Lancashire’s Fhunded VC programme celebrates over £21m of early-stage investments

Fhunded, Lancashire County Council’s (LCC) early-stage investment programme used its second anniversary to share details of the positive impact it has had on the county’s startup and scaleup economy.

Figures presented at a special milestone event - hosted at Lancaster’s Fraser House Hub where the Fhunded scheme was first piloted in July 2023 - revealed that the Fhunded investor community has invested over £21m of funding into early-stage Lancashire businesses since the programme’s inception.

This represents 53 per cent of all the total amount of equity investment raised by all Lancashire businesses during this period, which in turn has helped to create around 40 new high-skilled jobs.

The data further highlighted how many of Lancashire’s most recent large scale technology investments - including raises by Fuuse, Relative Insight, LiNa Energy and CCI Photonics – have involved venture capital (VC) funds which have been actively engaged with the Fhunded initiative.        

And of the 19 individual VC funds which have attended Fhunded’s popular ‘meet the investor events’ over the last two years – including major names such as Praetura Ventures, YFM Equity Partners, DSW Ventures, Par Equity, Seneca Partners, River Capital, Northern Gritstone, Mavern, Mercia, Puma Ventures, EHE, Deepbridge and Solidbond - nearly all have gone on to make an investment in a Lancashire business.

The Fraser House anniversary event, which attracted more than 80 Lancashire founders together with representatives of ten leading VC funds, was also used to update attendees on several recent Fhunded spin-out projects.  

This included details of the first investment brokered through the Fhunded Angels network - a cohort of private investors looking specifically for pre-seed investment opportunities in Lancashire – which has helped the Chorley-based anti-fraud pet business, PetProov, close a six-figure funding round.

Delegates were then given a walkthrough of the new Lancashire Dealroom microsite. Hosted on the Fhunded website, Dealroom acts a database for both early-stage businesses and investors looking to do deals in Lancashire, while simultaneously capturing real-time investment trends and sector growth data across the county.

In addition, a new member of the Fhunded team, Troy Wood, was introduced.

Troy, an AI and deep tech investment consultant at EHE Ventures, will work alongside Fhunded lead Rory Southworth, and VC specialist Kiran Metha, to assess and channel potential investment opportunities coming through both the Fhunded VC and Fhunded Angels deal pipelines.

He will also help early-stage founders get investor-ready: supporting them on pitch-deck development, business growth planning, and fundraising strategy.

Rory Southworth, Fhunded lead, said: "Two years ago Lancashire was considered by VCs as a place which was hard to navigate, and where finding investible opportunities was frustrating and time consuming.

"Similarly, Lancashire founders felt they had no option but to start knocking on doors outside of the county to find funding, with some opting to relocate altogether to be closer to potential investors.

“Fast forward to today, and Fhunded is actively engaging with nearly 20 different funds from all over the UK, and has brought over £21m of equity investment into Lancashire.

"We’ve also launched the Fhunded Angel network, helped to develop and roll out the new Dealroom platform, and have expanded the Fhunded team with high-calibre appointments like Kiran and Troy.

“As a result, Fhunded is now widely regarded as one of the most dynamic early-stage investment programmes in the country, and is seen as an exemplar of how a local authority can build an early-stage investment ecosystem from scratch.”

Coun Brian Moore, cabinet member for economic development and growth at Lancashire County Council, said: “Fhunded is a fantastic example of how a council can work with businesses, investors and partners to secure new investment, create jobs and drive growth.

“It also demonstrates that by creating the right kind of support, we can retain and nurture the immense entrepreneurial talent which exists in tech startups and scaleups across the county.”

Angelene Woodland, chief customer officer for the British Business Bank who attended Fhunded’s anniversary event, said: “The British Business Bank is proud to have supported Fhunded since it was first launched, congratulations to Rory and the team on what they have achieved over the last two years.

 “The VC activity generated through the Fhunded community aligns well with the British Business Bank’s programmes such as the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, while the Fhunded Angel network complements the recently announced expansion of our Regional Angels Programme and Angel Syndicate Support initiative. We look forward to continuing our work with Fhunded.”

For more information on Fhunded and Fhunded Angels, visit www.fhunded.co.uk