Fhunded, Lancashire County Council’s (LCC) early-stage investment programme, has reached its two-year anniversary, having 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.
To celebrate, the organisation held the Fraser House anniversary event, which attracted over 80 Lancashire founders together with representatives of 10 leading VC funds.
At the event, Troy Wood, a new member of the Fhunded team, was introduced.
An AI and DeepTech investment consultant at EHE Ventures, he 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, by supporting them on pitch deck development, business growth planning and fundraising strategy.
Southworth 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.”
Councillor Brian Moore, cabinet member for economic development and Growth at Lancashire County Council, added: “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.”
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