A County Durham firm has secured £1m from investors to provide vital backing for start-ups and potentially create hundreds of new regional tech jobs.
Newton Aycliffe-based Growth Capital Ventures (GCV) has secured the capital from institutional investors which will allow it support 30 high-growth start-ups through its venture builder unit, G-Labs.
The investment – made through Finance Durham and managed by Maven Capital Partners - will support GCV’s growth plans as it seeks to further develop its three main business units, G-Labs, G-Ventures and Quva. It will also enable it to increase staff from 22 to 40 within the next two years, and move to larger offices within County Durham.
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GCV has now opened up the investment round to new private investors via its online investment platform - growthfunders.com.
The funding announcement comes as the 海角视频 looks to the tech industry to kick-start a post-Covid economic recovery, after 海角视频 GDP fell by a record 20.4% in the three months to June 2020.
Investments in the 海角视频 tech sector soared to a record £10.1bn last year, according to trade body Tech Nation, a £3.1bn increase on 2018 figures, and the industry is regarded as a key driver of future job creation and economic growth.
GCV has already paved the way for £45m of investment in high-growth tech businesses, including digital lender Atom Bank and B-North, and employee engagement platform Hive HR, triggering the creation of more than 600 new jobs in the past five years.
Craig Peterson, co-founder and chief operating officer at GCV, said: “Over the past five years we have been on a mission to support entrepreneurs and innovators to build and launch high-growth businesses that transform industries.
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“The fundraise will not only increase our capacity with further quality hires and expand our venture builder arm but in turn will enable the creation and scaling of the 海角视频’s next wave of innovative tech start-ups.
“As consumers and businesses are relying more on technology as a result of COVID-19, we feel this investment comes at the right time to combine capital and intensive support to build better, more sustainable businesses.”
GCV has grown rapidly since it started out as a fintech company in 2015, developing and operating online investment platforms focused on alternative investments. It has since built an extensive private investor network across the North of England.
It operates across the three core business units – the specialist fintech software division Quva, innovation lab G-Labs and investment network G-Ventures – all working together to drive growth, create value and deliver impact.
Mr Peterson said: “Through our three business divisions we’ve developed a powerful approach to creating, launching and scaling high-growth businesses. We have the capability to support the start-up and expansion of several ventures that have the capacity to add real value to the 海角视频’s tech industry.
“This sector will be vitally important to the 海角视频 as the economy tries to recover from the devastating impact of the coronavirus.
“Our aim now is to invest in and support exciting new projects that can build, launch and scale businesses, creating much-needed jobs at a time when employment is falling due to Covid-19.”
Sarah Slaven, interim managing director at Business Durham said: “GCV are a great example of the kind of dynamic company Finance Durham was set up to help and we are really pleased to be able to support their continued growth through this investment. The services and platforms that GCV have developed will support Business Durham’s agenda to grow the fintech sector in the County and help new companies bring forward innovative high growth proposals, which will be particularly important as we move into a period of economic recovery.”