attractive returns.
The strategy targets companies at the forefront of four key innovation themes: artificial intelligence, cloud software, fintech and biotech discovery platforms.
Why now for UK venture capital?
Already Europe's largest venture capital market and the world's third largest, the UK combines many of the characteristics associated with Silicon Valley while retaining significant headroom for growth.
The UK produces a remarkably high number of globally significant technology businesses – and ‘unicorn’ venture investments, valued at in excess of $1 billion – relative to the capital deployed into the ecosystem. Yet venture intensity remains materially below California's, suggesting considerable scope for further expansion as more institutional capital supports the next generation of founders.
For venture investors, this creates an attractive combination: a deep innovation ecosystem capable of consistently producing globally competitive companies, but within a market that remains less saturated than the world's leading US venture hub.
Flexible access to UK innovation
Schroders Capital UK Innovation offers two flexible ways to invest in the UK's next generation of global technology and life sciences leaders. Our pioneering Long-Term Asset Fund (LTAF) provides an evergreen, semi-liquid structure, while our closed-ended limited partnership (LP) offers a traditional private markets approach.
Portfolio highlights
An AI research and technology company developing advanced voice, audio and conversational AI. Its technology enables businesses and creators to generate highly realistic speech, create multilingual audio content and deploy intelligent voice and chat agents at scale. The company’s broader mission is to make interactions between people and technology more natural and seamless.
An AI video platform that enables organisations to create professional video content using AI-generated avatars, voices and translation technology, without the need for traditional cameras, studios or production teams. Its platform is used by businesses for applications including employee training and onboarding, internal communications, sales enablement and customer education.
A leading online marketplace for second-hand goods, connecting a community of millions of members who buy and sell pre-owned items. Founded in 2008, Vinted has expanded beyond fashion into categories including children’s products and luxury goods, with a mission to make second-hand the first choice for consumers and keep products in circulation for longer.
A UK-based autonomous driving technology company developing AI software that enables vehicles to understand and navigate complex real-world environments. Its approach uses machine learning to allow vehicles to learn driving behaviour from data rather than relying primarily on pre-programmed rules and detailed maps, with the ambition of deploying adaptable autonomous driving technology across different vehicles and markets.
An energy technology company transforming how businesses buy and sell electricity. Its technology connects businesses more directly with renewable energy generators and uses automation and AI to simplify energy transactions, helping provide greater transparency over pricing while supporting a more efficient renewable energy market.
An AI technology company specialising in solutions for legal and contracting workflows. Developed by AI experts from the University of Cambridge, its legal-grade AI helps organisations draft, negotiate, analyse and manage contracts, automating routine legal processes while providing greater visibility across contractual information. Its technology is used by more than 1,000 organisations across 70 countries.
A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new generation of treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders. Its research focuses on highly specific neuromodulators designed to precisely target the brain circuits involved in conditions such as major depressive disorder. Its lead programme, DT-101, is in Phase 2 development for major depressive disorder, alongside earlier-stage programmes targeting other neuropsychiatric conditions.
A clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases. The company is developing treatments that address the underlying genetic causes of serious eye diseases, with lead programmes focused on Usher syndrome Type 1B and Stargardt disease.
Indirect portfolio
A global financial technology company offering a broad range of digital banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. Its platform brings together everyday banking, payments, savings, investments and foreign exchange in a single app, enabling customers to manage and move money across currencies and markets.
A global payments company specialising in account-to-account payments. Its technology enables businesses to collect one-off and recurring payments directly from customers’ bank accounts, using Direct Debit and open banking to provide an alternative to card-based payments.
A global payments group specialising in digital cross-border money transfers. Through its brands WorldRemit and Sendwave, its technology enables customers to send money internationally quickly and conveniently, providing digital alternatives to traditional remittance services across a wide range of markets.
A clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing new medicines for neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as cancer. Its pipeline includes treatments for sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, alongside programmes focused on developing new approaches to cancer treatment.
Meet the managers
Contact your Schroders representative
Risk considerations
Performance risk: Investment objectives express an intended result but there is no guarantee that such a result will be achieved. Depending on market conditions and the macroeconomic environment, investment objectives may become more difficult to achieve.
Market risk: The value of investments can go up and down and an investor may not get back the amount initially invested.
Private Assets risk: Investments in private assets carry greater counterparty and liquidity risk. As there is no active market for private assets, it could prove difficult to sell and objectively value the strategy’s assets. The strategy may have to lower the selling price, sell other investments or forego more appealing investment opportunities. The actual value may not be recognised until the assets are sold.
Liquidity risk: The strategy invests in illiquid instruments, which are harder to sell. Illiquidity increases the risks that the strategy will be unable to sell its holdings in a timely manner in order to meet its financial obligations at a given point in time. It may also mean that there could be delays in investing committed capital into the asset class.
Private Equity risk: Private equity strategies are subject to a variety of risk conditions, including, but not limited to, the risk that too much is paid for acquiring a business, new or unproven management, new or less mature business strategies or unsuccessful integration with existing businesses.
Tax risk: The strategy and its returns may rely on certain available tax efficiencies at the inception of the strategy which may be subject to changes in tax treatment or interpretations. Any change in the actual or perceived tax status or exposure of the strategy or its investments as well as in tax legislation, practice or in accounting standards could adversely affect the anticipated level of taxation.
Private Market Valuations: In times of stress it may be difficult to find appropriate prices for private asset investments and they may be valued on the basis of proxies or estimates. This may lead to significant changes in the valuation of the strategy, or the inability to determine a reliable net asset value which may lead to a suspension of the strategy.
LTAF risk: LTAFs are high-risk investments and assets may take a long time to buy and sell. An investor will not be able to access their money immediately upon redemption. Investors do not have protection against poor performance.
Operational risk: Operational processes, including those related to the safekeeping of assets, may fail. This may result in losses to the strategy.
Interest rate risk: The strategy may lose value as a direct result of interest rate changes.
Currency risk: If the strategy’s investments are denominated in currencies different to the strategy’s base currency, the strategy may lose value as a result of movements in foreign exchange rates, otherwise known as currency rates. If the investor holds a share class in a different currency to the base currency of the strategy, investors may be exposed to losses as a result of movements in currency rates.
Concentration risk: The strategy may be concentrated in a limited number of geographical regions, industry sectors, markets and/or individual positions. This may result in large changes in the value of the strategy, both up or down.
Smaller companies risk: Smaller companies generally carry greater liquidity risk than larger companies, meaning they are harder to buy and sell, and they may also fluctuate in value to a greater extent.