EF News
By Michael Vassallo, Partner at Maven Capital Partners
The job of a venture capitalist is to seek out driven entrepreneurs and help them realise their goals. Done correctly, this creates substantial returns for investors while generating material wealth for founders and management teams. Maven’s partnership with the Forum gives the team valuable opportunities to connect with those entrepreneurs, and in recent months they’ve completed several exciting deals with standout North East businesses.
Backing a proven entrepreneur
In August, we completed an investment into Crafter’s Companion, the Durham based crafting supplies business founded and led by Sara Davies MBE. Sara, well-known for her time on Dragons’ Den, recently stepped down from the show to focus more time on Crafter’s – a win for the region as Sara is an outstanding entrepreneur with an exceptional pedigree.
Sara has been joined by Dianne Sharpe, another highly respected North East business leader, and I’m confident we have backed a great team. Whilst the imposition of US tariffs has been a challenge, Sara and the team have (not unsurprisingly) risen to this with resilience and determination. The company has a bright future!
High growth remote fitness app
In October, we backed an exciting young technology business, FITR, with a £1.5million investment. FITR was founded by Durham University graduate Leon Cassidy, who started his career here in the North East with PwC.
Leon then joined UNW’s corporate finance team before moving to London in 2019 to launch FITR – a premium fitness training platform designed to help coaches and fitness professionals build, manage and scale their businesses globally.
Since launching, Leon and his team have built an international customer base with high levels or recurring income – a key factor in securing our investment. The funding will allow the team to invest in FITR’s technology stack and drive growth.
Durham-made products in space
We also recently provided funding to aXenic, which is based in NETPark, Sedgefield, the region’s leading science park.
Led by Stephen Clements, who brings four decades of expertise in the optical communications industry, aXenic manufactures advanced optical modulators which are used in satellite communications. The company is working with the European Space Agency, amongst others, and its products are currently operating in low Earth orbit.
Our funding will help aXenic expand into larger facilities as part of the next phase of NETPark’s development – an exciting development which will see other space cluster businesses take root in the region.
Funding for entrepreneurs
Locally, Maven manages the Finance Durham Fund, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II Equity Fund and the North East Development Capital Fund. We also invest on behalf of the Maven Venture Capital Trusts and Maven’s Private Equity funds.
We provide flexible funding from £100,000 to £10million to early stage and established businesses and offer both growth capital and funding for MBOs and M&A.
To find out more about our funding options and how Maven can help you grow your business, please email Michael Vassallo.
