IQ CAPITAL BECOMES UK’S FIRST £25 MILLION ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND

Gordon Brown announces £16.7m of Government backing for IQ Capital Fund

23 March 2006: A new £25m investment fund, IQ Capital Fund I LP, focused on seed and early stage companies in high tech as well as more traditional sectors, has been launched by Cambridge based NW Brown Group, in partnership with three of the UK’s most prominent angel networks, OION in Oxford, GEIF in Cambridge and SWAIN based in Bristol. (See notes)

The Chancellor announced in yesterday’s budget speech that the first two of the ‘Pathfinder’ Enterprise Capital Funds had been approved. The Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) programme is a multi-million pound scheme to boost investment in small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, from which £16.7m is the Government’s investment in IQ Capital.

“NW Brown has been working closely with the business angels community for over a decade now” says Hugh Parnell, director of NW Brown Group. “We established GEIF, our business angels network, back in 1995 and have actively co-invested with angels over the last five years with the early stage funds we manage. The investment strategy employed by IQ Capital is based on our considerable experience of investing in this sector”.

Max Bautin, fund manager of IQ Capital, said: ”In addition to the many years’ investment experience of the IQ Capital team, the Fund will also benefit from the very significant added value brought to investees by the expert ‘IQ’ angels alongside whom the Fund will be co-investing. We are confident that the Fund’s investment strategy will be highly appealing to potential investee companies and, with the Government’s gearing, will lead to substantial returns for the Fund’s investors.”

One third of the £25 million IQ Capital Fund is being raised from private investors; it is expected that the final closing, when the Fund will start investing, will be reached in June 2006.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For more information on IQ Capital Fund, please contact Max Bautin on 01223 720 227, 07740647776 or Hugh Parnell on 01223 720 238

Enterprise Capital Funds Programme

A competitive bidding round for fund managers or angel groups to run ECFs was launched by the DTI’s SBS in July 2005. 45 bids were received. In selecting which bids to support the government has been advised by the Capital for Enterprise Board, an advisory group of industry experts, chaired by David Quysner of Abingworth Capital Management. See www.sbs.gov.uk for a full press release on the programme.

NW Brown Group Ltd www.nwbrown.co.uk 

The NW Brown Group, founded in Cambridge in 1974, offers a comprehensive range of bespoke financial services to private and corporate clients throughout the UK. In the unquoted sector, NW Brown is fund manager of GEIF Ventures Early Growth Fund (£5m), the £4m Iceni Seedcorn Fund LLP and the £3.6m Eastern Co-Investment Fund (“COIN”). GEIFV and COIN are both angel co-investment funds, which have, between them, made more than 20 investments to date. NW Brown & Company Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (OION) www.oion.co.uk 

Launched in 1995, OION is one of Europe's most successful technology business angel networks that links investors with entrepreneurs seeking business development funds from £150,000 to £2m. OION helped 13 companies raise £2.5m in the year to March 2005, and during the last five years, has helped over 90 companies raise £22m. OION has strong links with, universities with a reputation for spinning out quality technology companies such as Warwick, Oxford, Bristol, UCL and Imperial College.

Great Eastern Investment Forum (GEIF) www.geif.co.uk 

GEIF, part of the NW Brown Group, is a leading business angel network located in Cambridge, providing a matching service between high growth companies seeking funding and business angels seeking quality investment opportunities. Since its establishment in 1995, GEIF angels have provided invaluable management input and funding to nearly 100 early-stage UK-based companies.

The South West Angel and Investor Network (SWAIN) www.swain.org.uk 

SWAIN, launched in 2004 and based in Bristol, specialises in helping small and medium sized companies to find equity finance, and assists private investors in searching for investment opportunities in businesses with growth potential. SWAIN operates throughout the South West region and is supported by SWRDA and the South West Business Links.

We are pleased to announce, as of Wednesday, 1st March 2006, our Pensions, Financial Planning, Investment Management, Employee Benefit and Venture divisions will become part of the operations and services provided by NW Brown & Company Limited. NW Brown Insurance Brokers will continue to provide their wide ranging services – now including our Mortgage division.

NW Brown & Company Limited and NW Brown Insurance Brokers Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.