A city council in Wales has announced that it is to launch its own venture capital fund to back local creative businesses. 

Cardiff Council is planning to approach financial institutions and public sector bodies to support its proposed investment fund that will back ambitious companies in the Welsh capital. 

The fund is at an early stage and, once sufficient financing is secured, it will buy shareholdings in companies operating in the creative industry, a sector that does not currently qualify for business support. 

Executive member for economic development Neil McEvoy told reporters that Cardiff has a whole generation of creative young people that need to be catered for. 

“This is not a new concept but what I want to do is to speed up the decision-making process,” he added. “I want to eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and make it easier for people with ideas to be able to access this enterprise fund and get their products and ideas developed as quickly as possible. It’s all about speed to market.”