Launch of £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund
The British Business Bank’s £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has now been launched. The fund is aimed at boosting the North of England’s economy and will offer a mix of microfinance, loans and equity to northern-based SMEs at all stages of their development and growth.
Mavern Capital Partners together with Enterprise Ventures have been appointed managers of the £57m equity fund, with Mavern covering the North West region and Enterprise Ventures covering Yorkshire, the Humber and Teeside regions. The new NPIF equity fund will be looking to invest from £50,000 to £2m risk capital in small businesses and will be supported by 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships, Growth Hubs and other local partners, with a view to leveraging further private capital.
Jenny Tooth, CEO of UK Business Angels Association said:
“We are delighted that these vital new funds have now been launched to support the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship across the Northern regions. We are especially pleased to be organising our UKBAA Northern Investment Summit in Manchester on 28th March, enabling us to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by the new Northern Powerhouse Investment Funds, particularly the new equity funds managed by Mavern and Enterprise Ventures.
“We will be bringing together over 250 leading players from across the investment and early-stage community on 28th March to provide insights on the opportunities offered by these new funds and how the UK’s investment community can bring further risk capital to add value to the funds. We also hope that we can use these new funds as a catalyst to leverage a more active and visible angel community across the North.”
