Viking Fund Managers Ltd

Viking is a boutique venture capital firm. We set up and manage venture funds which invest in early-stage, technology companies. Based in Yorkshire, in the north of England, we're mostly engineers and scientists with business and financial backgrounds.

What makes us different is that we've started our own companies, put our own cash on the line and have the scars to prove it. We bring a direct, non-nonsense approach to investing. We back our investees with time as well as money, roll our sleeves up when things get tough and offer advice when it's needed.

Our team run a regional network for business angels who co-invest alongside our funds.

We were founded in 2002 by Andrew Burton and a team of ten, from a university spin-out (then known as UniVentures International) under the new name of Inkopo Limited.

Our work included setting up and managing business incubators, operating international technology transfer activities and running a business angels network.

In 2004, with other partners we raised and launched the £5.0m Viking Fund, investing in early-stage technologies in Yorkshire, and set up the Viking Club, a group of private co-investors.

By 2009, we had fully invested the fund in 27 companies involved in medical technology, pharmaceuticals, software, instrumentation, digital media and renewable energy.

In 2009, we were acquired by Braveheart Investment Group plc, one of Scotland's major private investor networks.

We are a small company but we enjoy big horizons. Every week we review and discuss ideas and plans with scientists and company founders, investors and business angels. We're priviledged to work with some of the brightest and most committed technology entrepreneurs in the UK, and enjoy the thrill of seeing them succeed.