North West-based venture capital firm , the capital-first programme designed to support pre-seed and pre-revenue businesses in the North.聽
The programme returns after a successful first year in 2024 when it was designed to help bridge the early-stage funding gap by providing equity investment and hands-on support to founders looking to build and scale from the region.聽
The initiative is funded by NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
The application stage for the 2025 cohort will close in mid-April with up to 12 businesses securing a place, and up to seven of these receiving a 拢200,000 investment from NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance at the end of the programme.
This year鈥檚 cohort will start their six-week programme in June from Praetura鈥檚 Manchester office.聽
Benefits include expert-led workshops and insights from experienced later-stage founders to help with real-world scaling skills and connections into the ecosystem.聽
The first cohort included businesses from across Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, as well as Yorkshire.聽
The programme deployed 拢1.4m into seven companies spanning multiple sectors including life sciences, robotics, FinTech and SaaS, and many of these have since been approached by other investors looking to invest alongside.聽
Over its five-year lifespan, PraeSeed aims to invest more than 拢6m into 35 Northern startups.
鈥淭he success of our first cohort proved there鈥檚 a real need for this kind of early-stage investment in the North. We鈥檙e excited to bring PraeSeed back for a second year and see more companies secure NPIF II funding,鈥� said Jess Jackson, PraeSeed lead at Praetura Ventures.聽
“Our focus remains on assessing the businesses thoroughly while giving founders access to the insights, network, and capital they need to take their first steps the right way.聽
鈥淭hose who secure investment will also have a clear pathway to follow-on funding, ensuring they can scale at pace.鈥�
Sue Barnard, senior investment manager at British 老九品茶 Bank, added: 鈥淭his is a fantastic opportunity for businesses in the North West to not only have the chance to secure access to finance, but learn important information about how to fund your business in its early stages of growth.聽
鈥淔rom underwater robotics to pothole detectors, last year saw some innovative businesses secure vital funding to further develop their products and create jobs and we look forward to seeing the next cohort achieve their growth goals.鈥澛犅�
The 拢660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II covers the entire North and 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 to start up, scale up or stay ahead.