DATA IS THE NEW OIL

Data is the new oil for anyone looking to invest in companies with potential for rapid growth and high returns.

At River Capital, we set up Fund:AI because we saw early-stage tech companies with valuable data assets. These businesses needed help building unique products leveraging their data, which could become valuable intellectual property.

We call it an artificial intelligence fund as we use data to create AI solutions and look for businesses where founders recognise their data’s value and can build solutions that increase sales, improve workflows, or enhance customer experience.

Businesses that successfully leverage their data can attract higher valuations, better investor returns, and faster trade sales. Our offer stands out from other venture capital funds because our team consists of ex-operators who have raised money, scaled, and exited tech firms. This experience makes us empathetic to founders’ challenges, and we’re hands-on when things don’t go as planned.

among the Chamber’s 600 members. This collaboration contributes to an annual trade volume of approximately £1.5 billion.

Enhancing transport and connectivity

Transport links remain vital, with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company providing essential ferry services. A new £70 million state-of-the-art ferry terminal in Liverpool, opened in June 2024, enhances connectivity, facilitating seamless travel and trade while generating economic benefits for both regions.

Renewable energy collaboration

The Isle of Man’s offshore wind potential could contribute significantly to the UK Government’s target of 21 GW additional capacity by 2035. Collaboration on renewable energy projects will create jobs, boost skills, and drive economic growth.

Financial services and sustainable investment

The Isle of Man’s financial services sector complements Liverpool’s, offering expertise in fintech and sustainable finance. This MOU paves the way for joint sector events, trade missions, and employment initiatives, further strengthening financial ties.

A future of shared growth

This agreement signifies a shared vision for long-term collaboration, economic development, and innovation. By leveraging each other’s strengths, Merseyside and the Isle of Man can build a prosperous and sustainable future together.

The generative AI explosion coincided with our AI fund launch in 2022. While this raised public awareness about data’s power, it also sparked fears about job losses and uncontrolled robots.

Artificial intelligence has been around for decades, with companies using it through computer vision, algorithms, or analytics. AI is essentially mathematics, data, and processing speed and the recent AI boom stems from increased computing power that can process terabytes of data in seconds.

Many companies have valuable data in their databases but don’t know how to use it and we seek management teams who want help unlocking their data’s value. For investors, AI represents an exciting but difficult-to-assess asset class. At River Capital our team conducts thorough due diligence to identify the best early-stage companies for investment.

We target ten-fold returns for businesses we invest in. While not all achieve this, our portfolio approach aims for quadruple returns, placing us in the upper quartile for EIS investors.