Home / Opportunities / Opportunity
PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

DfE Invest NI - Successor pre seed and seed fund and Proof of Concept grant fund

DfE: Invest NI · compiled

Tender information last checkedLast checked 29 Sept 2026, 20:48.

Opportunity overview

Invest NI would like to procure a fund manager to deliver the following services on its behalf: Manage a Successor pre seed and seed equity fund for an initial period of ten years (with scope to extend by a maximum of five years to allow an orderly exit from the equity investments) to undertake a total investment of £48m in the NI market with an associated management fee of a maximum of £10.3m over 10 years. Investments will be made in the form of equity securities, mainly ordinary shares but can include preference shares or instruments convertible into ordinary/ preference shares. If the fund is extended beyond the 10 years, Invest NI will negotiate with the fund manager in relation to additional fees and Manage a Proof of Concept (POC) grant fund for a period of six years to undertake total investment of £7.2m in the NI market with an associated maximum fee of £900k plus VAT. A legal contract, by way of a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) and a Management Service Agreement (MSA) will govern the ten-year contract to deliver the successor fund. There will be a separate Grant Management Agreement for the POC grant fund. Please see Tender documents for full details.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

TECHSTART VENTURES LLP

Match pending…
Contract value
£10.3m
Awarded
Not supplied
Contract signed
7 Mar 2025
Award ID
008948-2025-1-1
Status
active
Location
BELFAST, UK, BT1 2LD, United Kingdom

Classification

  • CPV66000000 — Financial and insurance services
  • CPV66100000 — Banking and investment services
  • CPV66113000 — Credit granting services
  • CPV66113100 — Micro-credit granting services
  • CPV66120000 — Investment banking services and related services
  • CPV66122000 — Corporate finance and venture capital services

Lots

  • Invest NI would like to procure a fund manager to deliver the following services on its behalf: Manage a Successor pre seed and seed equity fund for an initial period of ten years (with scope to extend by a maximum of five years to allow an orderly exit from the equity investments) to undertake a total investment of £48m in the NI market with an associated management fee of a maximum of £10.3m over 10 years. Investments will be made in the form of equity securities, mainly ordinary shares but can include preference shares or instruments convertible into ordinary/ preference shares. If the fund is extended beyond the 10 years, Invest NI will negotiate with the fund manager in relation to additional fees and Manage a Proof of Concept (POC) grant fund for a period of six years to undertake total investment of £7.2m in the NI market with an associated maximum fee of £900k plus VAT. A legal contract, by way of a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) and a Management Service Agreement (MSA) will govern the ten-year contract to deliver the successor fund. There will be a separate Grant Management Agreement for the POC grant fund. Please see Tender documents for full details.£12.7m

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
ID 5408838
Status
complete
Has Recurrence
No
Review Details
CPD complied with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and incorporated a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract was communicated to tenderers. That notification provided full information on the award decision. This provided time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract was entered into.
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Covered By

GPA

Bid Opening

Date
11 Feb 2025, 15:30

Legal basis

Id
32014L0024
Scheme
CELEX

Expected award period

Starts
11 Feb 2025, 15:30

Tender Period

Ends
11 Feb 2025, 15:00

Communication

Contract terms

Performance Terms
As detailed in the Tender Documents

Classification

Id
66000000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Financial and insurance services

Submission terms

Languages

en

Bid Validity Period

Ends
12 May 2025, 23:59

Submission Method

electronicSubmission

Other Requirements

Requires Staff Names And Qualifications
Yes

Selection criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
suitability
Description
As detailed in the Tender Documents

Applies To

supplier
Criterion 2
Type
economic
Description
As detailed in the Tender Documents

Applies To

supplier
Criterion 3
Type
technical
Description
As detailed in the Tender Documents

