The Northwest Regional Development Agency has appointed six firms to manage the region’s £184.8m Venture Capital & Loan Fund, which will start taking applications next month.

Now renamed The North West Fund, it has been separated into six different pots. YFM Private Equity will manage the £45m development capital fund and Enterprise Ventures will run a £30m venture capital fund.

The other four fund managers are new to the region but all have pledged to set up offices here. FW Capital Ltd has been appointed to run a £35m loan fund, Spark Impact will run a £25m biomedical fund, CT Investment Partners (the investment arm of the Carbon Trust) will run a £20m energy and environmental fund and AXM Venture Capital will run a £15m fund to invest in the digital and creative sector.

Fund managers will be expected to lever in more than £200m of extra investment from the private sector but unlike previous public sector funds investments do not have to be made on a matched funding basis. They will be ready to start receiving new applications between July and August.

Northwest Business Finance, the ultimate fund holder, has received a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant of £92.4m and a loan from the European Investment Bank for the same amount, although the latter will eventually need to be repaid.

It will oversee the fund managers’ investments and said that it expects a profit of around £100m once those investments are realised. This will form the basis for an “evergreen” fund once the European money runs out in December 2015.

In total, it is estimated that the overall fund will help to create or safeguard almost 14,000 jobs and create £700m of gross value added for the region’s economy.

Minister for Business Mark Prisk, said: "I welcome this investment in the North West, which will provide an important boost for the region’s economy. In these difficult times, focusing support on the sectors that are able to create jobs and opportunities is vital for stimulating growth and getting our regions on track for recovery.

“It is one of Government’s key priorities to ensure that this North West Fund and all other national and regional provision in future will become part of a strong, single and coherent offer of finance and investment for dynamic and growing businesses."

Northwest Regional Development Agency chairman Robert Hough admitted that the fund had taken “longer than expected” – initial tenders were issued in June 2008 and the fund was expected to be up and running a year ago – but he added that it was “worth the wait”.

“Next month Northwest businesses will have access to one of the largest support funds of its kind in Europe,” said Hough. “It is an important initiative that will leverage hundreds of millions of pounds of private sector investment and, as an evergreen fund, will benefit businesses in our region for many years to come.”

In total, the fund managers will operate from 13 different offices around the region and will employ around 48 full time staff to run the fund.