Northstar Ventures UK

Let’s get more girls into Venture Capital! 👊🏼 We know that VC is a male dominated industry, and we know that in the UK only 2% of VC funding goes to female founded businesses*. There is plenty of research that basically says women are not being invested in because not enough women are involved in the groups making investment decisions… So something I am passionate about, to help reduce this gap, is helping to inspire more young women to pursue careers in VC. Through The Lifted Project I met the wonderful Rebecca MacDermid from Maven North East and on Tuesday we spent lunchtime at Newcastle University Business School. We did some speed mentoring with students, chatting through their aspirations and our experiences as female investors. The key advice that came up over again was that we all need to be more confident in asking for advice, mentorship, and opportunities to broaden our experience.. So my take away from this was to make sure people know that my inbox is always open for anyone curious about a career in VC (or more generally finance, investment and actuarial science). I’m also keen to know what else we can be doing to get more women into the industry (particularly in the North East), please comment/message if you have any ideas?! * Slight brag, but the percentage at Northstar Ventures UK is already much higher at 19% 💁🏻♀️ #femaleinvestors #femalesinvc #femaleentrepreneurship #vccareers

Northstar Ventures are pleased to provide a funding boost for Dance City, a hub of talent and culture in Newcastle. The organisation has received a ten year loan of £250,000 from the North East Social Investment Fund, run by Northstar Ventures alongside a grant of £37,500 from the Community Foundation serving Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. In operation now for almost 40 years, Dance City supports a vibrant dance scene. Creative sector organisations are essential to society for many reasons including their economic footprint and the employment they offer. They also spur innovation across the economy as well as contribute to numerous other channels for positive social impact such as well-being, health, education, inclusion, urban regeneration. The positivity of dance can bring in terms of a reduction in stress, feelings of isolation and a sense of connectedness, are just some of the reasons people keep returning to this art form, whether that is when they participate or when they simply watch and enjoy. Director at Northstar, Ian Richards said: "Northstar Ventures is very pleased to support such a culturally important enterprise which delivers genuine social impact within the region." #DanceCity #NorthstarVentures #Dance

Featured in BusinessLive, we've shared an exciting investment update... Despite continuing to face financial hardship post-pandemic, we now have the support of property development group Hanro and commercial property agency Naylors Gavin Black - two indispensable assets which are allowing us to make overdue movements such as updates to our lighting. As the only news reel cinema still in operation in the UK, the revival of our Grade II listed building is imperative not only to our passionate and dedicated staff but to the safe community space we offer to those in the North East. While London is looked to as the only place to access film, as an independent picture house we are able turn that preconception on its head by hosting events like our British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival partnership and NFTs' GYNOPHOBIA: Monstrous Femininity in 70s and 80s Horror retrospective. Our funders are also allowing us to continue to move forward with our three major charitable ambitions: 1. Delivering accessible programmes that cater to our neurodiverse, hard of hearing, student, senior, and other valued audiences. 2. Aiding in talent development by creating a pipeline for working class young people to get into the industry. 3. Maintaining and investing in our rich history for current and future generations through free heritage tours, makeovers for our Grade II listed building and its surrounding areas, maintaining original features, reducing our carbon footprint, and further efforts. As we look ahead to the next chapter of our 87-year history, we're grateful for our local partnerships and funders. Read the full article via the link in the comments.   #independentcinema #gradelistedbuilding #investorupdate #fundingopportunity

I am in awe. When we started this journey in February, we knew we had something and knew that we could make compliance easy. We've learnt a lot in those 8 months until now. I want to say a massive shout-out to the following people for their support and belief in OneClickComply® Finbarr O’Brien who was there day and night supporting us in making this a possibility. Joanne Middleton for her encyclopedic knowledge of the North East Tech scene and for ensuring I don't miss anything. To Conor Sizeland, who was crazy enough in February this year to take a punt on this idea, and for the long nights and many beers, building a true game-changing platform and learning the hard way. I also want to call out David Warren, who has been instrumental in rapidly maturing our commercial processes and was the final piece in The Three Musketeers. With David and Conor, along with our wider team, I truly have the best founding team. Shout out to Michelle Gomes and Billy Gregory from Stephenson Harwood LLP, along with Jonathan Hollis, Yasemin Gunes and Mountside Ventures, our superstar advisors. I also want to mention a huge thanks to Riz Shahid, who, although I don't know what it is he does, he definitely does it well. Thank you for your gospel advice along the way. I wish I could tag everyone who was involved in this, but honestly, I don't think LinkedIn will let me. You all know how amazing you are and the contributions you made to make this possible. CyberWhite Ltd Northstar Ventures UK Hamish Rutherford Karl Murray Sean Kelly Blu Sky Chartered Accountants Rory O'Brien Kelvin Harrison David Pinches Jamie Whitcombe-Jones Jonathan Moffat Jenny Knott FCCA Seb Banks Clare McCabe Phil Jackman CyberNorth Danielle Phillips MBA FIIC Ian Farrar Steve Hood Paolo Di Prodi Pavlos Papadopoulos, PhD Michael Piskozub North East Chamber of Commerce Synnovate Gideon Mendelowitz Revolut Funding London Alison Schreiber https://lnkd.in/eKiVCVPp

