Member Article

Investment-not-for-profit NorthInvest shares insights into record-breaking 2022

Leeds-based not-for-profit NorthInvest has issued an update regarding its record-breaking impact so far in 2022.

NorthInvest’s journey in 2022 to-date has seen it successfully facilitate 21 deals, leveraging £15.6m investment so far this year– already beating its previous full-year record of 19 deals closed worth £9m investment. Funding went to a diverse range of companies, with the organisation’s largest deal being worth in excess of £5m. Of these deals, 29% of the successful deals in 2022 have been follow-on rounds.

This increased level of funding was enabled by NorthInvest’s growing co-investment capacity. The organisation has solidified some of its budding relationships with VC’s and other angel networks, in addition to receiving an additional £2m in grant funding from Innovate UK as part of the RAIA Programme. NorthInvest is part of a consortium also comprising the Innovation SuperNetwork and the UKBAA, led by North East Business and Innovation Centre.

In July the NorthInvest team won the highly coveted Angel Group of the Year accolade at the prestigious UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) Angel Investment Awards 2022.

The award, sponsored by Seedrs, recognises and celebrates the most active and impactful angel group in the UK, making not only a significant number of investments but also adding substantial value to support the growth and success of their portfolio. The nominees, including many leading names such as Cambridge Angels and Par Equity, were judged by a panel of experts from across the investment community and beyond.

Helen Oldham, Director of NorthInvest said “It’s hard to express how proud the whole organisation is to have won the UKBAA 2021 Angel Group of the Year. For a small team we punch above our weight in our mission to elevate Northern tech by making successful early-stage funding connections. We’re delighted that we also increased the gender mix of founders supported in 2021 following the launch of Fund Her North, with female led teams making up 44% of the successful rounds compared to 22% the previous year. We have a strong belief that our work is just getting started as there is so much potential here in the North, and we’re delighted to share our results for the year so far.”

Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Professor Adam Beaumont, NorthInvest is a not-for-profit investment organisation with a vision to nurture a stronger and more connected tech investor, mentorship and start-up community across the North of England. Aligned with the strategic growth ambition of the Northern Powerhouse, NorthInvest exists to level up the future of the North of England by facilitating investment in start-ups and driving grassroots growth.

Since its inception, the organisation has now gone on to support over 800 entrepreneurs, with approximately 4 on-boarding per week. NorthInvest now possesses the capability to support entrepreneurs at the ideation stage through a commitment to broadening its programme delivery, with examples of recent programmes including ‘Meet the Funders’, ‘PitchFest’ and its collaboration on ‘Grow@Leeds’ with strategic partner Nexus.

As of the time of writing this piece, NorthInvest boasts 180 angel mentor/investors in its network, a number developed through establishing regional angel hubs, such as the Newcastle Angel Hub and the newly formed South Yorkshire Angel Hub. 24% of the investors in the NorthInvest network are women, which is a 10% increase since the beginning of 2021.

Adam Beaumont, Founder of NorthInvest commented “Looking back to our start in 2015, which was catalysed by conversation with George Osborne when we proudly launched the Northern Powerhouse initiative at our historic headquarters and announced proudly one of our companies as the first member of the Northern Powerhouse. This conversation sparked my vision to create NorthInvest.; I’m proud of the team and ecosystem we’ve built and the impact this has made since then. This year is exceptional, from winning the most respected industry award for best investor network, to the significant seed capital invested and mentorships initiated across the North. I firmly believe there is not another organisation which has such a huge impact on the tech industry per £ invested.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by NorthInvest .