The company, which manages the £25 million North West Fund for Biomedical, has appointed D’Abbadie to investment director and Round to investment manager.

Both new hires will be based at Spark Impact’s offices in the Liverpool Science Park where they will work on the fund.

Part of the £185 million Evergreen Fund from the ERDF and EIB, the £25 million North West Fund was launched in February this year to help high growth companies in the Northwest region.

Andy Leach, chief executive of the North West Fund, says, ‘These appointments represent a further strengthening of the investment team being assembled to deliver The North West Fund for Biomedical.

‘With the early momentum of the fund now translating into a steady flow of high quality investment opportunities, the experience brought by these appointments will add further to the fund’s capabilities.’

D’Abbadie was previously investment manager at Inventages, which manages one of the world’s largest life science-focused venture capital funds, with assets of $1.5 billion.

Round invested in and built up a portfolio of life sciences companies at IP-Group, which specialises in early stage investment.

He was also part of start-up Micap, the developer of a patented yeast microencapsulation technology for the food, pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors, which floated on AIM.

Round says the Northwest has a ‘strong heritage’ in the biomedical sector.

The fund is open to a range of biomedical companies, including those developing pharmaceuticals; new diagnostics and medical devices, and those in the fields of clinical research, contract manufacturing and analytical services.

Over 50 businesses are expected to receive investment from the fund in the next five years.