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Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 16

Deal Round Up

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has been at the forefront in supporting the North’s most ambitious companies.

From a martial arts sportswear brand to an advanced nurse calling systems provider, NPIF provides crucial funding to businesses at every stage of their journey.

Have a read over some of this quarter’s investments and how they used funding to achieve their goals.

Progress Jiu Jitsu – Manchester

Progress Jiu Jitsu secured a six-figure investment from NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance. Based in Manchester, the company is one of the largest Jiu Jitsu sportswear brands in the UK and has recently achieved a seven figure turnover. The investment will help the company  meet its growing demand, increase its stock levels and marketing activities, as well as boost exports into Europe. By the end of the year, Progress will have created six new jobs in its operations, customer service and marketing teams.

Arquella- Sheffield

An advanced ‘nurse call’ systems provider for care homes secured an £850,000 joint investment from Traditum Private Equity and NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance. Based in Sheffield, Arquella’s cloud-based advanced nurse call system helps care home teams accurately record and continually monitor reactive care in real time. The investment will enable Arquella to expand its sales and marketing teams as it targets expansion into the European market.

Inland Sea  – Macclesfield

Macclesfield-based Inland Sea is the first ever company in the UK to produce t-shirts using seacell, a yarn made of 100% biodegradable materials and seaweed. The eco company utilised a £27,000 loan from NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance to expand from a primarily ecommerce
platform into a brick-and-mortar stores. With the funding,
Adam Costello, CEO, also plans to hire three to five new staff.

Candy Hero – Bradford

Bradford-based, Candy Hero, a distributor and retailer of
foreign confectionary, secured a second round of funding
worth £500,000 from NPIF – Mercia Debt Finance. Founded in 2008, by brothers Frank and Leo Dillion, this second loan will help to create seven new roles and allow Candy Hero to further capitalise on its position as one of the UK’s top three importers of foreign confectionary.

RiskSmart  – Manchester

RiskSmart secured a £250,000 investment from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence to create a platform for SMEs to plan for risk, the investment will help the  Manchester-based company bring its innovative solution to market. Its risk management platform will help its customers leverage valuable data and digitalise risk management to help increase their confidence and resilience.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Editors Notes