NatWest Deepens Venture Capital ties as LP to Phoenix Court

NatWest, which serves 20 million customers,  has announced its investment as a limited partner (LP) to independently-managed Phoenix Court. 

The VC firm, based in London, channels funds into high-growth innovation-led companies, from seed to scale-up.

The announcement marks the first investment by NatWest bank as an LP into an independently-managed VC fund since the bank announced its Venture Banking arm in April earlier in the year. 

Emphasising the benefits for the growth of the UK economy, Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest Group, says: “Too often, promising British businesses look overseas for the capital and support they need to reach the next stage. 

“If Britain wants to compete for the industries and jobs of the future, we need to get better at backing our most promising companies with the capital, connections and confidence to scale here in the UK. 

“We want to be a long-term partner to the founders, investors and businesses building the UK’s next generation of category defining companies. 

“That means not only providing banking services, but helping bring together the capital, expertise and networks that innovative businesses need to grow. Banks can be part of the solution. 

“Our investment in Phoenix Court is a good example of how NatWest can use its scale, capital and convening power to strengthen the UK’s innovation ecosystem and help exceptional companies start, scale and stay here in the UK.”

Phoenix Court focus 

Phoenix Court’s funds include LocalGlobe, Latitude and Solar, all which aim to provide long-term support to founders during a business’s growth journey. 

Solar focuses on providing long-term capital to companies with high growth potential, while LocalGlobe and Latitude focus on seed stage and early growth stage respectively. 

Saul Klein, Co-Founder and Chair of Phoenix Court, comments: “Britain has built the world’s third-largest innovation economy, but too many companies still lack the domestic capital to scale here.

“Our Solar pilot proved the opportunity is real: its 18 companies generate £5bn (US$6.6bn) in annual revenue and have created more than 8,500 jobs in the UK alone.

“This meaningful partnership with British financial institutions like NatWest will help us back more exceptional companies from seed to scale, keeping more of the jobs, prosperity and returns they create in Britain.

“Working with these British institutions we can make sure that British savers benefit from our innovation, not just nurses in Denmark, teachers in Ontario and the Singapore metro system.”

NatWest’s Investment ad-Venture 

In April earlier this year, NatWest announced the launch of Venture Banking, which it said was to meet growing demand for more sophisticated financial partners through the funding journey. 

NatWest also declared Amazon Web Services as a strategic partner for the launch, specifically to provide support to technology-led businesses. 

It has boosted its mission to support the UK’s network of investors and founders.

Jenny Edwards, Head of NatWest Venture Banking, says: “Our ambition is to be more than a banking provider. We want to be a long-term partner to the investors and founders building the UK’s next generation of category-defining companies.

“Supporting Phoenix Court as an LP reflects that strategy and our shared belief that the UK must bring together founders, investors, corporates, pension funds and policymakers if we are to compete on the global stage.

“Phoenix Court has long championed this kind of collective ambition, and we are proud to support its work to strengthen the ecosystem and help exceptional UK companies start, scale and stay here.”

NatWest partners: 

AWS: NatWest collaborates with AWS under a major multi-year agreement to power its bank-wide data and AI transformation. AWS provides the secure cloud infrastructure that consolidates NatWest’s fragmented data streams into a central platform, enabling real-time analytics, faster digital onboarding, and personalized customer recommendations.
Phoenix Court: NatWest committed capital across Phoenix Court’s family of venture funds as part of a wider institutional push to funnel more UK institutional capital into high-growth domestic startups.

Accenture: Working alongside AWS, Accenture acts as NatWest’s primary digital and cloud transformation integrator. Accenture brings deep financial services expertise to redesign NatWest’s operational models, streamline internal workflows, and help deploy advanced AI tools for relationship managers to better analyse customer insights and improve fraud detection.

OpenAI: Announced in March 2026, NatWest paired with OpenAI to accelerate its transformation to make the bank simpler, more efficient and better for customers. It is a large scale operation as the bank modernises its operations.