Puma Private Equity, a provider of growth capital to small- and medium-sized businesses, has announced its expansion into Scotland and its rebrand to Puma Growth Partners.

The team in Scotland will be led by investment director Ben Leslie, who has relocated back to Scotland after spending six years helping to grow the Puma business in London.

Based at new offices at Queen Street in Edinburgh, the investment team will be focused on backing management teams across Scotland who have a clear vision for building successful, expertly-run businesses, the firm said.

In particular, the team see significant opportunity across the Central Belt in sectors such as fintech, AI and energy transition, where Scotland’s heritage and concentration of academic institutions has created an environment for innovation to thrive.

Having led Aveni’s £11 million Series A round, one of the largest into a Scottish business this year, the expansion as a whole marks Puma’s commitment to the growing scale-up economy in Scotland.

The firm is also announcing a rebrand from Puma Private Equity to Puma Growth Partners to “better reflect the team’s commitment to partnering with the scale-up companies” that it has backed across the UK, supporting them with all aspects of their growth journey.

Ben Leslie, investment director at Puma Growth Partners, commented: “For too long Scottish businesses have struggled to raise funds within their own market, often having to go much further to receive the backing they need to grow.

“At Puma, we are committed to supporting scale-up businesses in Scotland and we’ve been really encouraged by the potential investment opportunities we’ve seen to date.

“There’s a strong ecosystem of active early-stage investors in the Scottish market and having led Aveni’s £11m Series A round earlier this year, we’re excited to see what’s next as we build relationships with growing businesses across the region.”

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Rupert West, the firm’s managing director, further added: “As we expand our offering across the UK, having opened our new office in Manchester last year and now launching into Scotland, we have been reflecting on the breadth of our support for the scale-up companies we back.

“We are re-branding to Puma Growth Partners to encompass the ultra-active support and close relationship we offer our portfolio companies through every stage of their growth journey.

“Our investment team brings a wealth of commercial experience and works in partnership with our management teams to support them in all aspects of growing their businesses.

“In addition, our specialist Value Acceleration team and sector experts from within the wider Puma Capital Group are on hand to provide support. We are looking forward to continuing to grow our business as Puma Growth Partners.”