Home About the Fund Investment criteria

Investment criteria

We like to invest in and partner with companies that can demonstrate the following characteristics:

• A compelling solution to a genuine pain in the market.
• Strong and genuine customer demand.
• The markets addressed are large, growing and lucrative.
• The business can sustain its competitive advantage.
• A scalable business model and a very clear strategy to execute it.
• A talented management team and founders.
• The recognition that we are investing to make a return.
• In addition, the following criteria must be complied with to qualify your business for investment from the Fund
  • Your business must be an SME Your business must employ less than 250 people, have a turnover of less than €50million (approximately £45million) and assets of less than €43million (approximately £39million).
  • Your business must not operate in an excluded sector Your business must not be in any of the following sectors and/or comprise any of the following activities:
    • housing construction and renovation other than specialist renewable energy in social housing
    • large scale transport companies
    • dismantling of nuclear power stations
    • synthetic fibres
    • retail
    • shipbuilding
    • coal
    • steel
    • primary production, processing or marketing of agricultural products;
    • support to bank and insurance companies
    • primary production, processing or marketing of products in the fisheries and aquaculture sector
    • establishments providing generalised (school age) education
    • provision of local social welfare facilities unless they are directly linked to activities of an economic nature relating to the ERDF’s North East if England Operational Programme
    • production of weapons, ammunition, arms, police equipment or infrastructure limiting people’s freedom such as prisons
    • gambling and related equipment
    • tobacco manufacturing, processing or distribution
    • pure real estate development.