Enterprise Ventures named region’s most active investor with 132 deals completed

Enterprise Ventures was the North West’s most active funding provider last year, according to new data from information services firm Experian.

In 2015, Enterprise Ventures completed 132 deals in the region with an average value of £132k, making it the most active investor in terms of deals completed.

Eight of the investments were worth £500k or more, according to Experian.

Enterprise Ventures’ chief executive, Jonathan Diggines, said: “In total over the past five years, there has been a net reduction of more than £25bn in SME lending by the clearing banks and although new funders have come into the market, it has nowhere near filled the gap.

“During this time Enterprise Ventures has been more active than ever.”

He continued: “We have backed some of the most exciting businesses in the region and some of those we have nurtured from an early stage have gone on to become publicly-listed companies.

“In fact, start-up and pre-revenue businesses originally backed by Enterprise Ventures companies went on to raise £86m on AIM in 2015, which demonstrates how patience pays in the long term, when supporting small firms.”

The company, which has offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Yorkshire, manages the North West Fund for Venture capital and several others.