Francis Wright presents at the Cleantech Fund Manager Platform on 13 December 2012

Turquoise manages the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF), a venture capital fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It received £12.5m from the ERDF which will be matched with over £17m private sector investment – generating a total over £30m of investment in the East of England.

The fund makes early-stage equity investments into small and medium sized enterprises ("SMEs") within the East of England that are developing new and innovative products or processes in a low carbon, environmentally sensitive manner.

Turquoise International manages the fund on behalf of the Adapt Low Carbon Group at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Francis is a co-founder of Turquoise, a merchant bank focusing on energy and the environment. He was a founder director of Controlled Power Technologies, a developer of micro-hybrid automotive components and has advised several companies in the transport fuels sector including Gasrec, Vireol and Bronzeoak. Francis previously worked in a range of investment banking roles at Merrill Lynch, RBS and Close Brothers Corporate Finance.