Silicon Valley Bank, a unit of SVB Financial Group, is to open its first international branch in London as part of a move to exploit development of fledgling technology firms in the UK, coming shortly after a UK lender was set up with the backing of a University of Cambridge college and public pension scheme.

The new SVB branch will offer current and deposit accounts, loans, cash management services, trade finance and foreign exchange to start-ups, SVB said in a statement.

Yesterday, it was announced that Cambridge & Counties Bank, a bank formed with the backing of Cambridge Local Government Pension Fund, and Trinity Hall, a Cambridge college, had been launched. While these new ventures are not strictly about wealth management per se, they are indicative of how certain banking sectors are continuing to see growth despite a tough financial climate.

The recent – and controversial – initial public offering of social media giant Facebook, said to have created a host of multi-millionaires, highlighted how the technology sector continues to be a driver of growth in the number of high net worth individuals.

Big names

SVB says it has worked with some of the world’s most renowned tech businesses, including Cisco, Evernote, Mindspeed, Mozilla and Pinterest as well as major investors in the sector including NEA, Sequoia Capital and Silver Lake. SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, has opened offices in the UK, Israel, India and China where, later this year with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, it is expected to open the first joint-venture bank in China since 1997.

Silicon Valley Bank has had a presence in the UK since 2004 through its affiliate SVB Financial Group UK Limited, providing access to financing solutions to UK-based tech firms such as The Foundry, Shazam, Icera, Mimecast and Adconion.