Finance Durham Fund invests over £3m in local businesses since launch

Finance Durham has invested £3.4m in 10 dynamic growth businesses across County Durham since inception.

Managed by Maven Capital Partners, Finance Durham driving economic prosperity and supporting the creation and safeguarding of over 250 jobs.

Appointed by Durham County Council in May 2017, Maven manages the £20m Finance Durham Fund. The fund was established by DCC and is overseen by Business Durham, DCC’s economic development organisation.

Michael Vassallo, investment director at Maven, said: “We are delighted that the fund has reached such a significant milestone and that we have been able to support so many jobs across the county.

“Many of our transactions are fantastic examples of investors in the North East working together to provide local businesses with substantial funding packages to enable them to grow globally.

“At Maven, we understand the importance of proactively providing local support, our investment team has considerable in-depth knowledge of the local SME market, allied to our national resource, we are well-equipped to deliver comprehensive investor readiness training tailored to the individual growth needs of businesses based in County Durham.”

Maven has completed investments ranging from £40k to £2.7m and has successfully leveraged an additional £5.2m in private sector debt finance for local businesses.

Notable transactions include a £1m investment in NETPark-based water technology business, G2O; as well as a £1.95m investment in independent engineering business, Dyer Engineering.

In line with Durham County Council’s economic growth strategy to encourage entrepreneurship in County Durham and help businesses grow and compete more effectively, Maven has established a comprehensive ‘Access to Finance’ programme.

Sarah Slaven, business development director, added: “’It is great to look back on the range of companies and projects that have benefited from the Finance Durham fund over the last two years and are already creating jobs and investing further in the county.

“The fund is a key part of the wider package that Business Durham has available to make County Durham an attractive place to do business. We look forward to continuing to work with these companies and those who receive funding from the fund in the future.”