• 37 finalists named for award categories including Exit of the Year, Most Impactful Investment, Best VCT Investment Manager and Best AIM Investment Manager.
• Winners will be announced at a black tie awards dinner on Wednesday 8 November at Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.
• Visit growthinvestorawards.com/finalists for a full list of all finalists and information on how to attend the event.
Some of the UK’s most innovative and impactful investment providers and platforms have today been recognised for their impact beyond investment and contribution to the UK economy. Intelligent Partnership, the UK’s leading curator of education and insights on alternative investments, has revealed the first set of finalists selected to compete for the 2017 Growth Investor Awards. Finalists for the other awards will be revealed in the next few weeks.
The winners across all 16 awards, including Growth Investor of the Year and Growth Champion of the Year, will be announced at an exclusive black tie awards dinner, to be held on Wednesday 8 November at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Gate, London.
Launched by Intelligent Partnership in 2015, the Growth Investor Awards celebrate the UK’s SME investment community’s contribution towards innovation, technology, and job and wealth creation. The awards specifically acknowledge those companies and individuals who are helping start-up and ‘scale-up’ businesses realise their full potential and power Britain’s economy.
Guy Tolhurst, Managing Director of Intelligent Partnership, said: “The Growth Investor Awards measure the impact of talent, technology and innovative thinking within Britain’s thriving smaller-company ecosystem. We want to honour all those industry leaders who day-in, day-out display the ability, bravery and commitment needed to back entrepreneurs and help drive Britain’s economic growth from the bottom up.
“This first set of finalists recognises those industry figures who are putting investment to work. And while it’s great to see so many well-established names and previous award winners returning, it’s tremendous to see so many new finalists entering the fray. Each of them has an inspiring story to tell, about making an impact beyond investment, and we’re delighted to be able to help them to share it.”
The awards programme is guided by an Advisory Board including Irene Graham, CEO of the ScaleUp Institute; Luke Johnson, Chairman of Risk Capital Partners; Claire Cockerton, Founder and Ambassador of Innovate Finance; Tim Hames, Director General of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA); Emma Jones MBE, CEO of Enterprise Nation; Simon Devonshire OBE, Entrepreneur in Residence at BIS; and Michael Hayman MBE, Co-founder of Seven Hills.
Commenting on the announcement of the finalists, Michael Hayman MBE, a member of the Advisory Board for the 2017 Growth Investor Awards, said: “This is my second year as part of the Advisory Board for these awards and the level of competition has never been stronger. This just serves to demonstrate the sheer strength in depth supporting the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, driving investment into talent, technology and research and development.”
Claire Cockerton, a member of the Advisory Board for the 2017 Growth Investor Awards, said: “Finalists in these award categories demonstrate the success of tax-efficient investments, such as VCTs, EIS and the SEIS, which together have raised an incredible £20.8 billion to help fund the UK’s high-growth small businesses. The finalists of this year’s Growth Investor Awards deserve to be applauded for their role in helping these rising stars reach their full potential. In terms of true ‘impact investing’, this year’s finalists have managed to raise the bar even higher.”
2017 Growth Investor Awards: Finalists
Exit of the Year
- Endeavour Ventures
- Mercia Technologies
- Parkwalk Advisors
- Stellar Asset Management
- YFM Equity Partners
Most Impactful Investment, sponsored by Bates Wells Braithwaite Compliance
- Enterprise Investment Partners
- Growthdeck
- Oxford Capital
- Par Equity
Industry Game-Changer, sponsored by MICAP
- Abundance Investment
- CoInvestor
- Downing
- Mercia Technologies
- Seedrs
- Syndicate Room
Best Investment Platform
- Abundance Investment
- Downing
- Force Over Mass
- Kuber Ventures
- Seedrs
- Syndicate Room
Best SEIS Investment Manager, sponsored by RW Blears Solicitors
- Daedalus Partners
- Deepbridge Capital
- Goldfinch
- Symvan Capital
- Startup Funding Club
- Worth Capital
Best BPR Investment Manager, sponsored by Reyker Securities
- Downing
- Foresight Group
- Octopus Investments
- Puma Investments
- TIME Investments
- Triple Point
Best AIM Investment Manager
- Amati Global Investors
- Close Brothers
- Investec Wealth & Investment
- Puma Investments
- TIME Investments
- Unicorn Asset Management
Best EIS Investment Manager, sponsored by Mainspring Fund Services
- Calculus Capital
- CHF Media
- Mercia Technologies
- MMC Ventures
- Parkwalk Advisors
- Puma Investments
Best VCT Investment Manager
- Albion Ventures
- Amati Global Investors
- Beringea
- Foresight Group
- Mobeus Equity Partners
- YFM Equity Partners
Information about previous award winners, judges and selection criteria for each award can be found at growthinvestorawards.com.