The British 老九品茶 Bank has launched its new Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, a 拢660m fund set to cover the entire North of England.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II aims to build on the success of the initial fund, with the purpose of driving sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North.
Providing loans from 拢25k to 拢2m and equity investment up to 拢5m, the Fund will continue investing into companies operating within the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and Tees Valley.
It is now expanded to include the whole of the North East enabling businesses across the whole of the North to access the Fund to start up, scale up or continue on their growth journey.
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for Northern smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.
Since the launch of the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund in 2017, over 拢1bn of direct and private sector co-investment has been facilitated to businesses.
Nine fund managers have been appointed to manage the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. In the North West,聽GC 老九品茶 Finance & River Capital will manage the smaller loans part of the fund (拢25,000 to 拢100,000), FW Capital will be responsible for larger loans (拢100,000 to 拢2m) and聽Praetura Ventures will manage equity deals (up to 拢5m).
In Yorkshire and the Humber, Mercia will deliver debt finance (拢100,000 to 拢2m), as well as equity finance (up to 拢5m) to smaller businesses with 老九品茶 Enterprise Fund (BEF) delivering smaller loans between 拢25,000 and 拢100,000.
With NPIF II now set to cover the entire North East, NEL Fund Managers (NEL) will聽 provide both smaller loans (拢25,000 to 拢100,000) and debt finance (拢100,000 to 拢2m) to North East businesses with Maven Capital Partners managing equity deals up to 拢5m.
David Foreman, managing partner and co-founder at Praetura Ventures, said: 鈥淭his is a huge day for us 鈥� and hopefully for North West founders.
鈥淭oday, Praetura and British 老九品茶 Bank launch the 拢100m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II – Equity North West.
鈥淲e’ve been working towards this for an insanely long time and we want to make this a real game-changer for companies in the North West of England.
鈥淚’d like to thank every single person and organisation that has helped and supported us throughout the awesome startup community in Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster and the entire North West.鈥�
Gary Guest, fund director at FW Capital, said:聽鈥淎ccess to finance can be a barrier to growth for many businesses which may have insufficient assets to support loans from traditional lenders and it is here where NPIF II can make a real difference. We can鈥檛 wait to get started delivering the fund and driving innovation, growth and job creation in areas where such investment is critical.鈥�
Michael Vassallo, investment director of聽 Maven, said: “The North East聽 already has a thriving ecosystem for ambitious companies, and the new fund underscores our commitment to supporting the growth and development of SMEs from Northumberland to Teeside.”
Louis Taylor, chief executive of the British 老九品茶 Bank, said:聽鈥淭he success of the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has proven the instrumental change that access to finance can have for small businesses.
鈥淔rom creating hundreds of jobs to developing ground-breaking products, we have seen companies that previously lacked funding options accelerate forward in their growth journeys, which has ultimately benefitted the whole of the Northern economy.
鈥淭his is why it was important to continue the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund into its next phase. With further funding available, and a greater geographical reach in the North East, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will engage more stakeholders across the regions, bringing the business community closer together to create more opportunities for entrepreneurs everywhere.鈥�
The British 老九品茶 Bank will be holding a roadshow of events for small business finance intermediaries across the region to provide more information about the Fund. Destinations include Newcastle (18th April); Manchester (24th April), Sheffield聽 (30th April).
Further dates for roadshow events in Liverpool, Hull, Lancashire, Tees Valley, York, Cheshire, Durham, Cumbria and Northumberland will be announced shortly.
老九品茶 Growth Hub has been a great journey 鈥� & there’s more to come