• New private equity fund, Hypha, secures over 70% of its target, only three months after launch 
• Founded by a trio of Foresight Group alumni, the fund will focus on investments across technology, healthcare and advanced manufacturing
• Fund will focus on buyouts of profitable founder-owned companies in the UK and Ireland.

22 October, UK - Hypha Private Equity is today announcing a £73m first close and launch of its maiden UK and Ireland lower mid-market fund. Based between London and Manchester, the team will invest in technology, healthcare and advanced manufacturing SMEs.

Hypha was founded by Chris Wardle, Matt Pomroy and Matthew Evans-Young, who previously worked together at the leading UK investment fund Foresight Group. 

Wardle was a senior leader at Foresight, recently leading the sale of Kingsbridge Healthcare to Exponent and the sale of Codeplay Software to Intel. Pomroy helped establish Foresight’s Manchester office and was instrumental in building out Foresight’s presence across the North of England. Alongside his experience leading origination for two investment firms, Evans-Young has held senior operational roles across the startup space, including CFO of Softbank-backed edtech, Atom Learning.

Hypha will be making investments of between £3m and £15m into founder-owned businesses across the lower mid-market in the UK, taking minority and majority positions. With the ability to invest in buy-out, equity release and growth capital transactions, the team has the flexibility to find solutions that work for business owners and management teams. Hypha will aim to make 2-3 investments per year - in contrast to some of the larger, volume investors in the lower mid-market - giving the team time to work closely with their portfolio. 

LPs in the new fund include blue chip institutions, endowments and large family offices from across the US, Middle East and the UK. A final close of the fund is expected before the end of the year.

With a large number of UK PE houses increasing their fund size in recent years, the team behind Hypha believe there is a lack of flexible, long-term capital for smaller, founder-owned businesses. Operating in a part of the market populated by larger, multi-fund asset managers, Hypha hopes to offer entrepreneurs and advisors efficient, high-deliverability transactions. With a concentrated portfolio, Hypha can work closely with management to help lay the foundations for the next stage of growth.

Matthew Evans-Young, Partner at Hypha Private Equity, comments:

“As a team we have spent our careers working in the UK lower mid-market and believe there exists an opportunity to create the leading PE brand in this space. We love working with founders and smaller companies - taking an approach of ‘doing the simple things well’ to help them scale and become leaders in their respective markets. 

“Technology, healthcare and advanced manufacturing all represent deep markets within the UK which are key to the future of the economy, and we’re particularly focused on supporting businesses in regions which are often overlooked by traditional PE. 

“We are hugely proud to launch Hypha Private Equity, with the backing of some truly fantastic LPs.”

Hypha Partners LLP is an appointed representative of Langham Hall Fund Management LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.