Business Durham, the economic development company for County Durham, UK, working on behalf of Durham County Council, has appointed Maven Capital Partners as Fund Manager for its Finance Durham LP.
Finance Durham is a £20m investment fund set up to support businesses located in County Durham. It will commence the investment process from May 2017 and intends to support up to 70 businesses.
Business Durham was an early stage investor in companies such as mobile bank Atom Bank, which recently raised £219m, and PolyPhotonix, a producer of an innovative eye mask to prevent sight loss and treat eye disease in diabetic sufferers.
The evergreen fund will make investments that will range between £200k to £2m in businesses based in, or relocating to, County Durham. 10% of the fund will be set aside to fund startups with investments being between £10k and £40k.
Led by Bill Kennedy, Maven Capital Partners is a UK-based private equity manager in the lower mid-market, offering a range of flexible funding solutions for entrepreneurial SMEs at any stage of the business growth cycle. In February 2017, Maven was appointed to manage the £57.5m NPIF Maven Equity Finance fund, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which will provide equity funding to high potential businesses, including SMEs, across the North of England.
FinSMEs
20/03/2017