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APRIL 2026 – GC Angels, the venture capital investment arm of the Growth Company, has led four investments in March 2026 supporting funding totalling £1.87m. Two of the deals originate from GC Angels’ first Venture Forward accelerator programme, which ran at the end of last year, with a further two investments into existing portfolio companies, demonstrating the continued strength of the programme as a pipeline for high-quality opportunities.

GC Angels has officially launched the second cohort of Venture Forward, bringing together 22 exceptional founders from across the North for the opening workshop at The Queens Hotel, Leeds. This first session marked the beginning of an eight‑week journey designed to build investment readiness, strengthen strategic thinking and level the playing field for underrepresented founders.

Workshop 2 of Venture Forward took place this week in Leeds, bringing the full cohort together for one of the most challenging and transformative sessions of the programme.

Workshop 3 of Venture Forward took place this week in Leeds, marking the halfway point of the programme and bringing a powerful dose of honesty, resilience and lived experience to the cohort.

Workshop 4 of Venture Forward marked a major milestone in the programme, bringing the cohort face‑to‑face with real investors for the first time and introducing them to the wider support ecosystem across The Growth Company.

Workshop 5 of Venture Forward took the cohort into one of the most important stages of the programme, the final preparation before founders go out to raise capital with clarity, confidence and investor alignment.

Cohort 2 of Venture Forward has officially wrapped and the final workshop delivered one of the most important sessions of the entire programme.

MARCH 2nd 2026 – GC Angels, the venture capital investment arm of The Growth Company – the largest social enterprise institution in Greater Manchester -has announced the second cohort of its Venture Forward accelerator programme, an Innovate UK initiative supporting underrepresented founders in the North of England to prepare for their first institutional investment round.

Manchester-based premium pet products business OurPetsLife (OPL) has accelerated international expansion after entering a series of new overseas markets and significantly growing its distributor network over the past year.

Financielle, the platform that is the home of money for women, and founded in Manchester, has surpassed 350,000 downloads worldwide after receiving £125K of investment from GC Angels in December 2022. The platform has also grown to 25,000 monthly active users and expanded its content, community and product features as it continues its mission to help women take control of their money.