Interest in £660m NPIF second phase increasing ahead of launch next year

Private equity firm, Maven, is expected to bid to run the next phase of the £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

The Government’s British Business Bank (BBB) administers NPIF, one of a series of new Nations and Regions Investment Funds which will offer a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2m and equity investment up to £5m, across the North.

The second round of the funding engine, NPIFII, was recently announced, with just over 57% going to equity and just under 43% to debt, and £224m initially retained as an Investor Reserve.

Several key venture capital fund managers and specialist debt partners – such as Mercia Asset Management, FW Capital and Praetura Ventures – are expected to throw their hats into the ring to administer NPIFII, and while Maven has declined to publicly confirm its involvement, it boasts extensive experience in the field.

It was appointed as the fund manager for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund for the North West in 2017.

Maven has a long-established presence in the North West, with investment executives based across its offices in Manchester, Preston, Burnley and Liverpool. As one of the most active investors of high growth businesses in the region, Maven has deployed more than £160m in around 170 SMEs in the North West since 2009.

Since its appointment in 2017, its NPIF team has invested more than £76m into ambitious growth businesses in the Northern Powerhouse region. And due to the successful management of the mandate, NPIF Maven Equity Finance was increased from an initial £57.5m to £121m via four further allocations of capital.

Key highlights include:

• More than 75 ambitious businesses have received investment through NPIF Maven Equity Finance
• Significant social impact was delivered via the creation of more than 1,500 new jobs in the region (81% above target)
• More than £8m invested into green energy businesses
• Maven has helped to access £150m of private sector leverage (£52m above target) resulting in £2.01 of private capital investment into the NPIF region for every £1 of BBB fund commitment
• Ongoing support provided to 57% of investee companies through follow on investment, promoting further growth and jobs

Six businesses – Airtime Rewards, AppLearn, Automated Analytics, iAM Compliant, MirrorWeb and Orka Technology Group – which have received investment through NPIF Maven Equity Finance, were recently named in the Northern Tech Awards Top 100, which recognises the fastest growing tech businesses by revenue growth over the past three years.

Ryan Bevington, partner at Maven, said: “Maven has built a strong and collaborative working relationship with the British Business Bank over the past six years which has helped deliver on our objectives and has enabled over 75 ambitious businesses across the North West to access the capital and hands-on expertise they require to drive and accelerate sustainable growth.

“The Fund is open for new investments until December 2023, with our NPIF team working hard to deploy equity finance for companies across the region looking to capitalise on growth opportunities.”

He added: “Our experience with NPIF gives us invaluable insight into the challenges and opportunities local businesses face, and during our time as manager we have financed the development of over 48 new products, supporting the commercialisation of regional innovation.

“Additionally, the NPIF funding has facilitated an impactful level of private sector leverage, generating meaningful economic benefit for the region with the creation of over 1,500 jobs.”

The British Business Bank expects to appoint fund managers and launch NPIFII in early 2024.