Partner:GC & River Microfinance
Region:North West
Location:Knowsley
Programme:Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund
Knowsley-based SaaS (Software as a Service), Leaf One, received a £90,000 investment from NPIF – River & GC Microfinance, which River Capital manages in partnership with GC Business Finance as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
Leaf One, a provider of Cloud-based solutions, empowers businesses that utilise laboratories as part of their sample testing process and require quick and agile solutions.
Its flagship software solution product, Sample Track, helps organisations across various food and beverage and water hygiene industries to convert to a digital system when managing analytical results.
Since its inception, Sample Track has assisted organisations with close to 5 million tests, obtaining 549,200 certificates, ensuring Leaf One’s clients can dedicate time and valuable resources elsewhere, improving productivity and reducing costs.
Established in 2021, Leaf One will use the injection from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund to support its product development and create new jobs at its head office in Knowsley.
Sue Chambers, River Capital Investment Manager, said: “We are pleased to support Ian and the Leaf One team as they continue to develop innovative cloud-based software solutions. Sample Track has proved successful, helping businesses, and the NPIF funding will assist them in growing their team as they seek to deliver further products across new industries.”
Ian Bufton, MD and CTO of Leaf One said: “We are delighted and proud to receive this funding from River Capital and NPIF which will see us accelerate our growth through innovation and people. Our markets are expanding dramatically and with our management team of experienced people we can capture a sizeable share of our existing and new market segments.”
Sean Hutchinson at the British Business Bank, said: “The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund provides crucial funding to Northern businesses, helping companies that are looking towards their next stage of growth to make an impact. It’s great to see investments supporting growth and the creation of new jobs, showing the essential role access to funding plays in aiding the development of regional economies.”
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.
The MSIF group of funds are managed by River Capital Management Ltd which is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the course of investment business. Financial Conduct Authority Registration Number is 180891.
BFS Funding Managers Limited is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Small Authorised UK AIFM under firm reference number 608682.
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