Investment firm raises £10 million for young businesses in the North of England

Investment firm Praetura Ventures has announced plans to raise a £10 million fund to be invested in young businesses located predominantly in the North of England.

The Praetura EIS 2020 Fund will back between six and eight early-stage businesses in the North of England and Scotland, offering between £500,000 and £2 million per business.

The scheme promises a ‘more than money’ approach and will provide professional support and guidance to management teams as part of the deal.

The new scheme comes less than six months after Praetura rolled out its maiden EIS fundraise, worth £15 million. Since closing the fund in May, the firm has invested £7.3 million in a range of early stage businesses.

Businesses that secured funding through the 2019 scheme include ecommerce platform Dr Fertility, energy management company Steamaco, tech company Sorted, and conversation-as-a-service solution provider Futr.

It’s hoped that the remainder of the capital will be fully deployed by November 2019.

News of the EIS coincides with a number of senior appointments at the company, including business development managers Sandra Corcoran and Stephen Green, who will oversee plans to grow Praetura’s relationships with financial advisers and wealth managers across the North of England.

Dr Andy Round, formerly of Maven Capital Partners, also joins the senior team as a director, with the aim of expanding the firm’s investments in the life sciences sector.

David Foreman, managing director at Praetura Ventures, said: “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, 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.”

It’s hoped that the scheme will be ready for deployment by 2020.