The British Fashion Council (BFC) and London-based venture capital firm Venrex joined forces to create the fund Venrex BFC Fashion I to support the growth of the business eco-system in the fashion sector. The BFC will receive fees and a portion of the carry, which as a not-for-profit it will use to reinvest in fashion education and talent programmes.

The BFC’s mission is to strengthen British fashion globally as a leader in responsible creative businesses. Partnering on a fund is a key part of the BFC’s strategy to enable a vibrant business ecosystem in the fashion sector, by now providing access to finance for seed, early stage, or growth stage for a broad range of businesses.

At the moment, Venrex Bfc fashion I have invested in three companies: Intimately, Vollebak and Digital Village.

Intimately is an adaptive intimates brand for disabled women. Intimately has redesigned bras, underwear, and sleepwear with the newest fastening technology to make sure disabled women can easily get dressed.

Vollebak, already 2x winners of Time Best Inventions, is building the future of clothing, using science and technology to tackle the most important challenges of our time, from climate change and sustainability, to space travel and disease resistance.

The Digital Village deals with MMO Metaverse (DV) that is redefining the construct of society and how people interact with the internet as a community. The purpose of The DV is to become a welcoming ecosystem that allows everyone to create in Web3 and integrate their digital assets and lifestyles seamlessly and ethically into the Metaverse.

“As the BFC we recognise that we have the ability to help enable a vibrant ecosystem supporting businesses at the intersection of creativity, innovation and commerce," said Stephanie Phair, BFC chair. "The fashion industry landscape is drastically changing and as businesses look towards a sustainable future, there is a real opportunity for the BFC to support a pool of talent with different and disruptive business models in partnership with a Fund with a unique understanding of this complex industry. This is a Fund with a purpose – the intention is to reinvest part of the carry back into the brilliant pipeline of future talent this country is known for.”

Image from the BFC website (britishfashioncouncil.co.uk)