Teesside firms win share of investment fund
TWO Teesside firms have gained a slice of a multi-million pound regional venture capital fund.
Middlesbrough manufacturer Xena Systems and Guisborough start-up Ignis Red have received a total of £250,000 from the Finance for Business North East Fund (FBNEF), which aims to invest £125m in regional businesses over the next five years.
The companies are among 22 North-east firms that collectively have benefited from more than £12m of investment since the fund launched earlier this year.
Middlesbrough manufacturer Xena Systems will use the £200,000 it received from the Finance for Business North East Growth Fund to develop and promote its award-winning Loadswift system.
The hi-rise building loading system, an innovation that can save up to 80% in building fit out times, helped Xena win the Innovation Award at last year’s nebusiness awards and has already been used on high-rise structures in London, Glasgow and Chicago.
The company is looking to ramp up commercialisation of Loadswift after winning a contract to install the system on an 11-storey hospital development in Tampa, Florida.
Xena’s general manager, Steve Smith, said there was huge potential for the product both in the US and the UK, which saw construction output surge 6.6% in the quarter to June after a heavy slump in the recession.
He said: “There’s definitely business out there. We’re starting to see a revival in the construction market. As we come out of recession, people are starting to build again.”
Meanwhile Guisborough entrepreneur Matthew Grossett has received £50,000 from the Finance for Business Proof of Concept Fund. He will use the money to develop an infra-red lamp for use in automotive applications.
The former British Steel worker wants to set up a manufacturing site on Teesside and said the device could generate revenues of £5m by 2015.
An electronic design engineer by trade, he specialises in product design and previously worked for Sunderland industrial coatings firm Edwin Trisk Systems.
He said the FBNEF could help more entrepreneurs take good ideas from concept stage to commercialisation.
The fund aims to help 850 companies create 5,000 new jobs over its five-year life-span.
It was created with £62.5m from the European Investment Bank, £44.25m from the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 and £18.25m from regional development agency One North East.
