Sure Valley Ventures, a Venture Capitalist specialising in tech sectors such as Immersive Technologies, Web3, the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, InfoSec and Cybersecurity, has established a presence in the North of England.
The VC has appointed Mel Ellyard and George Mensah, who are based in Leeds and Manchester respectively. Sure Valley is also securing offices in each location which will open in the coming months. The company says that the new offices will help it to challenge regional disparities across the UK and access investment opportunities in the North of England’s vibrant tech sector.
This latest expansion follows the recent announcement of the £95m UK software technology fund, which included a £50m investment from the British Business Bank through its Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme, which aims to increase the supply of equity capital to high-potential, early-stage UK companies.
Leeds principle Ellyard has a significant network spanning across the North having previously worked with the British Business Bank supporting UK Network & Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and served as CEO of Capital Enterprise North where she promoted funding opportunities between investors and high-growth tech companies.
In Manchester, Mensah has nearly a decade of experience in the capital markets focusing predominantly on high growth companies. Prior to Sure Valley Ventures, he was an Investment Manager at ACF Investors, an early-stage VC which co-invests alongside domain expert-led syndicates of angel investors.
Sure Valley Ventures managing partner and co-founder, Barry Downes, said of the new appointments: “We are focused on challenging the regional disparities across the UK in terms of availability of start-up funding. Their extensive networks across the tech communities in this fast-growing tech region, make them the ideal candidates to execute this mission.”
