Newsletters

Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 5

Deal Round Up

NPIF has continued to deliver a strong pipeline of deals in all 10 LEP areas, making an impact on businesses across a range of sectors. Here is a round up of some of our recent investments.

Shaping Cloud

Shaping Cloud is a Manchester-based company that enables the NHS, local authorities and other government departments in the North to implement cloud storage technology. The £750,000 equity finance investment will contribute to continued innovation and development in its cloud products, sales and marketing activity and create a further 12 jobs.

Otty Sleep

Based in Leeds, OTTY Sleep is a bed-in-a-box mattress retailer that delivers premium mattresses direct to customers’ doors. The funding will support the company’s ambitious growth plans and increase its product range as it looks to expand across Europe.

Reax

Blackpool rescue training business Reax provides training and first aid courses to various sectors, including emergency services, construction and engineering. It received a £35,000 microfinance loan that will be used to develop current facilities and recruit five additional rescue, first aid and trauma trainers.

Communicate

Tees Valley technology firm Communicate provides telecoms services, cyber security and cloud-based services to businesses across the UK, with a specialism in multi-occupancy commercial properties and business parks. Communicate received £500,000 worth of debt finance, which will be used to expand its services into an additional 35 buildings and create new jobs in the Tees Valley region.

Rinicare

Alderley Edge-based Rinicare Limited is a healthcare company that works with clinicians to improve outcomes and reduce costs through the use of AI. The funding will be used to commercialise its wireless physiological signs technology (PRIME) and falls prevention system (SAFE) as well as develop its AI-powered predictive algorithm for intensive care.

Whitespace

Sheffield company Whitespace Technology provides high-speed broadband to rural areas by using gaps in TV frequencies left from the analogue to digital switch. The firm received £150,000 worth of debt finance, which will be used to purchase the necessary equipment to connect over 20,000 properties to the internet over the next two years.

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