Northstar Ventures launches second tranche of its EIS fund

March 25th 2025

Northstar Ventures announces the launch of the second tranche of its EIS Growth Fund, which is now open for subscriptions. The tranche fundraising is expected to end on 30th April 2025, with investment then being made into a diverse portfolio of technology companies during the 2025/26 tax year.

The fund will invest in the North East’s highest potential technology scale-up companies, focusing on the clean tech and healthy ageing sectors, where the region has a global competitive advantage.

Having operated in the north of England for over 20 years, Northstar Ventures’ investment team has unparalleled access to the local founder ecosystem, as well as a strong track record of investing in, growing and exiting companies in the sectors that will be targeted by the fund.

The new tranche of the EIS Growth Fund will provide additional capital to companies that have established management teams, proven business models and revenue traction, and which are looking for further capital to “supercharge” their growth. The fund will provide individual investors with an opportunity to benefit from tax efficient, venture scale returns, whilst also playing a key role in driving innovation, job creation, impact and prosperity in the North East region.

The first tranche of the EIS Growth Fund, which closed in April 2024, has invested in four companies so far this tax year, MySalesCoach, Nunabio, OnHand and Wordnerds, each on a path to rapid scaling.

MySalesCoach has developed a personalised coaching platform which matches salespeople with highly experienced coaches familiar with the challenges faced by sales teams and is now incorporating AI tools that will allow users to receive sales support in real-time.

Nunabio, a Newcastle University spinout, has developed new processes for the synthesis and amplification of DNA that enables it to supply DNA to its clients rapidly and at a scale and cost which other companies cannot match.

OnHand is an innovative social impact platform enabling businesses to become more responsible by empowering employees to drive meaningful change through corporate social responsibility initiatives. It connects employees to volunteering opportunities tailored to their interests and close to their place of work.

Wordnerds has developed an AI customer insight analysis tool that allows retailers like M&S and Sainsbury’s, several UK-based housing associations and names in travel and hospitality like Avanti and The Dorchester Collection, to analyse vast amounts of customer feedback and formulate actionable insights.

This next tranche of the EIS Growth Fund provides investors with the opportunity to invest in companies with similar growth and value creation potential.

Alasdair Greig, Director of Northstar Ventures said: ‘The north of England is a centre of excellence for climate, health and digital technology. Having spent some 20 years working with entrepreneurs and a number of leading universities in the region, we have a well-established reputation of being a proactive and supportive investment partner for innovative, high growth next generation businesses.
‘Our EIS fund focuses on providing the scale up capital needed by the very best companies in our region to help them grow to achieve their potential while also delivering transformative solutions that address some of the biggest challenges that our society is facing.’

If you would like to find out more about the Northstar EIS Growth Fund or how to get involved, please visit our website (northstarventures.co.uk/funds/eis-fund/).
Please note, this fund is only for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors.