Investment Associate in Nottingham

Sharp Consultancy are delighted to be partnering with Mercia Ventures, one of the UK's leading and most active venture capital investment firms, in their search for an Investment Associate. This is an exciting opportunity for a commercially driven and analytical professional to join a highly regarded, well established Venture Capital investment team, supporting the origination and execution of investments in ambitious companies across the East Midlands. With a strong track record of backing high-growth businesses across the UK, Mercia offers an excellent opportunity to build a long-term career within venture capital.

Working closely with the Fund Principal, you will help to identify, invest and monitor investments in ambitious, founder-led businesses. Mercia invests in a broad range of exciting companies in high-growth sectors such as health and life sciences, software, technology and AI.

The Role

This is a role centred around building relationships with an impressive professional network across the East Midlands region, identifying investment opportunities that align with our fund strategy. You will also support the investment process from market research all the way through to transaction execution and portfolio monitoring ensuring you produce accurate and well evidenced work aiming for the highest professional standards.

Responsibilities:

• Conducting market and sector research, identifying and analysing attractive investment opportunities for the fund.
• Contribute to the preparation of clear, concise and well-evidenced investment papers and supporting materials.
• Develop an in-depth understanding of the Venture Capital landscape across the UK, identifying trends and strategic opportunities.
• Support the assessment of potential investments through analysis, modelling, valuation work and scenario analysis.
• Build and maintain a regional network of founders and investors and becoming a trusted and credible member of the East Midlands start-up and scale-up community.
• Assess the financial performance of portfolio companies against agreed metrics.
• Apply analytical reasoning to understand performance metrics, risks and opportunities.
• Identifying key value drivers and risks by supporting commercial, financial and operational due diligence.

Who you are:

This role is built on a culture of excellence. It combines technical and commercial expertise with energy, curiosity and a practical, solutions-focused mindset. Ideally you will bring:

• Strong analytical and commercial skills, with the ability to assess markets, models, financial performance and investment risks.
• Knowledge of venture capital, private equity, corporate finance or M&A markets.
• Experience of financial analysis, financial modelling and valuation.
• Experience of supporting the preparation of investment papers and presenting well-researched proposals with relevant support.
• Strong interpersonal skills combined with solid judgement.
• An ability to collaborate and work within a high-performing team.
• Willingness to travel regularly into office as well as across portfolio companies and other stakeholder locations.

This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and personable candidate. You will bring energy and enthusiasm to a client-facing role, while producing accurate and well-evidenced work. You will also be open to feedback and keen to learn. The role offers strong potential for long-term development and progression. If you want to build a career in venture capital, this is an exciting opportunity. You will take ownership, solve problems and improve processes within a fast-paced investment environment. The role will suit someone who is proactive, hands-on and keen to make an impact.