Private equity backing for Bristol tech platform
Palatine has backed fast-growing, Bristol-based technology platform Neighbourly with funding from its Growth Credit Fund.
Neighbourly helps businesses to deliver employee volunteering programmes, provide financial support, and donate surplus products to thousands of vetted local charities and good causes across the UK and Ireland. The platform enables businesses to maximise the positive local impact of their own giving programmes, address specific community needs, engage their employees, and measure the social value for ESG reporting purposes.
Its technology platform measures activities in real time and provides evidence of the social and environmental value delivered. Since being established in 2014, Neighbourly has facilitated nearly £1bn of impact into local communities and counts Sainsbury’s, RSA Insurance, M&S, Virgin Media O2, Aldi and Lidl among its clients.
The business was one of the first in the UK to achieve B-Corp status.
The Palatine Growth Credit Fund has been raised to support maturing, high-growth companies in the UK regions which are seeing double-digit year-on-year revenue growth.
The funding will support Neighbourly’s continued growth and accelerate its embedded AI capabilities.
William Chappel, managing oartner – Palatine Growth Credit, said: “Neighbourly is a wonderful business with a sharp focus on ESG and as a fellow B-Corp, their values align perfectly with our own at Palatine.
“As a fast-growing, regionally-headquartered, tech business wwith a top-class management team and VC-backing, Neighbourly is a perfect fit with the Growth Credit Fund’s mission to support ambitious businesses outside of London with tailored growth capital.”
Neighbourly CEO, Steve Butterworth, said: “Neighbourly is thrilled to have Palatine’s support as we look to accelerate our growth and leverage the benefits of AI to further increase the impact of our partner programmes across our good cause network.”
The Palatine Growth Credit Fund supports companies in the cyber, fintech, SaaS, healthtech, medtech, AI and advanced manufacturing sectors in the burgeoning technology ecosystems of the North, Midlands, South West, and the South East.
The fund sits alongside sustainably driven investor Palatine’s established Buyout and Impact private equity funds.