Delighted to announce our first investment from the Venture Sunderland Fund, in FAT32. Their OneClickComply® product is a highly innovative solution to cyber security and compliance challenges faced by businesses of all sizes. Congratulations to the team Connor G. Conor Sizeland David Warren. Northstar Ventures UK Weightmans

Congratulations to FAT32. Northstar Ventures are delighted to have them as our first investment from the Venture Sunderland Fund. Northstar Ventures led a round totalling £625,000, with £350,000 being invested from the Venture Sunderland Fund. Northstar Ventures can see that FAT32's innovative product OneClickComply® bears all the hallmarks of an industry-transformative solution which takes the headaches - and the costs - out of compliance. These are just the kind of knowledgeable teams with impactful answers to today's challenges that Northstar are looking to back. It is also really good to know that the people at FAT32 share our vision of creating high-value jobs in the region. Northstar Ventures also invested £200,000 via the North East Innovation Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund, alongside angel investors. Tom O'Neill, investment manager with Northstar Ventures had this to say: - “We are very pleased to complete our investment in Sunderland based FAT32. This is the first investment from the Venture Sunderland Fund, which has been designed to provide funding for high-potential businesses seeking to start up or grow in the city. The FAT32 founding team is impressive and has developed a leading solution to a major problem in the cyber security sector, which many business owners will be able to empathise with. We are excited to join the company on the next stage of its journey and look forward to working with them to grow the business at scale”. We will be watching their progress with interest. Congratulations again! https://lnkd.in/emBW4Hfi #NorthstarVentures #VentureSunderlandFund #FAT32 #OneClickComply®*

As part of the Sunderland Business Festival, Naomi Allen Seales of Northstar Ventures will be talking about the new Venture Sunderland Fund and its aim to promote Sunderland as a leading innovation hub, driving growth and prosperity in the city. Northstar Ventures are keen to talk to companies in the Digital Creative, Advanced Manufacture, Health and Ageing, Low Carbon sectors, and those that might intersect. If you would like to come along to Sheepfolds for the Access to Business Support event, there are a handful of tickets left at the link - https://lnkd.in/expGeRXv #NorthstarVentures #VentureSunderlandFund #Funding #SunderlandBusinessFestival

What a fabulous start to Sunderland Business Festival at Hope Street Xchange! The festival kicked off this morning with the Sunderland Business Partnership meeting with an amazing panel of speakers talking about the wonderful things that are happening in Sunderland: Patrick Melia OBE from Sunderland City Council, Sharon Appleby from Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID), Paul McEldon OBE from North East BIC, Ellen Thinnesen OBE from Education Partnership North East, Milan Radosavljevic from University of Sunderland and Alasdair Greig from Northstar Ventures UK. Session 2 was a panel event with John McCabe DL, Martin McTague OBE, Henry Kippin and Mauricio Armellini discussing the North East economy. Session 3 was presented by the team at North East Screen talking about the exciting opportunities for North East businesses when the Crown Work Studios arrive! We can't wait for day 2 of the festival tomorrow and for our 'Wine on the Wear' wrap up event on Friday. #SunderlandBF24 #WineontheWear

Sunderland Business Festival is now well underway. Alasdair Greig of Northstar Ventures spoke as part of a panel on the role venture capital plays in underpinning the city's ecosystem, driving prosperity and progress in the region. Our new Venture Sunderland Fund is aimed at start-ups and scale-ups who can bring cutting edge solutions to some of society's most challenging issues. If you would like to know more about the Venture Sunderland Fund and the kinds of businesses Northstar Ventures is keen to invest in, see more information at the link - https://lnkd.in/ej6hfEm3 #NorthstarVentures #VentureSunderlandFund #Sunderland #VentureCapital #SunderlandBusinessFestival #SunderlandExpo

What does it take to scale a business to 150 employees, across 106 countries, with zero external funding? In our latest episode, David and Simon sit down with Mark Edmondson, founder and CEO of Inflo, who was recently named Entrepreneurs' Forum Entrepreneur of the Year. Mark has led Inflo's disruption and innovation of the audit and accountancy industry and now has his sights set on unicorn status of a billion-dollar valuation... all without any backing. Mark shares his journey from corporate life at PwC to co-founding Inflo, offering invaluable advice on leadership, scaling internationally, and maintaining control of your business. Whether you're an entrepreneur or a business leader, this episode is packed with insights on building high-growth teams, navigating the US market and learnings from trying to "crack Amercia", and aligning vision with your co-founders. 🎧 It's out now... https://lnkd.in/eMUBMf-w Also available on Spotify! Simply search "High Growth Leadership"