British Business Investments (BBI) has announced a commitment of £50 million to Manchester-based Tosca Debt Capital’s (TDC) third fund (Fund III) at first close, with the fund targeting a final close of £300 million later this year.

As with TDC’s previous two funds, Fund III will continue to focus on funding businesses across a range of sectors — with a focus on those located within the Northern Powerhouse.

British Business Investments is the commercial subsidiary of Sheffield-based British Business Bank plc, the UK’s national economic development bank.

Tosca Debt Capital is an SME-focused debt fund that so far has completed more than 25 investments and deployed over £300 million.

British Business Investments CEO Catherine Lewis La Torre said: “This commitment to TDC supports British Business Investments’ objective to tackle regional imbalances in access to finance for small businesses, with this third fund continuing to provide finance to UK smaller businesses, particularly across the North and the Midlands.”

Gary Davison, partner at TDC said: “We are delighted to have received this level of commitment from British Business Investments, which demonstrates their support for our strategy and endorses our performance to date.

“Investment of this scale allows us to continue on our journey providing much needed capital to regional businesses, allowing them to reach their full potential.”