Mercia Technologies has vowed to become one of the UK’s leading investors in new technology in 2017.
The Warwickshire firm wants to build on a strong 12 months, during which it invested a total of £21.9m into 109 companies.
It also provided returns for shareholders through its direct investment portfolio.
During 2016, a number of businesses within the managed funds’ portfolio achieved strong revenue growth.
One of these was IN-PART, a university and industry collaboration platform which now has over 70 institutions using its services to source and promote technology transfer worldwide.
CEO Mark Payton said: “2016 has been a key year as direct investments such as Concepta and Allinea are already demonstrating the true value of Mercia’s sustainable investment model.
“Mercia continues to support early-stage businesses from start-up through to exit, leveraging its strong regional presence including one of the largest networks of 18 university partners.
“We will maintain our highly focused strategy in 2017 positioning ourselves as a leading technology investor, providing patient investment to those technology businesses that require both capital and hands-on support to accelerate their growth from regional opportunities into global players.”
The 2016 acquisition of Enterprise Ventures, one of the UK’s leading providers of early stage and growth finance, saw Mercia grow significantly.
It now has six offices across the UK regions and Scotland, with more than 60 members of staff.