VIII British Patient Capital: 2022 Vision

Ian Connatty, Managing Director, Co-investment and direct investments, British Patient Capital.

The issues that will undoubtedly carry through into 2022 are Covid and climate change. New ones that will come into play as I see it are ethics, deep tech and life sciences and Web3. Why?

• Technology is being created faster than our ability to control how it is used, or by whom.  I think it will become increasingly important for venture firms to be able to articulate where they stand on these kinds of issues, not just to their investors, but also with the founders they serve.

• Whilst the commercialisation of our science and technology base is improving, R&D intensive companies remain under-funded, particularly compared to more mature markets such as the US. This represents an opportunity, as breakthrough innovations emanating from our world-class science base could help to solve some of society’s greatest challenges.

• Web3 is a vision for the internet that is more decentralised and runs on blockchains and / or distributed networks. It potentially gives rise to new ways to build and manage businesses, in much the same way that the original incarnation of the internet disrupted offline business models.

In all of this, we could see a wave of technology companies start to emerge outside of London, as innovation moves across a broader base of industries that are much more widely distributed, as a result of the pandemic. This will not happen overnight of course, but this shift in focus from the digital to the physical will likely accelerate in 2022. The role of deep-tech and life sciences will be essential. Both are sectors British Patient Capital have a significant presence in, with more planned, and we look forward to funding the innovative UK companies of today so they can become the global success stories of tomorrow.