External development company Airship Interactive has received a six-figure investment to support its expansion to South Manchester鈥檚 Alderley Park.
The firm will relocate from Lytham St Annes to an 8,000 sq ft office at Bruntwood SciTech鈥檚 Glasshouse.聽
The funding has been provided by NPIF II 鈥� FW Capital Debt Finance, which is managed by FW Capital as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II).聽
The move will also support the firm鈥檚 growth and create nine new job opportunities.聽
Airship Interactive provides art services for some of the world鈥檚 largest gaming companies including Disney, Microsoft, Blizzard, 2KGames and Sony PlayStation Studios.聽
It has earned a reputation as one of the leading art production studios for the games industry.
The company was set up in 2008 by CEO Joe Harford and the new round follows two previous ones from FW Capital, who provided backing in 2020 and 2022 from the first NPIF.
鈥淲hen we first started working with FW Capital four years ago, we had 15 staff and sales of 拢1m. Today we鈥檝e scaled the business to employ over 85 staff, 50 global contractors and sales of circa 拢9m,鈥� said Harford.
鈥淭he increased demand for our services meant we needed to expand to larger premises. The Glasshouse development at Alderley Park has been specifically designed for hi-tech, innovative and creative companies so it鈥檚 great to be part of a thriving tech community.鈥�
Alistair Igo, FW Capital鈥檚, portfolio executive, added: 鈥淎irship Interactive is an impressive business that continues to record significant growth.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to support Joe and the team with this latest round of funding which has seen the business expand into a new office and create further new jobs.鈥�
The 拢660m NPIF II provides loans from 拢25k to 拢2m and equity investment up to 拢5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses in Northern England to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
It was announced last week that the fund has already made over 拢50m of investments since its launch in March 2024.