£125M fund to support small businesses in north east England

Funding opportunity

The UK regional development agency One North East is to launch a £125 million fund in January following the appointment of five fund managers as the preferred suppliers for delivering investments to small and medium-sized firms over the next five years.

The management companies will target loans and equity investments into business start-ups, technology-based companies and growing smaller businesses.

The JEREMIE venture capital fund (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises Initiative), is the first fund of its type in England. It will be open for business from January 4th.

To ensure the fund is ready to deal with businesses as soon as it goes live, companies interested in accessing JEREMIE finance can register their details now at http://www.onenortheast.co.uk/jeremie.

The North East JEREMIE is jointly funded by the European Investment Bank, which will contribute £62.5 million, with the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 and One North East jointly investing a further £62.5 million.

The fund management firms leading the six funds that will comprise JEREMIE are:

• NorthStar Equity Investors, an active early stage fund management company, which will manage the £15 million Technology Proof of Concept Fund and the £20 million Seed Fund.

• IP Group, which will run the £25 million Technology Fund.

• Rivers Capital Partners, a new joint venture between E-Synergy and local business advisors Finance Tree of Newcastle, which will manage the £7.5 million Angel Match Fund.

• Finance Wales Investments, a specialist in regional investment, which will manage the £20 million Growth Fund 500.

• NEL Fund Managers, which will run the £20 million Growth Fund.

The investments available to companies from across the funds range from £20,000 to £1.25 million. The total funds under management are £107.5m. The remaining £17.5 million will allow flexibility to top up the existing funds in response to business demand.

Simon Brooks, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, said, “The JEREMIE fund represents the beginning of a new era in venture capital investment in North East England. We have worked closely with One North East and the EU to develop and back this innovative fund, which we believe can provide a major boost to the regional economy by stimulating the development of a new generation of businesses which will help lead forward economic growth.”