How Sure Valley Ventures aims to help fast growing Yorkshire businesses establish a global presence

Mel Ellyard, a newly appointed principal for Sure Valley, who is based in Leeds, said she wanted to champion investment into the Northern technology sector. Ms Ellyard, who has previously worked with the British Business Bank, said innovation is thriving in the region.

Ms Ellyard said Sure Valley Ventures’ focus plays into the strengths of core clusters across Yorkshire such as immersive technology, esports and egaming, metaverse, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and infosecurity.

The firm, which is also based in London, Cambridge and Dublin, has chosen to expand to Leeds and Manchester to serve the innovation clusters that have developed in the North. It plans to invest in 25 tech start-ups across the UK with its £95m UK software fund, focusing on metaverse, security and AI.

“Sure Valley Ventures have a good risk appetite and will work collaboratively,’’ said Ms Ellyard. “We like to see firms early and take them on a journey through seed funding and beyond. We are well connected, regionally, nationally and internationally to do so.

“We will aim to invest between £750,000 and £1.25m. We like to have traction however, we will look to invest in businesses pre-revenue, if the case is solid.

“By establishing an office in Leeds, Sure Valley is making a strong statement that we are looking to support companies in and around the region, not just with funding but with a commitment to support and engage with the wider ecosystem and partners.”

She said a deep understanding of the region is vital to support growing businesses.

“We are talking to a number of businesses at the moment and plan to spend time in different parts of the region, such as York, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Bradford,’’ she added.

“The Sure Valley fund is a UK wide fund, however, we plan to play our part in levelling up in the regions.

“Sure Valley is very much entrepreneur-led, it is not from a traditional VC background, although we have built up a tremendous track record securing £50m from the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Fund.

“I can see the need for more people to join our team in Yorkshire because there is a lot of ground to cover and I expect interest in the fund to be high.

“There is an abundance of talent across the North. Leeds is particularly interesting because there are core clusters here that do really well, such as immersive tech, cyber security, healthtech and fintech.

“You’ve also got businesses like Sky, Channel 4, and facilities and initiatives like Production Park, XR Stories in York and Leeds Dock.. which means Yorkshire is a hotbed for immersive and creative technology.”

Ms Ellyard wants Sure Valley to fit into the region’s larger financial ecosystem to support dynamic businesses.

She added: “The Leeds City Region is a very collaborative and a supportive place. However it needs to work in a more joined up fashion to realise its full Northern Powerhouse potential.

My previous experience, with a biotech company based in York, taught me how resilient you need to be to build a business from scratch.

“There are pockets of incredible businesses over the Leeds city region,’’ she said. “There is no shortage of funders at different stages of a company’s growth cycle; the issue is better connectivity and visibility of both the funders and of ambitious businesses.

“More needs to be done in this area, but I am hearing of new initiatives which is reassuring, and will make a big impact. I want to use my knowledge to help firms become successful on a global scale,’’ she added.

“We have incredible companies that sometimes need to raise their ambitions.”

Leeds City Council has given a very warm welcome to Sure Valley Ventures, according to Mel Ellyard.

She added: “There is a recognition that the region needs more funding options, particularly at the early stage.”

Sure Valley Ventures was founded in 2017 with support from Shard Capital, the wealth and asset manager. It currently has offices in London, Dublin and Cambridge.

Sure Valley looks for companies which have potential to disrupt industries and scale up, and deliver robust returns for the economy and society at large, the founders and their team and Sure Valley and its investors.