UK-based private equity firm Maven Capital Partners announced on Wednesday it was appointed by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) to manage the £57.5 million NPIF Maven Equity Finance fund as part of NPIF’s £400 million of capital available to support growing SMEs.
According to Maven, NPIF Maven Equity Finance is focused on providing equity funding to high-potential businesses located primarily in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Cumbria and Cheshire and is also able to support SMEs in Yorkshire & Humber and Tees Valley and may offer funds between £50,000 and £2 million to each SME. Maven will be also working in partnership with MSIF which will be delivering the funding for businesses based in the Liverpool City Region.
NPIF was reportedly announced by the Government in 2015 and is a partnership between the British Business Bank, a number of Northern Local Enterprise Partnerships, the European Investment Bank, and the European Regional Development Fund. The firm targets businesses with an operational trading base in the region and has appointed fund managers who will identify and make investments in SMEs across the Northern LEP areas. Ryan Bevington, Fund Manager for NPIF Maven Equity Finance, added:
“As one of the UK’s most experienced and active private equity fund managers, and with many years’ experience of investing in and supporting SMEs across the North of England, the team at Maven is delighted to be working with the British Business Bank to deliver the objectives of the NPIF. The North has historically been a key driver of UK economic growth and a hotbed for innovative smaller businesses, and there remains a clear need for this type of funding to help high-growth Northern SMEs fulfil their potential. Our investment team is very much looking forward to working in partnership alongside the region’s SMEs.”
Maven Capital Partners recently completed a £1.1 million investment in developer and operator of specialist online investment and capital crowdfunding platforms, Growth Capital Ventures (GCV), which was funded through its managed Venture Capital Trusts.