Established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, the Finance Durham Fund provides flexible financing packages to support ambitious local enterprises.
The funding round was led by Parkwalk Advisors with participation from the Finance Durham Fund and NPIF II Maven Equity Finance.
"We are delighted to close out this first phase of our investment round with the support of Parkwalk and Maven. Maven are joining us at what is a very exciting time in our journey as we head towards a new chapter. Having worked with Parkwalk for 6 years, it’s fantastic to carry on our strong relationship as we deliver on our ambitious plans. The growth we have seen in recent years is a testament to our market leading innovation and we can’t wait to use this investment to take the business to the next level."
The financing round was backed by investors including British Patient Capital and In-Q-Tel to support expansion plans.
"Pragmatic is another great example of a UK company which has developed and commercialised world-leading technology from a UK base. We are delighted to be investing in the further growth of this homegrown semiconductor manufacturing business via Future Fund: Breakthrough, our dedicated deeptech fund which is investing in some of the country's most innovative and dynamic businesses."
The funding round was led by Maven Capital Partners alongside the Finance Durham Fund and The Future Fund.
"We are delighted to have secured £400,000 of investment to help support us on this next stage of growth. With COVID-19 we have witnessed great change globally, which is impacting the security landscape. Intelligence Fusion has supported our clients through this period and helped them to mitigate emerging threats. With this investment we will deepen our technology to enhance our intelligence solution, as well as add to our sales and marketing teams to increase and diversify our client base into new sectors and markets."
Crowdcube led the follow-on investment round, with additional backing from Insurtech Gateway, Finance Durham Fund, and the North East Development Capital Fund.
"Raising investment is one of the most challenging aspects of running a startup, and we’re delighted to have achieved this £1.2m raise with the continued support of Maven and with further investment from the crowd. We’re also thrilled to welcome Insurtech Gateway to the honcho family. As specialists in our sector they will bring an immense amount of support to honcho as we enter our next phase of growth. Insurtech Gateway’s expertise across the sector extends from technological capabilities to expertise on products and consumer acquisition, and we’re looking forward to working with them."
Maven Capital Partners, North East Development Capital Fund, and the Finance Durham Fund led the follow-on investment.
"Car insurance is becoming increasingly expensive, particularly for young people, and honcho's proposition will provide a fun, engaging and more cost-efficient way of purchasing insurance products via its unique reverse auction marketplace model."
