Will the government’s VC tech fund find the right targets?

(By Anthony Miller – Tuesday 30th June 2009 6:30pm). The news (see for example here) that the government plans to commit £150m to seed a £1b ‘fund of funds’ for tech start-ups seems a step in the right direction. As we noted in our IndustryViews Private Equity report in May, early stage venture capital is very tough to come by. But to be effective, the managers of the new UK Innovation Investment Fund have to pick the worthiest causes. It would be a shame if the government measured success only by the number of companies funded as they might end up investing in too many ‘no hopers’. Let’s hope that a good number of genuine fledgling rising stars get a fair crack at the dosh. More in the next issue of IndustryViews Private Equity – for subscribers only, of course.