Catapult Venture Managers has launched the new fund which can invest as much as £2m into a growing business.
The money can be used as development capital or can be used in a change of ownership such as a management buy-out (MBO).
The fund, which has backing from groups the Small Business Service (SBS), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and local authorities in the Midlands, will primarily focus on the central regions but can invest in companies nationally.
Rupert Lyle, the director responsible for the fund, said: “There are many excellent companies out there needing funding to enable them to develop their businesses to the next stage of development.
“We secured our funding commitments in July and have therefore been anticipating this launch for some time with some active pre-marketing.
"As a result, we already have a significant and interesting deal flow.
“This means that in addition to agreeing the mountains of legal paperwork required for a new fund of this nature, I have been covering our extended patch meeting companies that require the sorts of finance available from the new fund.”
Legal advisors to the fund are Keeble Hawson.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
