Ten Maven-backed businesses named in Northern Tech Awards Top 100

Ten Maven-backed businesses have been listed among the top 100 fastest growing technology companies in the North of England and Scotland. Now in its tenth year, the annual Northern Tech Awards showcase the tech sector across the North of the UK, recognising the businesses with the highest revenue growth over the last three years.

Airtime Rewards, AppLearn, Automated Analytics, iAM Compliant, MirrorWeb, Orka Technology Group, ProofID, Quorum Cyber, Rockar and The 55 Group have all been included in the top 100 for 2023. Representing 10% of all companies featured, the awards recognise the ambition, dynamism and hard work of the management teams we have backed, whilst demonstrating the important role Maven is playing in helping growth focused tech businesses across the region fulfil their potential.

Maven manages a range of funds which are able to back ambitious SMEs across the North, providing flexible equity funding to support their growth. One such fund is NPIF Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Through that fund Maven has backed over 70 companies across the region including a number of those listed in the top 100.

This includes Airtime Rewards, a cutting-edge transactional technology platform which uses real-time purchase data and powerful AI and machine learning technology to understand and influence where, why and how customers shop. The business recently announced plans to expand its Manchester team through creation of at least 20 new roles to support its growth.

AppLearn is a digital adoption platform which helps enterprises improve data quality and productivity in key systems. The business achieved record revenue growth last year, winning a number of new key contracts such as with shipping giant Stena Line, who joined an existing blue chip client base that already included the likes of Nissan and EY.

Maven’s VCTs have also supported a number of the companies recognised on the list. RegTech specialist MirrorWeb has experienced a period of significant sales growth, with annual recurring revenues increasing 80% in the past year. MirrorWeb’s digital archiving platform provides customers with a unified compliance solution which allows them to archive websites, digital communications and social media accounts. Much of its impressive growth has been driven by demand from financial services businesses in the US, where the need to archive digital communications is driven by both specific regulation and an increasingly proactive approach to capturing communications.

Rockar, which the Maven VCTs first backed in 2016, has developed a market leading eCommerce platform for the automotive sector and now powers the Omnichannel strategy for some of the industries leading brands, including Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Toyota and Volvo.

Also featured amongst the fastest growing Northern tech companies is Hull based The 55 Group and Manchester based ProofID. Both businesses received private equity investment from Maven to support ambitious growth plans.

The 55 Group unites cross-industry tech focused organisations Pagabo, Sypro, Loop and Tequ. Funding from Maven’s institutional buyout fund is supporting the company on its next stage of growth, helping to capitalise on positive market dynamics driven by increased public sector spend on national projects to deliver better, faster and greener infrastructure.

Founded in 2014, ProofID provides consultancy and managed services for enterprise customers across the UK, Europe, and North America from its headquarters in Manchester and a US office in Colorado Springs.
Investment from Maven’s Buyout Fund is enabling the business to accelerate its growth plans by continuing to develop its partnership with leading identity and access management (IAM) vendor Ping Identity. It is now the foremost integrator of Ping’s technology and has been named Delivery Partner of the Year for the past five years.

We would like to congratulate all ten of the businesses that have made this year’s top 100 list. You can find more information on Northern Tech Awards here. 

As one of the UK’s most active investors in fast growing companies, Maven is always keen to speak to businesses who are looking for investment to scale further. Our diverse range of funding solutions have helped hundreds of management teams across the UK make their vision a reality and achieve transformational levels of growth. Get in touch today at funding@mavencp.com if you would like to discuss your business’s funding requirements.