Fhunded named best tech investor in the North at prestigious industry awards

Fhunded, Lancashire County Council’s (LCC) pioneering early-stage equity investment programme, has won a prestigious Prolific North Tech Award. Delivered through LCC’s Business Growth Service, Fhunded scooped the top spot in the Tech Investor of the Year category, beating two Manchester-based finalists, GC Angels and EHE Studio.

LCC’s award entry highlighted how the Fhunded initiative has brought Lancashire startups seeking equity finance face-to-face with potential backers – both venture capital firms and private investors – to facilitate deals which might otherwise not have happened. It also outlined how, prior to Fhunded’s launch in 2023, Lancashire was considered a difficult place to navigate from an equity investment perspective.

Fast forward to today, and Fhunded has helped to facilitate over £35m into early-stage Lancashire ventures, representing 47% of all verified equity investment raised by Lancashire businesses during this period.

Of that, over £2m has been raised through the Fhunded Angels network – the UK’s largest angel syndicate managed by a local authority – which has already recruited over fifty members since being launched last year.

Putting Lancashire firmly on the equity investment map was something specifically commented on by the Prolific North judges.

One stated that Fhunded “has a genuinely impactful track record of delivering angel investment in a geography that I suspect would otherwise struggle to attract investment” while another said, “this initiative is a brilliant, unique way of highlighting the region’s capabilities, and to increase funding within the region.”

As well as having a huge impact on Lancashire’s early-stage funding landscape, Prolific North’s judges were also impressed by Fhunded’s dynamic and entrepreneurial delivery. This was summed up by one judge who said “Fhunded has a distinctive and inclusive operating model” with an “impact that arguably exceeds the scale of the small team delivering it.”

Overall, Fhunded’s award submission was described by the judges as being a “credible, well-evidenced entry, with strong external validation”.

Attending the awards ceremony, which was hosted in Manchester city-centre, were Fhunded’s project lead Rory Southworth, and Fhunded investment consultant, Kiran Metha. They were joined at the event by Rob Binns, chair of the Lancashire Early Stage Investment Board (ESIB), a cohort of Lancashire business leaders who work with LCC to shape the Fhunded programme.

Amin Vepari, LCC’s Business Finance & Scale Up lead, said: “In just three years, Fhunded has transformed perceptions of Lancashire as place to do equity deals. In the last year alone, Fhunded has facilitated around £2m of VC and angel investment into local businesses, and brought over 20 VC firms to Lancashire to meet founders face to face. It’s a remarkable achievement, and one which makes Fhunded very worthy of this award.”  

Councillor Brian Moore, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Growth at Lancashire County Council, said: “Fhunded winning Prolific North’s Tech Investor of the Year category is not only a testament to the fantastic work of Rory, Amin, and the rest of the Fhunded team, it’s great example of how LCC actively supports Lancashire’s early-stage business community. In addition, this award will further boost Lancashire’s reputation for being a truly innovative, entrepreneurial and investable destination.”   

Tech Investor of the Year is LCC’s third Prolific North accolade over the last three years.

In 2024, LCC’s Fraser House co-working space was highly commended in Prolific North’s Tech Hub of the Year category, while in 2025, the LCC-funded Lancashire Digital Hub programme won the Tech Hub of the Year award outright.

Established in 2013, Prolific North is the leading news, jobs and events hub for the media, digital, marketing, tech and creative sectors in the North of England.

For details of all the 2026 Prolific North Tech Awards winners, click here.