The fund, which is managed by intellectual property company IP Group, has had a busy start to 2012 with two other fundraisings completed in February involving MymCart and Durham Graphene Science.

Datum360 is an engineering information business which works primarily in the analysing and resolving of issues related to engineering on large capital projects. According to a statement the investment will be used to release a cloud-based SaaS product.

Founded in 2009 by Steve Wilson and Dave Mitchell, Teesside-based Datum360 has customers including ConocoPhillips and BP.

Wilson, managing director at Datum360, says, ‘The time is now right to accelerate the growth of the business. The company was set up to address gaps in the traditional information management practices that we saw in many projects.

‘We knew there was a market for Datum360 for that reason and chose to be based in Teesside because of the strength of industry and the skilled workers that are here. As we grow we will be able to capitalise on that.’

Nick Edgar, investment manager at IP Group, says that Datum360 is a business which has built on the experience of its founders.

The North East Technology Fund is a £25 million venture capital fund which invests in technology businesses which are based in, or will relocate to, the North East of England through commitments ranging from £50,000 to £1.25 million.