£720,000 of the £1.6m investment comes from two of Northstar Ventures’ funds
North East software firm Wordnerds has secured fresh funding of £1.6m to ramp up work on its technology.
The Gateshead-based business uses AI to train computers to understand unstructured text, with organisations such as Sainsbury’s, M&S, Network Rail and the Department for Work and Pensions all now using Wordnerds’ product.
Big organisations are tackling the task of understanding vast amounts of customer feedback from sources such as customer surveys, emails, contact centre calls, forums and social media – and collating and making sense of the information is a herculean task. Wordnerds turns the data into data-driven insights, combining artificial intelligence and behavioural science to pool the data into rapid, in-depth reports and dashboards, which help companies to find the root cause of customer issues in real time.
£720,000 of the £1.6m investment comes from two of Northstar Ventures’ funds, with £160,000 from the Northstar EIS Growth Fund and £560,000 from the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The remaining funds are from early-stage investors, Stephen Zinser and Leigh Cresswell, and a £521,000 grant from Innovate UK’s Future Economy Investor Partnership programme.
“We are very pleased to be providing further investment into Wordnerds, including a commitment from the new Northstar EIS Growth Fund. The team at Wordnerds has developed a sophisticated, market leading AI-enabled product which provides rapid and incisive analysis to consumer facing businesses. They have an impressive list of customers and have grown significantly since our initial investment. This round of funding will help them to grow their commercial and product development teams, which will enable Wordnerds to scale at pace. We’re excited to work with the team on the next stage of their development.”
Tom O’Neill, investment manager, Northstar Ventures
“Northstar first invested in Wordnerds back in June 2019. They supported our team and our product through our first few years of rapid growth and have sustained us all along our journey with perspective and practical advice. As we enter a period of strong growth, we are excited to approach a new period of scaling with Northstar Ventures. We are also delighted to welcome new early-stage investors whose experience will be invaluable on the next leg of our journey. With some of the region’s keenest tech and software minds involved with the company at all levels we are confident we have created something remarkable at Wordnerds.”
Pete Daykin, CEO, Wordnerds
Northstar Ventures is a long-established venture capital and social investment company based in the North East of England.
As the region’s leading early-stage investor, we have provided over £100m of funding into start-ups, early-stage businesses and high impact social enterprises.
Supporting entrepreneurs since 2004, we know how to identify strong, effective teams with innovative ideas that will drive high growth, scalable businesses, and sustainable charities. Our particular focus is on those organisations who provide solutions to societal and industry-wide issues on a regional, national and even global scale.
Our investment managers have a wealth of expertise supporting new and growing businesses. They bring commercial and operational knowledge to the table combining everything from PhDs, MBAs, international careers and finance to micro-business experience.
Northstar Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
About the EIS Growth Fund
Northstar Ventures EIS Growth Fund is a tax-efficient fund created to offer investors the opportunity to invest in innovative businesses with high growth potential. The fund provides growth capital for scale up businesses with good commercial traction and proven demand and which are rapidly establishing their position in the market.
If you think your business fits the criteria and you want to find out more, please contact us at [email protected] Investors in our EIS Growth Fund will have the opportunity to benefit from tax-efficient, venture-scale returns, whilst also playing a key role in driving innovation, impact and prosperity in the North and beyond. If you are interested in joining our EIS Growth Fund as an investor,
Wordnerds has developed a sophisticated, market leading AI-enabled product which provides rapid and incisive analysis to consumer facing businesses, allowing those businesses to drill down to actionable insights in a matter of minutes. The company has an impressive list of customers and has grown significantly.
The North East Fund is a suite of five venture capital and loan funds which was established in April 2018, to invest £130m in around 600 North East businesses in the period to December 2023. The fund managers provide business development advice and investment finance to small and medium sized enterprises based in the seven Local Authority areas of North East England: Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside, Gateshead Sunderland and County Durham. The programme encourages investment in and the commercialization of new technologies, including low carbon technologies, as well as stimulating new business creation, private investment and entrepreneurialism in the North East, with a view to creating over 2,500 new jobs. The North East Fund has overall responsibility for the programme, which is delivered through five separate funds, each managed by independent, FCA regulated fund managers. Details of these, and up to date information on the progress of the programme, is available on The North East Fund’s website: www.northeastfund.org.
The North East Fund has been established with funding from the North East of England European Regional Development Fund programme, the European Investment Bank and from returns on previous North East based, publicly supported investment funds. It is jointly owned by the seven North East local authorities.
About the European Regional Development Fund
The North East Fund will receive up to £66,500,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations.
About the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend up to £60,000,000 to the North East Fund programme. The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.
