Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
DfE: Invest NI
Bedford Square, Bedford Street
BELFAST
BT2 7ES
UK
Contact person: SSDAdmin.CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
E-mail: SDAdmin@CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Address of the buyer profile: https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge at:
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at:
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Economic and financial affairs
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
DfE Invest NI - Successor pre seed and seed fund and Proof of Concept grant fund
Reference number: 5408838
II.1.2) Main CPV code
66000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Invest NI would like to procure a fund manager to deliver the following services on its behalf: Manage a Successor pre seed and seed equity fund for an initial period of ten years (with scope to extend by a maximum of five years to allow an orderly exit from the equity investments) to undertake a total investment of £48m in the NI market with an associated management fee of a maximum of £10.3m over 10 years. Investments will be made in the form of equity securities, mainly ordinary shares but can include preference shares or instruments convertible into ordinary/ preference shares. If the fund is extended beyond the 10 years, Invest NI will negotiate with the fund manager in relation to additional fees and Manage a Proof of Concept (POC) grant fund for a period of six years to undertake total investment of £7.2m in the NI market with an associated maximum fee of £900k plus VAT. A legal contract, by way of a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) and a Management Service Agreement (MSA) will govern the ten-year contract to deliver the successor fund. There will be a separate Grant Management Agreement for the POC grant fund. Please see Tender documents for full details.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
12 650 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
66100000
66120000
66122000
66113000
66113100
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKN
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Invest NI would like to procure a fund manager to deliver the following services on its behalf: Manage a Successor pre seed and seed equity fund for an initial period of ten years (with scope to extend by a maximum of five years to allow an orderly exit from the equity investments) to undertake a total investment of £48m in the NI market with an associated management fee of a maximum of £10.3m over 10 years. Investments will be made in the form of equity securities, mainly ordinary shares but can include preference shares or instruments convertible into ordinary/ preference shares. If the fund is extended beyond the 10 years, Invest NI will negotiate with the fund manager in relation to additional fees and Manage a Proof of Concept (POC) grant fund for a period of six years to undertake total investment of £7.2m in the NI market with an associated maximum fee of £900k plus VAT. A legal contract, by way of a Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) and a Management Service Agreement (MSA) will govern the ten-year contract to deliver the successor fund. There will be a separate Grant Management Agreement for the POC grant fund. Please see Tender documents for full details.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Criteria below:
Quality criterion: Personnel Experience of Executive 1,2,3 and 4
/ Weighting: 14.95
Quality criterion: Management of the Successor Seed Capital Fund and the POC Grant Fund
/ Weighting: 11.7
Quality criterion: Personnel Recruitment
/ Weighting: 3.9
Quality criterion: Marketing Strategy Development
/ Weighting: 7.15
Quality criterion: Venture Capital Development, links to potential private investors
/ Weighting: 9.1
Quality criterion: Engagement with Invest NI
/ Weighting: 3.9
Quality criterion: Governance
/ Weighting: 3.9
Quality criterion: Social Value
/ Weighting: 10.4
Cost criterion: General Partner’s share and the POC Grant Management Fee
/ Weighting: 35
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
12 650 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 120
This contract is subject to renewal: No
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
No
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
Successor Pre-Seed and Seed Fund: 10 years with option to extend for an additional 5 years. The option to extend the pre seed and seed fund for an additional 5 years relates to the likely need for additional time to allow the fund the best opportunity to make timely exits and to aim to return monies to Invest NI from realisation monies from investments.
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information
III.1) Conditions for participation
III.1.1) Suitability to pursue the professional activity, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers
List and brief description of conditions:
As detailed in the Tender Documents
III.1.2) Economic and financial standing
List and brief description of selection criteria:
As detailed in the Tender Documents
III.1.3) Technical and professional ability
List and brief description of selection criteria:
As detailed in the Tender Documents
III.2) Conditions related to the contract
III.2.2) Contract performance conditions
As detailed in the Tender Documents
III.2.3) Information about staff responsible for the performance of the contract
Obligation to indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff assigned to performing the contract
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
11/02/2025
Local time: 15:00
IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
EN
IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until:
12/05/2025
IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date:
11/02/2025
Local time: 15:30
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement:
No
VI.3) Additional information
The successful contractor’s performance on the contract will be regularly monitored. Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor fails to reach Satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time, they still fail to reach Satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further action. If this occurs. And their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as an act of grave Professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance and the contract may be terminated. The issue of a Certificate of Unsatisfactory Performance will result in the contractor being excluded from all procurement competitions. Being. undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland Procurement Policy for a. Period of twelve months from the date of issue of the certificate
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended
Belfast
UK
VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) and where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
10/01/2025