A company which organises sex parties, and has apparently banned UK PM Boris Johnson, is actually partially owned by the British government. Here's how UK taxpayers ended up investing in an orgy organiser.
A UK firm called Killing Kittens got a government loan in 2020 as part of Covid aid. The company organises exclusive 'women-led sex parties'. As per the scheme's provisions, the loan eventually turned into an equity stake. Killing Kittens was given a loan of £170,000 in 2020. The company is now reportedly valued at £15 million, with the UK govt holding 1.5% stake.
Killing Kittens was founded in 2005, and organises sex parties exclusively for members. The company says that at the parties, "women control the narrative and the events". The parties are organised in major cities across the globe, and the company has also developed an adults-only social network.
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Killing Kittens has around 1.8 lakh members, and an annual turnover of £1.4 million, according to reports. The company received a boost during the Covid pandemic, with the website reportedly witnessing a 330% increase in online traffic.
The loan to Killing Kittens had caused a controversy in the UK, with the Opposition Labour party attacking the government, and appealing for an end to funding for the sex party company. Authorities had defended the loan, saying that the company had met all the eligibility criteria.
The founder of Killing Kittens recently hit back at critics. Emma Sayle tweeted that the government's stake increased 60% in value in a year, unlike other companies which received Covid aid and went under. She said that some would call it a "good investment". In an interview to The Financial Times, Sayle said that the company had raised £1 million in the latest funding round.
On a lighter note, Sayle told The Telegraph that UK PM Boris Johnson would not be allowed at her company's parties, but Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who led the Covid assistance scheme, might get a "warmer welcome".
The British Business Bank's Future Fund was set up in May 2020, during the first wave of Covid infections. It was a government scheme to help companies struggling due to the pandemic.
Companies received loans between £125,000 and £5 million with the condition that they had to match the funding with private investment. The loans were converted into equity in the next fundraising round. £1.1 billion were reportedly given to 1,190 companies under the Future Fund.