Applies To

supplier

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
cancelled
Has Options
Yes
Has Renewal
No
Description
Invest NI would like to procure a fund manager to deliver the following services on its behalf: Manage a Successor pre seed and seed equity fund for an initial period of ten years (with scope to extend by a maximum of five years to allow an orderly exit from the equity investments) to undertake a total investment of £48m in the NI market with an associated management fee of a maximum of £10.3m over 10 years. Investments will be made in the form of equity securities, mainly ordinary shares but can include preference shares or instruments convertible into ordinary/ preference shares. If the fund is extended beyond the 10 years, Invest NI will negotiate with the fund manager in relation to additional fees and Manage a Proof of Concept (POC) grant fund for a period of six years to undertake total investment of £7.2m in the NI market with an associated maximum fee of £900k plus VAT. A legal contract, by way of a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) and a Management Service Agreement (MSA) will govern the ten-year contract to deliver the successor fund. There will be a separate Grant Management Agreement for the POC grant fund. Please see Tender documents for full details.

Value

Amount
12,650,000
Currency
GBP

Options

Description
Successor Pre-Seed and Seed Fund: 10 years with option to extend for an additional 5 years. The option to extend the pre seed and seed fund for an additional 5 years relates to the likely need for additional time to allow the fund the best opportunity to make timely exits and to aim to return monies to Invest NI from realisation monies from investments.

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Personnel Experience of Executive 1,2,3 and 4
Type
quality
Description
14.95
Criterion 2
Name
Management of the Successor Seed Capital Fund and the POC Grant Fund
Type
quality
Description
11.7
Criterion 3
Name
Personnel Recruitment
Type
quality
Description
3.9
Criterion 4
Name
Marketing Strategy Development
Type
quality
Description
7.15
Criterion 5
Name
Venture Capital Development, links to potential private investors
Type
quality
Description
9.1
Criterion 6
Name
Engagement with Invest NI
Type
quality
Description
3.9
Criterion 7
Name
Governance
Type
quality
Description
3.9
Criterion 8
Name
Social Value
Type
quality
Description
10.4
Criterion 9
Name
General Partner's share and the POC Grant Management Fee
Type
cost
Description
35

Contract period

Duration In Days
3,600

Submission terms

Variant Policy
notAllowed

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKN
Entry 2
Region
UKN
Entry 3
Region
UKN

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
66100000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Banking and investment services
Entry 2
Id
66120000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Investment banking services and related services
Entry 3
Id
66122000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Corporate finance and venture capital services
Entry 4
Id
66113000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Credit granting services
Entry 5
Id
66113100
Scheme
CPV
Description
Micro-credit granting services

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-FTS-100549
Name
DfE: Invest NI

Roles

buyer
centralPurchasingBody

Address

Region
UK
Locality
BELFAST
Postal Code
BT2 7ES
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Bedford Square, Bedford Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
BODY_PUBLIC
Scheme
TED_CA_TYPE
Description
Body governed by public law
Entry 2
Id
04
Scheme
COFOG
Description
Economic affairs

Identifier

Legal Name
DfE: Invest NI

Contact

Name
SSDAdmin.CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
Organisation 2
Id
GB-FTS-25435
Name
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended

Roles

reviewBody

Address

Locality
Belfast
Country Name
United Kingdom

Identifier

Legal Name
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended
Organisation 3
Id
GB-FTS-140468
Name
TECHSTART VENTURES LLP

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UK
Locality
BELFAST
Postal Code
BT1 2LD
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
3rd Floor 21 Talbot Street

Details

Scale
sme

Identifier

Legal Name
TECHSTART VENTURES LLP

Contact

Telephone
+44 2890325506
Organisation 4
Id
GB-FTS-20217
Name
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.

Roles

reviewBody

Address

Locality
Belfast
Country Name
United Kingdom

Identifier

Legal Name
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.

Award information

Award 1
Id
008948-2025-1-1
Title
Contract
Status
active

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-FTS-140468
Name
TECHSTART VENTURES LLP

Related lots

1

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
008948-2025-1-1
Title
Contract
Status
active
Award ID
008948-2025-1-1
Date Signed
7 Mar 2025, 00:00

Value

Amount
10,300,000
Currency
GBP

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · BELFAST · UK · BT2 7ES · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKN

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-04cf14-2025-03-12T12:02:44Zcompiled ·