£80m fund extension announced by PXN Ventures and British Business Bank’s NPIF II

New funding takes the North West equity fund to £180m and extends its investment period to 2030

PXN Ventures and the British Business Bank have announced an £80m extension to NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, taking the fund’s total size from £100m to £180m.

The extension will allow PXN to invest in more of the North West’s ambitious businesses through to 2030, following significant demand during the fund’s first two years.

Since launching in 2024, PXN has received more than 3,000 applications and invested over £45m in 50 businesses, unlocking more than £50m of additional co-investment.

The fund provides equity investment of up to £5m to businesses across Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. Its portfolio spans sectors including software, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, fintech and climate technology.

The extension follows a strong period of exits for PXN and the Northern businesses it has backed.

Most recently, Manchester-based property software company Street Group secured strategic investment from Hg in a transaction that valued the business at more than £200m. The deal delivered a 4.4x return across PXN’s participating funds, less than two years after PXN made its largest-ever initial investment in a business.

The Street Group transaction marked PXN’s sixth exit in the past 12 months. Collectively, the businesses involved in those transactions were valued at more than £400m, demonstrating the quality of the companies being built across the North of the UK and their ability to attract major international investors.

Louise Chapman, NPIF II Fund Principal at PXN Ventures, said: “The response to the fund has been phenomenal and demonstrates the scale of the opportunity across the North West. We have met founders building world-class businesses in every corner of the region, and this extension means we can support many more of them through to 2030.

“Street Group is a great example of the outcomes that can be achieved when talented Northern founders have access to the right capital, connections and support. We want to find the next generation of standout businesses and help their founders scale them from the North West.

“I’m also incredibly proud of the founder diversity we’ve managed to achieve to date. More than one in three of the businesses backed through the fund are founded by women, and our latest PraeSeed cohort is the most diverse yet.”

PXN has also used NPIF II funding to launch PraeSeed, the North’s first cohort investment programme. PraeSeed combines a six-week investor-readiness programme with the opportunity to secure £200,000 of equity investment and pitch to PXN’s co-investor network, helping to address the shortage of first-cheque capital available to pre-seed founders.

Alongside funding, portfolio businesses receive access to PXN’s operational partners’ expertise, portfolio toolkits and wider network of founders, advisers and follow-on investors.

Sue Barnard, Senior Investment Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “The strength of demand during the fund’s first two years demonstrates the depth of ambition and innovation across the North West. It has been an excellent start, and this extension will enable us to build on that momentum alongside PXN Ventures.

“The British Business Bank is committed to helping ambitious businesses across the UK’s nations and regions access the finance they need to grow. The fund is already galvanising significant private capital into a region with so much potential, showing what can be achieved when public and private investment work together.

“It is also fantastic to see such a high-profile exit so early in the fund’s life, with Street Group securing investment from Hg at a valuation of more than £200m. We are excited to continue the partnership, help create many more North West success stories and, in turn, strengthen the regional ecosystem, generate new opportunities and bring more jobs to the region.”

The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25,000 to £2m and equity investment of up to £5m to help a range of small and medium-sized businesses start up, scale up or stay ahead.

The purpose of NPIF II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunities for new and growing businesses across the North of England. It will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North’s smaller businesses, providing funding to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and helping to break down barriers to accessing finance.