Maven Capital Partners, supporting female founders in the North

Maven Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm, backing growing businesses of all sizes across a range of sectors, providing the essential capital and expertise to unlock potential and help accelerate growth.
Through our partnership approach, we support entrepreneurial and ambitious management teams to help unlock potential and achieve transformational levels of growth.

I joined Maven as an Investment Manager as part of the Northeast regional investment team based in our Newcastle and Durham. My main responsibilities include deal origination and execution across the Northeast of England.
The region is home to aspiring talent and innovation representing a diverse range of sectors. I work closely with businesses interested in growth funding to achieve their ambitions. With a strong network of regional offices with broad experience and skillsets, we utilise our broad range of expertise to tailor funding proposals that work for each individual business, as well as adding significant value to the companies we back.

Maven has also been appointed Fund Manager for NPIF II - Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. This is an equity fund which can provide up to £5 million of equity finance to all stages of businesses based in the Northeast of England to support with a wide range of business finance needs. This could include increasing headcount, expansion into new markets and overseas, funding for capex and investment into R&D and product development.

As a passionate advocate of female entrepreneurs and founders, I have been involved in several initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs across the North. I was honoured to be named as a Finalist in the Northern Power Women 2024 Future List earlier this year and recently joined the Lifted Ventures Project – Regional High Growth Board to help support female founders at all stages of their business journey.
In March 2024, Maven launched a Female Founders Funding Programme, a programme I am incredibly proud to be part of. It offers valuable resources, mentorship, and collaboration opportunities to women entrepreneurs, assisting them in navigating the complexities of business ownership more effectively. Our programme consists of regional in-person funding workshops and online funding clinics, all delivered by members of the female investment team here at Maven.

Women are integral to Maven and its culture, playing a prominent role in our organisation’s success. The experience and skills brought by women have enriched our business. Working with diverse management teams, we’ve fostered the development of innovative ideas to help solve complex problems. We believe that encouraging and supporting female entrepreneurs and diverse management teams contributes to a more vibrant and inclusive business ecosystem.

It is important to ensure that female founders and entrepreneurs have access to the same networks and opportunities as male-led teams as, not only is it the right thing to do, but statistically, companies with diverse management teams are better performing and have lower failure rates. We are committed to ensuring female founders have access to the right tools, resources, and that support is accessible. It has been an honour to work with inspirational female leaders through our Female Founders Programme and the Lifted Project, and I am looking forward to continuing this work with some exciting future projects in the pipeline.