Established in 2002, the fund has assets of £10.25 million and is almost fully invested in seed-stage technology from the De Montfort, Derby, Leicester, Loughborough, Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham and Nottingham Trent universities. Its investments range in size from £25,000 to £250,000.

Lachesis has about 20 portfolio companies including Dialog Devices, which is developing a non-invasive device to diagnose arterial disease, and Gyrometric, which provides measurement systems for rotating shafts used in manufacturing. The fund invests both in businesses and, through its ‘pathfinder projects’, in early-stage technology that has not yet been spun out into a company.

The contract to manage the fund is for a minimum of two years and Braveheart’s remuneration will depend in part on results. The Scotland-headquartered firm will be assisted in supporting Lachesis’ existing portfolio companies by Advantage Early Growth, a West Midlands-based investor which will be moving to an office in Leicestershire to manage its involvement.

Braveheart’s chief executive Geoffrey Thomson tells GrowthBusiness that the Lachesis fund was intended to be an evergreen fund, but needs to generate some exits or raise more private sector capital in order to reinvest in more spin-outs from the eight universities.

Thomson adds, ‘This contract is really about getting into the portfolio, having a good look at it and working out which are the rising stars.’

The Lachesis fund was formerly managed by venture capital firm Spark Ventures.

Braveheart has been widening the scope of its activities recently. In February it was appointed to run a government-backed Growth Loan Fund for SMEs in Northern Ireland.