Northern startups set for boost with £10m EIS fund

Praetura Ventures has announced today that it is raising money for its second Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund to support Northern businesses.

The £10m Praetura EIS 2020 Fund will be used to invest in six to eight early-stage companies mainly from the North of England.

This latest announcement comes less than six months after the venture capital firm made its first EIS fundraise of £15m.

The 2020 fund will back early-stage businesses in the North and beyond offering between £500k and £2m per business, while providing support and guidance to management teams via its ‘More than money’ approach.

David Foreman, managing director at Praetura Ventures, commented: “We are delighted by the progress made by the business and by the quality of investments made by the 2019 fund to date.

“Raising our second fund so quickly after our first demonstrates the opportunity available to us in the North of England, and evidences the scale of demand we’re seeing from investors.”

Jonathan Prescott, business development director at Praetura Ventures, added: “Investor appetite has been strong since the close of our previous fundraise

“The Praetura EIS 2020 Fund seeks to build on the momentum we’ve gathered over the past 12 months, deploying capital into some of the brightest businesses in the North and beyond.”