Investor raises £22m in year
MANCHESTER-BASED investor Praetura Ventures has raised £22m in less than 12 months.
The announcement comes as the firm, which backs early-stage businesses in high-value sectors, closed its second EIS fund at £7m.
The latest fund will enable the firm to continue to support the growth ambitions of high-quality scale-up businesses across the region backed by the strategic support and guidance of the 25-strong team at Praetura Ventures.
They will work closely with the management teams backed by the fund to implement growth strategies and drive scale post-investment, and the fund is expected to be deployed by the end of March.
It follows the firm’s recordbreaking £15m Praetura EIS 2019 Fund, which closed in May last year and was deployed in just seven months. Investments were made in businesses including SteamaCo, a Manchester-based technology supplier to energy providers in Asia and Africa, FeedStock, an AI-driven SaaS business, and Patchwork, a rapidly growing healthtech start-up on a mission to solve the NHS staffing crisis.
David Foreman, managing director at Praetura Ventures, said: “The response that investors have shown to Praetura Ventures since we announced our maiden
EIS fund less than 12 months ago has been phenomenal. To have raised £22m is testament to the quality of the team we have built and the size of the opportunity that lies ahead.
“This latest fundraise demonstrates the high demand for genuine venture capital, particularly when it comes to northern businesses.”
In addition to the fund close, and in response to the growth of the Praetura Ventures portfolio, the firm has also announced the appointment of Andy Sumner as portfolio managing director.
Mr Sumner brings more than 20 years’ experience of supporting high-growth businesses and will work closely alongside portfolio managing director, Ben Hatton, to support the businesses backed by Praetura Ventures.