Border to Coast backs Clean Growth Fund
Author: LAPF Investments | Published: September 11, 2026
Border to Coast has made a £22.5m commitment to the Clean Growth Fund, helping it close its Fund II vehicle.
The commitment, among others, has taken total investor commitments to £81.5m – more than halfway towards its £150m target. This milestone equips the fund to continue backing Seed to Series A UK companies pioneering technologies that have the potential to cut carbon emissions and grow Britain’s green economy.
The £22.5m commitment from Border to Coast to the Clean Growth Fund comes from its UK Opportunities Fund. Launched in 2024 to seek long-term risk-adjusted returns for its LGPS partner funds backs investments that help drive UK economic growth.
Reflecting on the news, Clean Growth Fund founder and managing partner Beverley Gower-Jones said: “Border to Coast joining Fund II takes us past the halfway mark towards our £150m target.
“Increasingly, major institutional investors are looking to UK climate tech for exactly what it offers – strong long-term returns alongside real economic growth right across the country. We exist to connect British institutional capital with British innovation – the returns and the impact go hand-in-hand.
“Fund I invested in 19 UK-startups on track to abate 27m tCO2e per year by 2030, equivalent to 1.5x the carbon absorbed by all UK forests. Fund II aims to back 25 companies and scale them.
“It has already invested in four start-ups, across Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and London, developing groundbreaking innovations in battery tech, food, heavy industry and buildings – creating good-quality regional jobs and driving clean industrial growth.
“The UK has the world-class universities, the scientific talent, the regulatory framework, and the policy ambition – and its net-zero economy is growing more than three times faster than the economy as a whole. That is the opportunity Border to Coast is moving to capture, ahead of the curve.
“The more capital that gets behind British innovation, the faster it scales into global winners. This is where the growth is, and I’m confident about how much further we can take it.”
Border to Coast portfolio manager Keith Angood added: “Border to Coast’s UK Opportunities Fund targets investment into high-quality UK companies and assets that can deliver attractive returns whilst contributing to economic growth and development across the UK.
“Clean Growth Fund II strongly matches these objectives, providing exposure to innovative UK businesses operating in a growing sector, managed by an experienced team with a proven track record. We believe it offers an attractive opportunity to deliver long-term value for our Partner Funds while supporting UK innovation.”
The second close also includes a further £10m from Strathclyde Pension Fund – which has backed Clean Growth Fund since Fund I – increasing its Fund II commitment to £30m. It joins Islington Pension Fund and East Riding Pension Fund, creating a widening coalition of British pension capital backing homegrown innovation.
Strathclyde Pension Fund’s investment manager Lorraine Martin said: “We first invested in Clean Growth Fund because it offered a compelling opportunity to deliver strong long-term returns for our members while backing UK innovation.
“That thesis has materialised, and our increased commitment to Fund II reflects our continued confidence in the team as well as the scale and strength of the opportunity. This is exactly the kind of productive, homegrown investment we believe can deliver for our members over the long term.”
