July 2016
Northstar Ventures, with offices in Newcastle and Darlington, has played a key role in developing a burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in the North East by investing in and supporting, primarily, tech start-ups. But with European funding providing the vast bulk of its investment pot, the venture capital firm is concerned about the uncertainty facing the region’s start-up scene after the UK voted to leave the EU. Directors Alasdair Greig and Ian Richards spoke to Alison Cowie, before and after the referendum result, about what Northstar Ventures has achieved since 2004 and why – for now, at least – it is business as usual.
For more than a decade, Northstar Ventures has invested in and supported start-up companies based in the North East.
It was established towards the end of 2004 with funds from what was then the regional development agency, One North East, in an attempt to seed a strong venture capital industry in the region.
Alasdair Greig, an experienced venture capitalist, was enticed north from the epicentre of UK venture capital, Cambridge, to help establish the Newcastle based firm.
He reflects: “At the time there was very little equity start up capital in the North East but some interesting businesses which were having to focus on an organic growth model – basically customer funding – because they didn’t have access to investment to scale their operations.”
Since 2004, Northstar Ventures has invested in excess of £95 million in more than 300 companies.
Its focus has largely been on tech start-ups and other high-growth companies with investments in the likes of digital content specialist Amplience, 3D visualisation company Zerolight, software applications company Palringo, and financial services company Fairstone (cont…)
For full article, visit North East Times.