Maven manages the £50 million equity component of the £150m Investment Fund for Scotland on behalf of the British Business Bank, which in its nations and regions tracker 2024 found that only 52% of smaller Scottish businesses reported feeling confident in their ability and skills to obtain external finance in 2023. Scotland was bottom of the 12 UK nations and regions on this measure.

Mr Milroy, a partner at Maven, highlighted the “mismatch” between these two sets of statistics.

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He highlighted opportunities for non-technology businesses, including family firms, to secure equity finance for growth through the Investment Fund for Scotland.

Mr Milroy contrasted “sophisticated, well-supported tech businesses” with “other businesses which don’t have that support and [are] clearly not feeling confident they can go out and raise the money”.

Two of the deals already announced by Maven for the Investment Fund for Scotland, which was launched in October last year by the British Business Bank, are equity injections for family businesses.

Mr Milroy said: “That is quite different from a lot of funds which are tech-focused. We are going to do tech businesses but it is nice to have that spread.”

He noted that external equity funding was not appropriate for some family businesses but highlighted the type of firms for which it might work.

Mr Milroy said: “If it is clearly going to be passed from generation to generation, that is clearly difficult. That is unlikely to work for us.”

However, he highlighted family businesses which wanted to scale up and then seek a sale as ones for which the Investment Fund for Scotland might work.

When the fund was launched, the British Business Bank hailed it as “the first solely UK government-backed investment fund for smaller businesses in Scotland, helping to increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance by providing options to firms that might otherwise not receive investment”.

Maven has hired three new recruits on the back of its Investment Fund for Scotland activity – investment managers Victoria McLaren and Craig McGill and investment associate Jamie Warner. Another new hire is due to join in January.

Nine Investment Fund for Scotland deals have been completed by Maven to date, two of which are yet to be announced. There are four more deals at the due diligence stage.

Mr Milroy hailed a “successful first year” in managing the equity part of the Investment Fund for Scotland, declaring Maven was “delighted with the response and breadth of opportunities from family-owned [and] female-led businesses and across a wide range of sectors and business stages, from spin-out to more established”.

In April, the fund completed a £625,000 investment in Nami Surgical, a University of Glasgow spin-out which Mr Milroy noted is “led by two young entrepreneurs” with a “female co-founder” and is developing a novel ultrasonic scalpel for robotic surgery.

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The fund in June completed a £400,000 investment in Swarna Spice, trading as Praveen Kumar, a young business selling authentic frozen Indian cuisine.

In July, the fund completed a £1m investment in learning and training management platform provider Administrate.

The fund in August completed an £850,000 investment into Triyit, a business that allows fast-moving consumer goods brands to conduct end-to-end, in-home consumer testing of new products. Data collection, analysis and monetising the data form a key part of the growth story of this business, Mr Milroy noted.

In September, the fund completed a £750,000 investment in Corporate Modelling Services, a company providing back-office workforce optimisation and efficiency software.

The fund in March completed a £1m investment in Calcivis, a preventative dentistry solution that is launching in the US and has secured Food and Drug Administration approval.

In December 2023, the fund completed a £750,000 investment into Carcinotech, which manufactures 3D printed micro-tumours using cells derived from patient biopsies and blood samples. These can be used for ethical cancer drug screening and potentially personalised medicine, Mr Milroy noted.

He said Maven is aiming for 10 deals a year through the Investment Fund for Scotland, which can provide up to £5m of equity in the initial funding round.

Highlighting the opportunity to support businesses in a range of sectors throughout Scotland, including those with fewer equity funding routes, he observed: “There is a number of options for tech businesses. There are fewer options for the non-tech businesses.”