Michael Taylor
Editor of North West Business Insider
In Focus: EV excited by technology space
Venture capital (VC) fund manager EV is to open offices in Liverpool and Kendal to be closer to investment opportunities following its appointment to run the £30m North West Venture Capital Fund. Formerly known as Enterprise Ventures, the Preston headquartered VC has announced its Rising Stars Growth Fund a major success at its annual seminar and has produced a positive return for investors, including the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
Classic investment success is measured on a graph with a J-shaped curve. For Preston based venture capital fund manager EV, that is what they are reporting after a couple of bumpy years for the Rising Stars Growth Fund.
Diggines is bullish about the prospects for venture capital and the ideas that exist in the North of England and defends the performance which has come under attack by a parliamentary committee and from private equity doyen Jon Moulton who says they are filling “an equity hole”.
Diggines says the performance of Rising Stars sets the team up well for their appointment as fund managers for the new venture capital element of the new North West Fund. The size of the cornerstone fund will be £30m, but they will leverage that against their own funds.
In front of investors, partners and leading regional contacts Diggines said: “There has been much talk recently about the performance of regional venture capital funds. For whatever reason, maybe Rising Stars Growth Fund does not come under government definitions – but the NWDA committed a cornerstone of £9m in our £19m fund, under our management it has been a demonstrable success.
"It is a good example of public and private money working together to invest in high risk and high technology businesses in the North West region. We are constantly amazed at the remarkable ideas and businesses we meet.”
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About Michael
Michael Taylor joined Insider in 2000 when he became editorial director. He has been responsible for overseeing the significant growth of the editorial division in this time.
Michael has played a major role in the development of Insider events, insiderbusiness.tv and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio Manchester. During his tenure as Editor of the multi-award winning North West Business Insider Magazine he has made the magazine market leader in the North West.
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