UK's National Wealth Fund invests $34 million in defence company

LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Britain's National ​Wealth Fund ⁠announced its first investment ​in the defence sector on Wednesday, providing British engineering business ​Rowden ‌with 25 million pounds ($34 million) of funding to open ⁠new manufacturing sites.

• Investment in Bristol-based ⁠Rowden is the first ​into the defence and national security industries by the National Wealth Fund, which was set up in 2024 ​to ‌drive economic growth and is primarily focused on helping to fund the country's net zero transition.

• Rowden builds sensing and information systems for use ​in low-connectivity situations for customers including the Ministry of Defence ‌and emergency services, and the new investment will help it open two new ‌sites and create 100 jobs over the next 12 months.

• "Defence is an engine for growth, and this ​is what it looks like in practice," said Minister for ‌Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard in a statement.

• The company was one of the fastest-growing engineering companies ⁠in Europe, ⁠the statement said, and was ‌founded by CEO Rob Harper, who was formerly in the British ​Army.

• ​Rowden's technology is being geared towards ‌use on new submarines as it contributes to the AUKUS AI for Acoustics programme. ($1 = 0.7396 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Alex Richardson)