As chair of the new venture, Ronnie brings unparalleled business and investment knowledge amassed over 30 years in sales and business development at Belfast’s Consilium Technologies, latterly Totalmobile. During his time as Sales Director, he lead the company to circa £14m turnover. In 2015, Totalmobile was bought by a private equity firm, and was sold again in late October 2020.
Ronnie said: “Belfast has a strong tech scene, it’s like a little Silicon Valley. We have a lot of support in place for start-ups, with investment available for the research and development stage, but there is a real gap in the market for a VC like Par to fuel the growth of young SMEs, once they are past the seed investment stage.
“Par Equity is keen to open up opportunities for those early stage companies by offering not only investment, but the right support and guidance to help them succeed.
“Becoming part of the Par network of is an excellent opportunity for investors in the area, as it exposes us to a wide variety of investment options, and fellow investors, here in Northern Ireland and also further afield.”
The Par Equity Belfast network is supported by Tughans Solicitors, transaction advisory boutique HNH Group, and executive search firm Narratology. Together they will join Ronnie as the eyes and ears of the initiative, spotting potential investors to join the network, highlighting early stage opportunities, and undertaking due diligence on potential investments.
Although anchored in Scotland, Par Equity already has a track record in Northern Ireland that it hopes to build on. Par Equity’s first investment in Northern Ireland was in PathXL Limited in 2012, a digital pathology spin-out from Queen’s University, which was successfully sold to Philips Healthcare, yielding a 2.7x return for Par investors. Fast forward to today and Par Equity has made 15 investments into five companies in Northern Ireland, drawing in more than £9m of capital.
Par Equity’s current portfolio of high tech, fast growth companies in Northern Ireland includes BrainWaveBank, Datactics and Plotbox, and there are 115 people currently employed across Par Equity’s portfolio of high tech, fast growth companies in Northern Ireland.
To date, the firm has invested more than £80m in 61 companies, with investor returns across the 21 realisations sitting at £89m – an average investment return multiple of 3.8x and an impressive 27% IRR (source: Par Fund Management Limited as at 6th November 2020).
Operating a distinctive hybrid investment model, Par Equity combines its discretionary managed EIS Fund with the skills, expertise and contacts of its 200-strong investor network, who add value throughout the investment life cycle. Seventy-five per cent (75%) of investee companies have appointed a member of Par’s investment network to their boards. This investment strategy, fusing the experience of angel investors with the professionalism and rigour of a traditional venture capital fund manager, is part of a ‘turbocharge’ strategy for Par, delivering better outcomes for investors and entrepreneurs.
Paul Atkinson, Partner at Par Equity said: “We see huge potential in the Belfast market for investors to be part of some of the UK’s most exciting innovative firms. At Par we are hands-on investors, providing experience and knowledge, as well as financial support.
“Following our success with PathXL Limited, we are looking forward to discovering more opportunities among Belfast’s young companies. Ronnie will be key to our success in the region, and his unrivalled knowledge of the local business landscape, as well as his breadth of contacts, makes Belfast an excellent place to expand our regional network strategy.”
Ronnie Geddis, Chairman of Par Equity's Belfast Network
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