Unique £5 Million Scheme Launched to Create Jobs and the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

High-profile businessman, Mo Chaudry has launched a unique £5 million fund using his own personal money, to help create jobs, support the next generation of entrepreneurs, and help ensure long-term economic prosperity, in one of the most deprived areas of the country.

MOmentum Capital venture has been set up to help entrepreneurs launch or grow their businesses in and around Stoke-on-Trent, to support the area in which he has lived for more than 40 years.

The scheme is the brainchild of Staffordshire based entrepreneur Mo Chaudry, a Pakistani immigrant who didn’t start school until he was nine. His career began insurance canvassing, while living in a £10 a week bedsit, before building a successful financial services business. It saw him make his first £1 million before he was 30.

Risking £5m of his own personal wealth, MOmentum Capital will invest up to £250,000 per company into businesses at all stages; from well-established firms to start-ups and early-stage ventures across Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and the Midlands. The scheme is backed and supported by Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and is being delivered in a way that has never been done before.

The fund has been created to address one of the region’s biggest challenges: lack of early-stage or continued investment for ambitious entrepreneurs outside of major cities.  The initiative has been compared to the ethos behind Dave Fishwick and The Bank of Dave (a story made into two films), demonstrating how locally driven finance can succeed where traditional lenders have failed.

MOmentum Capital is open to founders from all backgrounds. Launched today, applications close on 30th March, with shortlisted businesses invited to pitch to Mo and his team in a Dragons’ Den-style process. Successful companies will be announced shortly afterwards. Each company will also be matched with experienced mentors, provided by the Chambers of Commerce.

For Mo, the venture is personal. His father tried to run his own businesses twice and failed – not through lack of hard work, but because he lacked financial understanding, mentoring and the much-needed funding. Through MOmentum Capital, Mo aims to give entrepreneurs the support his father never had.

The 65-year-old owns and runs a portfolio of national and international businesses across the property and health and fitness sectors, and last year sold the country’s most famous waterpark, Waterworld, a business he acquired in 1999.

He said: “Stoke-on-Trent is a city with a proud industrial heritage and the place where a true hero of mine, Josiah Wedgwood, built his pottery empire. He didn’t just create a world-class business; he lobbied government, invested in infrastructure like the Trent and Mersey Canal, and helped put this city on the global map. Yet decades of underinvestment and limited access to funding have held Stoke back.

Mo added: “Few people realise the Waterworld site was part of Wedgwood’s original factory land, and building my career there has been hugely symbolic for me. The success of Waterworld has been the catalyst for this fund. I want it to help create the next Josiah Wedgwood of our time.”

Mo explained: “Every year, organisations like the Chamber provide brilliant advice and business planning support, but too many start-ups stall at the same point. What they need is capital and support. Banks remain reluctant to provide further funding, rarely back early-stage businesses, and many venture funds are slow, bureaucratic, and London-centric. This scheme won’t be like that. Through it, I can personally give back to society, help generate employment, and as its success perpetuates over time, support long-term economic prosperity.”

Over the first five years, the initiative expects to support around 20 companies, with an average of ten jobs per business, that means 200 jobs will be supported. With reinvestment of capital over a 25-year period, that equates to around 6,000 jobs supported. To support the scheme on a long-term basis, Mo’s children are expected to become part of the core investment team in the future.

Tom Nadin, Deputy Chief Executive of Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce said:

“MOmentum Capital is exactly the kind of bold, place-based initiative that Staffordshire needs. It’s a unique project that aligns strongly with the Chamber’s mission to support ambitious entrepreneurs with not just advice, but real opportunity. This fund removes a long-standing barrier to growth and shows what’s possible when local business leaders invest directly in their communities. We’re really looking forward to working closely with Mo and seeing the impact this project will have on local entrepreneurs and organisations.”

Mo didn’t leave the area to build his success and believes others shouldn’t have to leave either.

He said: “I want this fund to help create jobs, and build aspirations, and prove you don’t have to leave Stoke-on-Trent to succeed in business.”

To register your interest in applying for the scheme please contact Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce.