Tim Hazell

Tim Hazell is a co-founder of Mercia Fund Management (MFM), which he established alongside Mark Payton. Mercia grew into Mercia Asset Management, a UK regional VC and asset manager that listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker MERC) and became one of the largest combined SEIS/EIS fund providers in the country. At Mercia, Hazell served as Senior Investment Director (his LinkedIn now lists the role as "Ex-"), focusing on early-stage technology businesses and university spin-outs, with particular personal expertise in Advanced Materials and ICT & Digital Media.

Hazell has been active in investment work since 1985. He began his career with UBS Phillips & Drew and went on to work at 3i plc, WM Enterprise, and the Baring English Growth Fund, where he headed up the Central England team. Across his career he says he has personally made more than 30 investments — including New Degree Limited and Eurobrake Limited — where he managed the complete process from initial appraisal through to exit, covering start-ups, buy-outs and acquisition funding.

Academically, Hazell is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London. He also holds a Master's degree in Science, Technology and Industrialisation and an MBA, and is FCA accredited. That engineering-plus-finance background maps directly onto Mercia's thesis of backing technically complex, IP-rich early-stage companies emerging from UK universities.

• Backs early-stage technology businesses, frequently via SEIS and EIS funds — in his words, companies like drug-discovery firm CYP Design are "a great example of the type of early stage businesses we back via our SEIS funds under management."
• Emphasis on deep-tech and hard science: semiconductors/EDA (Thalia DA), advanced materials, life sciences and drug discovery (CYP Design), and audio/acoustics (Warwick Acoustics).
• Strong preference for university spin-outs and IP-led ventures (De Montfort, Bath, Warwick), where Mercia often acts as lead investor and strategic advisor rather than passive capital.
• Looks for defensible technology with clear commercial reuse/cost advantages — e.g. he framed Thalia as having "the opportunity to establish a leading position in automating the design of analog and mixed signal integrated circuits."
• Regional focus, historically concentrating on the Midlands and Central England, consistent with Mercia's regional-growth model.