The agreement was signed today at Offshore Europe

Energy Ventures, the international independent venture capital company, has signed an agreement with Scottish Enterprise to become the first partner dedicated to investing in young and innovative Scottish companies in the international oil and gas sector, through Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Venture Fund.

The Scottish Venture Fund was launched in October 2006 and is an equity investment initiative administered by Scottish Enterprise. It seeks to invest in risk capital deals investing up to £2 million per company in transactions between £2 million and £10 million. The fund currently has 17 partners and invests with the private sector on a matched funding basis.

Both Energy Ventures and Scottish Enterprise have participated in the MTEM success story. MTEM, a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh developed pioneering electromagnetic survey technology which determines whether reservoirs contain oil and gas, before companies incur exploration drilling costs. MTEM was supported initially as part of the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme which supports the pre-commercialisation of leading edge technologies from Scotland’s universities, research institutes and NHS Boards. Subsequently, Energy Ventures led the venture capital syndicated funding of MTEM, taking it from early stage development through to sale for $275 million to the PGS Group based in Norway. MTEM continues to grow as a Scottish company, contributing to the UK economy.

Neil Ross, head of the Scottish Venture Fund said: “We are delighted that Energy Ventures is our newest Scottish Venture Fund partner. Its wealth of experience in the oil and gas sector will be a valuable addition. Scottish Enterprise’s role is to act as a market making mechanism, highlighting the potential deal flow in Scotland to investors at home and further afield. From the successes to date with our funds, Scotland really does have an exceptional level of investment opportunity for investors and growing businesses.”

Brian Nixon, director of Scottish Enterprise’s Energy Team, commented, “Scotland has a strong and vibrant oil and gas industry and it is highly encouraging to see continuing interest from the investment community. Financial capital is every bit as important as physical and intellectual capital, and Energy Ventures becoming a Scottish Venture Fund partner demonstrates the importance of this industry in growing Scotland’s economy.”

Ole Melberg, Managing Partner of Energy Ventures, said: “We look forward to working with Scottish Enterprise through the Scottish Venture Fund. This will enable us to assist the development of innovative Scottish based technology companies in the energy sector.”

About Scottish Enterprise:
Scottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotland covering 93% of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The Scottish Enterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 12 Local Enterprise Companies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors the Network aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills and knowledge of Scottish people, and to encourage innovation to make Scottish business internationally competitive. Further information on Scottish Enterprise is available at www.scottish-enterprise.com