Nest and Railpen, two of the UK’s largest pension providers, are building a £1 billion fund to back homegrown science and technology companies. The Scale-Up Fund is a direct descendant of the Mansion House Accord signed in May 2025 by 17 pension providers who collectively committed £50 billion toward venture capital and infrastructure investments. The fund targets companies that have proven their concepts but need significant capital to scale, aiming to prevent promising startups from fleeing to Silicon Valley for growth-stage funding. However, the initiative faces real risks given the tension between fiduciary duty and patriotic capital allocation, and whether additional providers beyond Nest and Railpen will commit capital will determine its institutional credibility.
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