YFM raises £23m at first hurdle

The firm expects to raises a total of between £40m and £50m before the summer, enabling it to continue to serve the sub-£5m equity space.

The Chandos Fund will invest in small fast growing businesses targeting buyouts, buy-ins, development capital, pre IPO rounds and equity release/partial sales.

This investment strategy will be overseen by Paul Cannings, formerly a director of 3i’s smaller buyout and growth capital team in London, and now a director at YFM where he will work on the fund alongside investment managers David Gee and Michael White.

YFM can now count almost £300m of investment in its portfolio, managed by more than 40 investment professionals spread across nine offices across the UK.

Recent exits include the flotation of Hargreaves, a transport and distribution services business, the sale of SMS, courier and delivery services, and the float of drug testers Cozart, as well as the partial realisation of Tekton, construction software.