N4 Ventures, headed by the former Managing Director of Entrepreneurship for NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, Gordon Merrylees, is delighted to officially launch its maiden venture capital fund after recently gaining regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

With a targeted fund size of £3-5m, the Scottish-headquartered firm aims to invest between £100k to £750k in up to 20 of the most exciting EIS / SEIS qualifying companies emerging throughout the UK with a focus on utilising the firm’s extensive network across Scotland.

Already holding established arrangements with numerous organisations including universities and leading accelerators across the UK, the N4 Ventures team will combine its existing access to regular deal flow while using Capital Pilot’s innovative ‘Investability Rating System’ to rapidly assess the investment case for each potential investee company, in comparison to the traditional, time-consuming method of manually scrutinising each deal, helping to not only mitigate risk but build a diverse portfolio in what is a traditionally high-risk asset class.

The sector agnostic fund will be looking for stand-out businesses with a focus on supporting under-represented female entrepreneurs and those which operate within sectors associated with NetZero, Saas, Healthtech, Life Sciences, Cyber, Spacetech and Fintech.

N4 Ventures has an entrepreneurial mindset running through its DNA with each member of the Investment Committee having worked as both entrepreneurs and investors, in contrast to the industry standard of just 8% of VCs in the UK having experienced first-hand what it’s like inside a fast-growing start-up company.

Supported by the wider N4 Partners (N4) group, the firm will tap into an extensive business network via N4’s reach across the UK.

Gordon Merrylees, Head of Ventures at N4, commented: “We are thrilled to officially launch N4 Ventures and can’t wait to begin speaking to the investment community about this fantastic opportunity.

Scotland has a terrific record of supporting ambitious startups, from leading university spinouts to the existing support ecosystem for early-stage businesses, and we’re looking forward to playing our part in backing some of the UK’s most extraordinary entrepreneurs who are busy solving a myriad of complex issues businesses are faced with in today’s society.”