Former Finance Wales Technology Seed Fund Manager James Henderson has been appointed as the Fund Manager of new investment consortium InspireWales.
InspireWales is an investment group made up of 20 of Wales’ top business people which aims to support exciting and ambitious start-ups, early stage and growth businesses.
James worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Haines Watts before joining Finance Wales. During his seven years at Finance Wales James worked on the Equity Portfolio team, its New Investment team and latterly managed the £7.5m Technology Seed Fund.
Speaking of his appointment to InspireWales James said: “This is an influential group of high profile investors so when they approached me to manage the fund, it was an easy decision to make and I am very excited to be involved. The value of their experience in both sourcing and developing prospects is already evident.
“The fund has already sparked lots of interest and we have received a number of applications, ranging from start-ups to other more established businesses. I cannot wait to see what idea we will back first and how that business will develop and grow under the mentorship of the InspireWales Investor Group. The conditions are now perfect for a Fund of this kind, and there is no reason why InspireWales can’t back one of Wales’ next big companies.”
InspireWales members include Mike Batt, founder and chairman of Travel Leaders Group which is America’s largest travel agency company, Tony Mahoney, former deputy CEO of HSBC, and Hayley Parsons, founder and former CEO of Gocompare.com.
All members of InspireWales are Welsh or have a connection to Wales and are committed to helping the economy and start-up community in Wales.
Consortium member and founder of TES Aviation, Ashley Cooper said: “We are delighted to welcome James as the InspireWales Fund Manager. His past experience in managing the Tech Seed Fund and in-depth knowledge of the finance and investment sector in Wales positions him ideally for the role.
“There are some really exciting and dynamic businesses in Wales looking for both investment support and strategic guidance. This is where InspireWales will really bring value. We have already received dozens of applications. James will assess which ones will go before the InspireWales investment panel before a decision is made whether to offer investment.“
The Fund investment criteria has purposefully been set wide to cast the net as broadly as possible, but the typical criteria will be for businesses with an enterprise value of between £750,000 and £3million, operating in a fast growing market offering a disruptive product, and who have demonstrated both market need and proof of concept in their particular field.