The combined investments of a range of private-sector funders and Finance Wales has provided Gwent businesses and those from around Wales with a £34m growth capital boost in the first six months of the 2015-16 financial year.

A total of 70 Welsh micro, small and medium-sized businesses benefitted from investments totalling £17.8m from Finance Wales and £16.2m from banks and other private-sector funders.

An additional 696 jobs were created and 529 safeguarded in Wales between April and September, 2015.

Having launched more than £80m of Welsh Government funds since 2012, more Welsh SMEs are benefiting from the most comprehensive source of short and long-term funding options ever available from Finance Wales.

By the end of September 2015, Finance Wales had invested £7.1m from its most recently launched Welsh Government funds, the Wales Capital Growth and Wales Technology Seed Funds, helping Welsh SMEs create and safeguard more than 403 jobs.

Thirty Welsh businesses benefitted from micro loans totalling £1.2m in the first half of this financial year.

In May Business Wales, NatWest and Finance Wales joined forces to launch a pilot referral scheme to increase access to funding and support. Businesses up to two years old that do not meet the requirements for loans and other funding are referred to Business Wales to improve their chances of securing funding.

The impact of investments from the Wales JEREMIE Fund were reaccredited in July by Business in the Community (BITC) Cymru for engaging, supporting and doing business with SMEs to drive local economic growth. Since its 2009 launch, the Wales JEREMIE Fund has so far helped 600 Welsh SMEs create and safeguard 10,985 jobs.

Businesses in Finance Wales’ portfolio also continued to go from strength to strength, with the Wales Environmental Group expanding its UK presence while SmartKem strengthened its foothold in Asia.

Gareth Bullock, who became Finance Wales’ chairman in October, said: “I’m pleased that Welsh SMEs are going for growth and increasing their impact on the economy with the backing of the collaborative public-private approach on offer in Wales.

“SMEs will continue to power the Welsh economy in future and they’ll need access to the right funding and support. We’re recruiting a new Chief Executive to drive forward Finance Wales’ strategy and ensure we give Welsh SMEs the best chance to grow.”