More than £3m has been invested into 13 Northern Ireland companies by Co-Fund III in the first year since the co-investment fund was launched last December, according to new figures released today.

A key part of Invest Northern Ireland’s Access to Finance suite of loan and equity funds, Co-Fund III is a £39m equity investment fund managed by Clarendon Fund Managers which invests in SME businesses alongside private investors and business angels.

The first-year total of £3.1m invested by Co-Fund III has been matched by £5.4m of private investment, with an additional £1.9m of leveraged funding. The fund makes equity investments of between £150,000 and £500,000 in high-growth businesses and to date, 16 investments have been completed in 13 local SMEs across various sectors, including health sciences, fintech and agriculture.

Among the companies that have received investment, four are female-founded businesses – representing 31% of the total investment portfolio this year alone. It is expected that Co-Fund III will invest in approximately 65 companies over a 10-year period, with average initial investments set at around £250,000. One recipient of funding was Senergy Innovations, a female-founded, Carryduff-based company that specialises in the design, supply and installation of complete solar thermal hot water solutions to homes and businesses.

The company’s innovative Sentherm conductive polymers have tailored filler networks and anisotropic material design and manufacturing process control that achieve hybrid polymers for EVs, batteries and automotive related electronics with 95% of aluminium’s thermal performance and 25-45% reduced component weight.

Senergy received funding of £500,000 from Co-Fund III, as part of a £1.25m round, which has been used by the business to increase sales of their solar solution, build out the team and develop new products for the automotive market.