The £10m Cass Entrepreneurship Fund

The £10m Cass Entrepreneurship Fund was set up in 2010 with the backing of Peter Cullum, one of Cass’ most successful alumnus and Founder of Towergate Insurance.

The Fund acts as a small VC or ‘super-angel’, investing between £50k and £500k in early-stage businesses. This is often invested alongside business angels. An example of this was Alva Reputation Analysis, where the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund led a £675k round, with £250k being contributed by three strategic angels.

That business, backed from start-up, is now a market leader in their field and works with some of the largest companies in the UK. It employs 20 people from its headquarters in Farringdon.

The Fund is also an investor in:

– Cloud Business, a provider of cloud consultancy and software, which won the global Microsoft Cloud Partner Award 2012

– Accutainee, the first non-law firm to have authorisation to train solicitors in the UK. Accutrainee was also shortlisted for the MBA Venture Award 2012

– Contego Fraud Solutions, a fraud prevention and detection software business, based in Oxford.

The Fund’s core belief is that the blend of education and finance makes better businesses. We ask all entrepreneurs we back to attend short programmes at Cass Business School.

An ‘incubation centre’ is run alongside the Fund, giving selective businesses access to free office space; both pre and post investment.