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Btomorrow Ventures launches new £200m fund to invest in wellbeing and stimulation

PRESS RELEASE

18 DECEMBER 2024

Btomorrow Ventures launches new £200m fund to invest in wellbeing and stimulation

  • BAT’s corporate venture fund Btomorrow Ventures (BTV) has announced the launch of its second fund, which will primarily focus on wellbeing and stimulation businesses, aligned to BAT’s exploration of products in the beyond nicotine space.
  • This new fund comes with an additional commitment of £200m, further proof of BAT’s ambition to Build a Smokeless World.

BAT has today announced the launch of the second fund from its corporate venture capital arm, Btomorrow Ventures (BTV). Fund II, a new £200 million commitment, will continue BTV’s global investment strategy within the wellbeing and stimulation space.  Fund II will also explore businesses that can further accelerate BAT’s transformation journey, adding to and complementing the company’s best-in-class capabilities in digital, new science and technology, and sustainability.

Commenting on the launch, James Barrett, BAT’s Director of Business Development, said: “The launch of Fund II is an important demonstration of BAT’s confidence in BTV as a critical part of BAT’s transformation agenda into a multi-category, consumer goods business.  By focussing the investment in wellbeing and stimulation, we are committed to driving BAT’s Smokeless World agenda, building on the success of BTV’s first fund.”

Since its first investment in 2020, BTV’s Fund I has made 28 investments, focused primarily on early-stage financings in companies that support the development of innovative, reduced-risk new category products, in line with BAT’s vision to build a Smokeless World.

Most of the original £150 million fund has either been deployed or committed, with notable investments including the U.S. based functional drink brand Moment and Canadian caffeinated chocolate brand AWAKE.

Fund II complements the introduction of BTV Impact earlier this year, its programme aimed at harnessing the strength of the venture community to support and advance its sustainability and diversity & inclusion agenda. BTV Impact partners and collaborates with likeminded innovative entrepreneurs, experts and companies to create a positive future and deliver long-term value creation across the industry.

 

Enquiries

 

Media Centre
+44 (0) 20 7845 2888 (24 hours) | press_office@bat.com | @BATplc 

Investor Relations
Victoria Buxton: +44 (0)20 7845 2012 | IR_team@bat.com

About BTV

BTV is the corporate venturing unit of British American Tobacco (BAT).  Established in 2020, BTV invests in high growth businesses, from seed funding to those looking for further, series A and beyond.  BTV's focus is to invest in world-class entrepreneurs with innovative products and differentiating technologies.  BTV supports BAT's corporate purpose of building A Better Tomorrow™ and will accelerate its transformation into a multi-category consumer goods business.  For more information, visit btomorrowv.com. 

Forward-looking statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements, including "forward-looking" statements made within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe," "anticipate," "could," "may," "would," "should," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "will," "expect," "estimate," "project," "positioned," "strategy," "outlook", "target" and similar expressions. These include statements regarding our customer target ambition, New Categories revenue targets and our ESG targets.

All such forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors. It is believed that the expectations reflected in this release are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. A review of the reasons why actual results and developments may differ materially from the expectations disclosed or implied within forward-looking statements can be found by referring to the information contained under the headings “Cautionary Statement” and "Group Principal Risks " in the 2023 Annual Report and Form 20-F of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT). 

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in BAT's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the Annual Report on Form 20-F and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov and BAT’s Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of charge from the BAT website www.bat.com.

Past performance is no guide to future performance and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. The forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this release and BAT undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.