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Northstar Ventures expands EIS Growth Fund

A venture capital company has unveiled the next phase of an enterprise fund.

Northstar Ventures has launched the second tranche of its EIS Growth Fund.

Created to capitalise on the region’s global reputation for excellence in the arenas of climate, healthy ageing and digital technology, the second round for individual investors is now open for subscriptions.

Investments will then be made during the 2025/2026 tax year, supporting some of the North East’s most innovative later-stage technology companies.

Northstar Ventures has a 20-year track record of investing in, growing and exiting some of the North East’s fastest growing technology scale-ups.

This latest tranche of the EIS Growth Fund will provide additional capital for companies with established management teams, proven business models and revenue traction, seeking further capital to power their growth.

The fund gives individual investors a chance to participate in some of Northstar Ventures’ most exciting investments and play a pivotal role in shaping the North East by supporting the technologies of the future and the creation of high-skilled, high-quality jobs.

By investing in an EIS fund, investors are able to benefit from tax efficient, venture scale returns while diversifying their risk.

The first tranche of the EIS Growth Fund, which closed in April 2024, invested in five companies that are on a path to rapid growth:

• MySalesCoach has developed a personalised coaching platform, which matches salespeople with highly experienced coaches familiar with the challenges faced by sales teams. It is now incorporating artificial intelligence tools that will allow users to receive sales support in real-time.

• Nanovery has created a versatile platform of analytical tools used in the development of a new class of drugs known as RNA therapeutics, opening the door to personalised therapies and addressing difficult to treat diseases.

• NunaBio, a Newcastle University spin-out, has developed new processes for the synthesis and amplification of DNA that enables the company to supply DNA to clients rapidly and at a scale and cost other companies cannot match.

• OnHand is an innovative social impact platform enabling businesses to become more responsible by empowering employees to drive meaningful change through corporate social responsibility initiatives. It connects employees to volunteering opportunities tailored to their interests and close to their place of work.

• Wordnerds’ artificial intelligence customer insight analysis tool allows retailers like M&S and Sainsbury’s, several housing associations and names from travel and hospitality like Avanti and The Dorchester Collection, to analyse vast amounts of customer feedback and formulate actionable insights.

This next tranche of the Northstar EIS Growth Fund provides investors with the opportunity to invest in companies with similar growth and value creation potential.

Alasdair Greig, Northstar Ventures’ director, said: “Having spent some 20 years working with entrepreneurs and a number of leading universities in the North East, Northstar has a well-established reputation of being a proactive and supportive investment partner for innovative, high-growth next generation businesses.

“Our EIS fund focuses on providing the scale-up capital so crucial to the most ambitious companies in our region to help them grow to achieve their potential while also delivering inventive solutions to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our society today.”

The fund is only for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors.

About the Northstar EIS Growth Fund

The Northstar EIS Growth Fund is a tax-efficient fund that offers investors the opportunity to invest in a diversified portfolio of innovative businesses with high growth potential. The fund provides growth capital for scale-up businesses with good commercial traction and proven demand, and which are rapidly establishing their position in the market.

For more information, visit www.northstarventures.co.uk/funds/eis-fund/

Northstar Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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