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CEF completed investment in TransGlobal Payment Solutions Limited

The Coalfields Enterprise Fund has provided investment to the company as part of a £1 million funding round to provide development and working capital

CEF completes further investment in CoreRFID Limited

The Coalfields Enterprise Fund, established to support SMEs in the former English coalfield regions, has completed a further investment in CoreRFID Limited

CEF provides further funding to Caspian Learning Limited

The Coalfields Enterprise Fund has completed a further investment in North East-based Caspian Learning Limited as part of a £1.5 million funding round

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The Coalfields Enterprise Fund, the venture capital fund managed by Enterprise Ventures on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, has completed an investment in early stage company, Rostra UK Limited.

11/01/2006

The Coalfield Enterprise Fund, alongside the management and a private investor, has provided early stage finance to accelerate the growth of the new company, which will supply state of the art treatment for those who suffer pain from the effects of varicose veins.

The opportunity to develop the company to tackle this need was identified by Rostra UK’s Managing Director, Ian Brown. HIs blend of medical and commercial skills particularly impressed EV’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Diggines, who commented, “We believe CEF has an important role to play in helping to establish new companies such as Rostra, which has the potential not only to create employment but simultaneously to assist in providing varicose vein sufferers with timely treatment.”

Rostra UK will offer this service via a mixture of fixed sites and mobile units, the latter making treatment more easily accessible to patients.

Ian Brown, Managing Director of Rostra UK, said, “Setting up Rostra is very exciting. Together with our investors, we are looking forward to growing rapidly and improving day to day living for large numbers of those suffering pain from varicose veins”.

The Coalfields Enterprise Fund is a £10m investment Fund which specifically offers finance to growthorientated companies and encourages entrepreneurship in England’s former coalfield areas. These areas were previously very reliant upon the economic benefits of coalmining and the Fund is dedicated solely to these areas and aims to encourage companies and individuals to diversify into new high growth activities.

The Fund provides risk finance in the range £40,000 to £500,000, in the form of loans, mezzanine and equity funding, with followon finance available. Investment by the Fund may be up to 50% of the total funding package.

Companies must be able to demonstrate growth and viability, and offer the Coalfields Enterprise Fund a commercial return on its investments. The Fund is flexible in its approach to investment as companies at all stages in their development are eligible for investment, from new starts and early stage to ongoing development and acquisition, including buyouts & buyins.

Companies operating in the former coalfield wards or employing a proportion of their workforce from a coalfield ward in the North West & North East of England, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Kent and the Forest of Dean, may apply to Enterprise Ventures. The Fund is able to invest in most industrial sectors although there are some exclusions.