Prime Highlights-
- GC Angels announces the third cohort of its Venture Forward accelerator, backing 21 Northern companies.
- Standout founders can receive up to £500k of equity investment after the eight-week programme.
Key Facts-
- The first two cohorts saw 18 of 52 companies raise a combined £4.6m, a 35% success rate.
- The new cohort is 52% women, 52% ethnic minority founders and 64% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Background-
GC Angels has named the third cohort of its Venture Forward accelerator, giving 21 Northern companies a route to their first institutional seed investment.
The Innovate UK-backed programme comes from GC Angels, the venture capital arm of The Growth Company, Greater Manchester’s largest social enterprise institution. It helps early-stage Northern founders prepare to raise their first VC round within 12 months.
The first two cohorts delivered strong results. Of 52 companies, 18 raised a combined £4.6m, a 35% success rate that far beats the estimated 0.05% of startup founders who win VC funding. GC Angels also invested £720k directly in four of them.
The new cohort reflects the breadth of Northern talent. Women make up 52% of founders, 52% come from ethnic minority backgrounds and 64% from lower socio-economic backgrounds. They come from Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Shropshire and North Wales, and work across life sciences, cyber security, climate tech, health tech, FMCG and edtech.
Over eight weeks in Manchester, with NatWest Accelerator and NatWest Venture Banking, founders will join workshops, one-to-one mentoring and investor meetings. GC Angels will then offer up to £500k of equity to standout founders.
Marc Shirman, GC Head of Equity Investment, said the results show the strength of Northern founders. He said seed funding starts the journey to scale-up success, and the team will keep building founders’ confidence, knowledge and skills. He added that any ambitious founder can build a business through this diverse early-stage ecosystem.
