# Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund

> Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is a VC fund in Sheffield backing Software and Manufacturing. See 115 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 115
- Last investment: Jul 2026
- Lead investor: 56%
- Fund size: $524M
- Last fund: Feb 2017
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/northern-powerhouse-investment-fund-npif-/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/npifbbb
- Website: http://www.npif.co.uk/

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) is an initiative launched by the government-owned British Business Bank.It is a key part of the government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse’ vision, which aims to end the historic North / South divide and create economic prosperity in the North of England on par with London and the South East.Thegovernment firmly believes that SMEs form the foundation of the region’s future growth. NPIF therefore aims to nurture regional entrepreneurship by providing investment and support for small and medium businesses between 2016 and 2021. NPIF's funding will support new and growing SMEs, create jobs and encourage and attract additional private sector investment.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $65k–$1.7M |
| Debt Financing | $74k–$753k |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 19 | 17% |
| Manufacturing | 16 | 14% |
| Information Technology | 11 | 10% |
| Food and Beverage | 10 | 9% |
| Health Care | 9 | 8% |

140 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Debt Financing | 50 | 43% |
| Seed | 24 | 21% |
| Funding Round | 21 | 18% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 9 | 8% |
| Series A | 4 | 3% |

6 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United Kingdom | 103 | 90% |
| Germany | 1 | 1% |
| United States | 1 | 1% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brace-Yourself | Brace-Yourself is a specialist retailer focused on Orthopaedic bracing, sports supports, and rehabilitation equipment. | $200.9K | Debt Financing | Jul 07, 2026 |  |
| Acrol Air Conditioning | Acrol Air Conditioning specializes in the design and installation market for marine air conditioning and refrigeration services. | $396K | Debt Financing | Jun 26, 2026 |  |
| LEXIO TECHNOLOGIES LTD | Lexio Technologies is a legal technology consultancy that focuses on case management systems for law firms and related organisations. The company provides specialist development, configuration, and support for platforms such as Proclaim and Actionstep, helping clients adapt these systems to their specific workflows and compliance requirements. Itsservices include custom workflow design, technical support and maintenance, data migration, and API-based integrations with external tools. Lexio Technologies also offers system health audits, process optimisation, and technical strategy consulting to improve operational efficiency. In addition to law firms, it serves medical agencies, credit hire companies, and claims management organisations that rely on structured case handling processes. |  | Debt Financing | Jun 12, 2026 |  |
| Sapphire HR | Sapphire HR offers comprehensive HR solutions to support staff and help business succeed. |  | Debt Financing | Mar 23, 2026 |  |
| Hussel | Hussel offers services when marketing feels worn out and lacks inspiration. |  | Debt Financing | Nov 24, 2025 |  |
| The HR Guru | The HR Guru is a company that specialises in delivering skilled HR compliance, hiring, and ongoing HR support to businesses. | $130.5K | Debt Financing | Nov 05, 2025 |  |
| Protek Fencing | Protek Fencing operates as a highway fencing company that specializes in safety fencing systems, bridge parapets and car park barriers. |  | Debt Financing | Aug 07, 2025 |  |
| Silverscape | SilverScape is a brand-new creative technology company that offers custom services to customers that want to produce work of the highest caliber while lowering Scope 3 emissions in production. |  | Debt Financing | Jun 03, 2025 |  |
| Peach Hampers | Peach Hampers is a hamper company that produces corporate gifts. | $352.8K | Debt Financing | Apr 07, 2025 |  |
| Marko Marketing | Marko Marketing is credited with creating a low-cost, Al-powered marketing platform especially for small firms who find it difficult to obtain efficient marketing tools because of financial and resource limitations. | $45.5K | Debt Financing | Mar 18, 2025 |  |

10 of 115 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Praetura Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/praetura-capital) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mercia-equity-finance) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [FW Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fw-capital) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Maven Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/maven-capital-partners) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Mercia Asset Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mercia-technologies) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Mercia Asset Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mercia-asset-management) — VC Fund, 3 deals together

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## FAQ

### What does Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invest in?

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invests primarily in Software, Manufacturing and Information Technology startups, most often at Debt Financing and Seed stage. Most of the 115 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund's check size?

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund typically joins rounds of $65k–$1.7M at Seed and $74k–$753k at Debt Financing. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund participates in.

### When did Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund closed in Jul 2026. Shizune tracks 115 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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