• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Thursday February 15 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Wake The Tiger secures £350,000 City Funds investment

Bristol-based immersive visitor attraction Wake The Tiger has secured investment of £350,000 through local impact investors Bristol & Bath Regional Capital (BBRC) to support the next stage of its ambitious growth in the city.

Last year, the ‘Amazement Park’, which was founded in 2021 by the team behind Boomtown Festival, saw over 250,000 visitors through its doors.

Wake The Tiger has just finished the brand new OUTERverse, the second stage of its development of the St. Phillip’s site in Bristol, which has doubled the size of the visitor experience and is now open to the public.

The £350,000 investment from the City Funds impact investment fund, managed by BBRC, will complement a total fundraising effort of £2 million, combining £1 million of secured debt, partly from the Creative Growth Fund, and £1 million in new equity.

The impact of this investment extends beyond the growth in visitor numbers, as the organisation is committed to developing an education and training pathway that empowers underrepresented communities to access the creative sector. Its multi-level engagement strategy includes community tickets, school visits, educational partnerships and work experience placements, apprenticeships and an employment policy targeting underrepresented groups.

Graham MacVoy, managing director at Wake The Tiger, said: “Since we launched in Bristol nearly three years ago, we’ve had such a warm welcome and great response from our visitors.

“We are excited to be able to deliver our ambitious growth plans and make sure that, through this growth, we are reaching everyone across the city and increasing access to and opportunities in the creative sector. We are delighted to have secured this investment from City Funds and can’t wait to reveal our newly expanded site and programme in the next few weeks.”

Jari Moate, investment director, Bristol & Bath Regional Capital, says: “Wake The Tiger plays an exciting role in raising awareness of how together we can see and shape a better world, reversing some of our worst global fears, in this case using a high quality, fun, engaging work of Bristol-made art.

“For the city’s creative industries, especially those who operate in it and those considering a career in it, this is a must-visit destination. We are delighted to be on the journey with them.”

City Funds is a £10 million, ten-year, place-based impact fund launched in 2019, managed by BBRC.

The fund invests in social enterprises, enterprising charities and impact-driven businesses in the Bristol region who are aiming to solve some of the biggest problems in the city.

To date, BBRC has deployed almost £9 million of the total fund.

Latest: Great Western Credit Union receives £700,000 investment from BBRC