Penta Capital, the UK private equity firm, has launched a new fund to invest in businesses based in the UK and Ireland and provide significant hands-on support to companies that receive funds.

The fund will be called Pentech Ventures. Penta, which has already garnered £12m (€20.1m) in commitments, aims to raise between £15m and £20m in cash for the fund. Based on a model popular in the US, Penta has established an advisory board of technology entrepreneurs - all of whom are investing in the fund - to support the development and growth of portfolio companies. The fund will invest between £250,000 and £1m in early stage technology companies that have created intellectual property with high software content.