Northstar Ventures: Catalysing tomorrow’s ventures today

Growing a business is a journey that involves many challenges.

Whether fresh from the laboratory bench or an existing marketplace operator, to expand requires safe navigation of uncharted terrain.

Those that succeed steer through with resilience, skill and no little innovation.

Equally essential to their direction is the support of a partner that not only provides an extra hand on the wheel but financial fuel for their passage and guidance to avoid bumps and bends in the road.

A partner like Northstar Ventures.

The Newcastle-based venture capital firm is a prosperity driver, with its £100 million-plus investments into regional start-ups, spin-outs and more established businesses – across areas such as clean technology and healthy ageing – having helped catalyse great job and wealth creation over the last two decades.

“We help early-stage businesses grow, providing support that increases their teams, making introductions to investors and networks, and offering guidance on many other day-to-day issues,” says director Alasdair Greig.

He adds: “We look for capable and competent management teams with complementary skills we think are capable of scaling a business.

“We work very closely with our region’s renowned universities and invest heavily in their spin-outs, with around 15 presently in our portfolio.

“We also work with partners, such as Innovate UK and Creative UK, to provide specific grant and equity-based support for our businesses.

“Our aim is to help create jobs, with many of our businesses employing highly-skilled and capable technology and commercial teams and other specialists.

“We have a particular focus on clean technology and healthy ageing, areas where the region has competitive advantage and will drive societal impact in future years through operations like Blyth’s ORE Catapult facility and Newcastle’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing.”

Two of Northstar’s current active funds are the North East Innovation Fund and the North East Social Investment Fund.

The North East Innovation Fund invests up to £500,000 in innovative early-stage businesses with bold ideas that can scale rapidly.

The North East Social Investment Fund offers loan-based financing from £100,000 to £1 million to charities, community interest companies and social enterprises that deliver on social impact.

And the outcomes are plentiful.

From Washington-based Newcastle University spin-out electric motor and powertrain system maker Advanced Electric Machines – which last year raised £23 million of funding in a round supported by Northstar Ventures – to Seaham-based Durham University spin-out carbon-negative aggregate firm – and Earthshot Prize finalist – Low Carbon Materials, Northstar Ventures is a recognised and trusted success conduit.

 

• Tom O’Neill, Northstar Ventures investment manager

 

Just ask Houghton-le-Spring construction sector management software firm Clixifix.

Following two rounds of investment across four years from Northstar’s funds, the company was recently bought by Norway’s Smartcraft ASA.

That it has chosen Clixifix as its headquarters outside of its Nordic base says much about the company and the region.

James Farrell, chief executive of Clixifix, says: “Northstar Ventures’ early-stage investments were crucial in enabling us to scale services and platform capabilities; it was also a constant source of practical advice and fantastic introductions to people in its network.”

Tom O’Neill, Northstar Ventures’ investment manager, adds: “Smartcraft intends to use Clixifix as its UK headquarters, with plans in place for further investment in product development and its team.

“Smartcraft represents a great opportunity, and a good match, for Clixifix.”

Northstar Ventures’ influence, though, is set to grow even further, through its first-ever enterprise investment fund.

Known as the Northstar EIS Growth Fund, it offers high net worth investors the opportunity to back businesses across the clean technology and healthy ageing spheres, while also benefiting from generous tax allowances and supporting the next generation of promising early-stage North East businesses.

Alasdair adds: “The EIS Growth Fund provides the scale-up capital needed by the very best companies in our region to help them grow to achieve their potential, while also delivering transformative solutions that address some of the biggest challenges society is facing.

“Our first EIS fund will invest into portfolio companies we know well, but we expect, in future EIS and SEIS funds, to consider new investments too.”

 

Pictured, above, Alasdair Greig, Northstar Ventures director

www.northstarventures.co.uk

LinkedIn: Northstar Ventures UK