Innovation in the North of England, has received a major shot in the arm with the launch of a new multimillion-pound fund and a novel, one stop shop of support services designed to find and grow the next generation of direct to consumer startups in the UK.
The new venture called Fearless Adventures is the brain child of three of the country’s brightest young entrepreneurs, David Newns, Dominic McGregor and Charlie Yates.
The aim of the fund is to offer its partner entrepreneurs three critically important areas of support: funding, marketing services and talent, with the founders believing this triple threat is the key to fast growth and more successful exits further down the line, and something not currently available under one roof elsewhere.
Three entrepreneur-led companies are already on board, benefitting from not only the funding but also Fearless Adventures’ best-in-class centralised team of digital marketers, data experts, and talent specialists. With the team aiming to close up to 10 investments as soon as the end of the calendar year.
Ahead of its official launch Newns, McGregor and Yates have already lured top talent from the Hut Group, Social Chain and Mojo Mortgages to provide topflight expertise on everything from SEO to PPC, and business intelligence to data analytics.
The fast pace of partner onboarding and talent acquisition is characteristic of Fearless Adventures’s founders – who have started, scaled and sold a clutch of nine-figure businesses of their own. Newns found and sold two companies for £158m within eight years by the time he was 33, taking a seat at the top level of FTSE30 company Imperial Brands in the process, as group science and innovation director. McGregor co-founded and sold Social Chain, dropping out of university to become the company’s COO and grew it to over 700 employees on four continents by the time he was 28, eventually leading it to a public listing. And Yates has advised on the sales of over £1bn of owner-managed disposals, using his exceptional e-commerce and retail expertise to advise businesses on how to maximise their equity and value.
Newns, explained: “We want founders and startups that we partner with to reach the world-leading heights that we did with our own businesses. So we asked ourselves: ‘What support do we wish we had access to when we started?’. It was clear there was a real gap for an offer that helped passionate entrepreneurs, not only raise capital but get a high quality, ready-made support system to help their startups thrive.”
McGregor who recently sat down with TheBusinessDesk.com and talked about the thriving tech and innovation scene in the North, added: “Having been through the highs and lows of growing successful businesses, we have experienced almost every problem associated with scaling companies. And we’re passionate about putting that expertise to great use with our partner companies that have already demonstrated a successful market fit, are profitable and are led by talented entrepreneurs who are as ambitious for growth as we are.”
Yates finished stating: “Our key principle is ensuring we have complete alignment with our partner companies and investors. We structure our investments so that we are uniquely incentivised to help deliver as much value to the founders and their companies as possible”.
Alongside the investment fund and support services the three founders have also outlined plans to develop and launch an apprenticeship program, The Fearless Academy, that with a strong commitment to diversity, will aim to offer young, ambitious talent, training opportunities in marketing to equip individuals with the tools and skills for career progression.
The North’s innovation ecosystem and disruptive businesses will be a key theme at the upcoming Disruptors conference on October 20 where TheBusinessDesk.com alongside headline sponsors Deloitte, Clarion, UKFast and Quba are challenging businesses to pick a side; the disruptor or the disrupted.
The virtual conference is also being sponsored by Nexus, Curveblock, Stickyeyes, Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund WeLink and Ribble Cycles. It will showcase the businesses already leading the charge and innovating from the north and the next generation of entrepreneurs and companies that are aiming to transform the regional, national and global economy.
The free to attend event will also encourage and inspire business leaders and managers who know they need to become a disruptor. It will also inform you on what is being done by our politicians and policymakers to attract technology companies and investments, boost skills and create the conditions for innovative businesses to flourish.
To find out more or book your tickets click here.
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