Interim Evaluation of the Greater London Investment Fund

Tender description

The Contracting Authority for this tender is SME Wholesale Finance (London) Limited (trading as Funding London). Funding London is seeking proposals from independent consultants to undertake an interim evaluation of the Greater London Investment Fund (www.glif.co). Funding London was established in 2004 by the then Mayor of London with the specific long-term mandate to support the Economic Development Strategy for London through its SME investment activities. Since its inception, Funding London has worked closely with the private sector partners to support London based SMEs caught in the finance gap, by providing them with loan and equity investment activities. This, in turn, delivers economic impact and financial returns for reinvestments. In 2019, Funding London established the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF) in conjunction with the Greater London Authority, European Investment Bank and ReLondon. GLIF was set up with capital of £100m to invest in London's high growth SMEs. It provides early-stage debt and equity finance to innovative London based SMEs seeking to scale-up and achieve their growth ambitions, but also to those aiming to achieve long-term sustainability. At the end of April 2022, it has invested £44.5m in 101 businesses. GLIF has been operating since May 2019 and will continue until at least 2029; although its investment in new businesses will end after 31 December 2023. However, a condition of its funding is that an interim evaluation should be carried out to assess, among other things, progress and continued relevance. As such, Funding London is seeking proposals from independent consultants, with expertise in assessing publicly backed investment funds, to undertake this interim evaluation in accordance with the specifications detailed in the 'GLIF Interim Evaluation - ITT' document included at the attachment section. Please submit your proposal by 4pm on Friday 17 June 2022 to kenroy@fundinglondon.co.uk, with 'GLIF Interim Evaluation' as the subject. Details are set out in the 'GLIF Interim Evaluation - ITT' document, included at the attachment section, of what to include in your tender proposal document. However, if you have any questions about this tender, please send an email to kenroy@fundinglondon.co.uk no later than 8 June 2022.