Energy Ventures said yesterday it had more than £60million to spend this year and was looking across the north and the north-east for investment opportunities.
The venture capital firm, which has an office in Aberdeen and focuses on funding high-growth upstream oil and gas technology companies, said the war chest for 2013 followed a strong 12 months for the companies in its portfolio.
Greg Herrera, a partner at Energy Ventures, said the business would be looking throughout the UK for opportunities but would particularly focus on the north-east.
He added the firm would also consider investment options in the Highlands and islands’ fast-growing oil and gas industry if it found a company with strong growth potential.
Energy Ventures, which has a stake in nearly 25 firms including ZiLift, Sigma Offshore and Deep Casing Tools, said turnover across its portfolio increased by an average of around 20% in 2012.
The venture capitalist had also been a significant shareholder in Red Spider since 2010, until it was sold to US oil service giant Halliburton in a deal understood to be worth up to £40million.
Mr Herrera said: “2012 was a busy year and culminated in the sale of one of our very successful portfolio companies, Red Spider.
“Over the last four years the business trebled in size and international reach and successfully transitioned into the completion domain.”
Energy Ventures also said yesterday it had appointed Tomas Hvamb, a former vice-president at Barclays Bank, as a senior associate in Aberdeen. Mr Hvamb will be investigating new opportunities for Energy Ventures in the North Sea. Mr Herrera said: “Tomas brings extensive experience within the banking sector, focusing on leveraging finance for businesses in the energy industry. His knowledge will be valuable in the continued development of our portfolio companies and in the identification of new opportunities in particular as we target larger deals.”