Pitalia Capital, a new investment firm, is launching a £50m fund to back high-quality small to mid-sized businesses across the UK.
Led by John Davies, the managing partner spearheading the new firm’s investment activity, who joins from Seneca Partners, Pitalia Capital will seek to invest across a diverse portfolio of businesses, including early-stage companies looking for growth capital to scale, as well as backing management buyouts of mid-sized firms.
The firm, which is part of the Pitalia group of companies and funded by entrepreneur Anil Pitalia, will focus on flexible deal structures, enabling the team to support a broad range of businesses by deploying up to £10m per transaction, and it intends to support companies across a diverse range of sectors.
With more than 20 years’ experience in the venture capital, private equity and corporate finance industries, Davies joins Pitalia Capital from Seneca Partners. Over the last six years, he has supported several of the firm’s most successful investee companies in his role as investment director. This includes digital business communications specialist Mission Labs, which it exited in March in a deal valued at more than £40m, providing a 4.2x return to investors. Davies was also instrumental in originating and supporting Seneca Partners’ investment in Manchester-headquartered Wejo Limited, a leader in connected vehicle data, which recently announced plans for a $1bn Nasdaq listing. He sat on the board for over two years and worked closely with Wejo CEO Richard Barlow to support his growth journey.
At Pitalia Capital he will focus on growing the team, targeting new investments and creating a diverse portfolio of businesses.
Pitalia Capital joins the Pitalia Group of companies alongside Pitalia Real Estate, which launched in March 2021, and is being led by long-established real estate professional David Lathwood.
FinSMEs
13/07/2021