Northstar Ventures has completed the third investment from its Venture Sunderland Fund investing £350,000 in Moralbox, alongside £150,000 from Creative UK’s North East Fund and £50,000 from angel investors.
Moralbox addresses the critical need for businesses to navigate increasingly complex regulatory and training landscapes. Its highly effective platform enables companies to check staff qualifications and accreditations, manage training requirements, identify skills gaps and ensure compliance with key regulatory requirements. Pressure on businesses to keep pace with an ever-shifting landscape of regulations and rapid changes to technology is driving this demand. The software not only helps to upskill organisations and their employees but also provides major advantages in time and cost savings.
The company’s customer base operates in highly regulated, labour-intensive sectors such as food production, construction and care, which employ vast numbers of people worldwide. Moralbox has secured deals with key players locally, such as Thompsons of Prudhoe, and nationally such as Cranswick Yorkshire Baker, part of food giant Cranswick Foods. With ambitious plans to rapidly scale, the business already provides support for clients in five countries over four continents and has consistently high satisfaction ratings.
Moralbox’s ambition doesn’t stop there. The company aims to build the first unified workforce intelligence ecosystem through their Workforce Manager tool which will enable organisations to spot talent, identify skill gaps, organise bookings and deliver digital learning. All of this will be recorded in the individual’s digital log. Moralbox is also integrating AI across the product suite to provide advanced capabilities including anticipating future training needs and providing personalised training pathways.
As part of the investment round, Steve Spark has joined Moral Box as Chair. Steve brings a significant amount of experience in scaling SaaS businesses and leading teams, including at Mandata and 4Projects.
Tom O’Neill, investment manager, Northstar Ventures, says: “We are very pleased to complete our investment in Moralbox, which is the third investment from our Venture Sunderland Fund. The Fund supports innovative and scalable businesses with ambitious teams in Sunderland at all stages of their development. Moralbox is developing impressive AI powered training management software and is already working with well-established customers in key industries such as construction, logistics and care. We look forward to working with Gordon, John, Steve and the entire Moralbox team to accelerate the company’s growth.”
Gordon MacPherson, Co-Founder and CEO, says: “This investment is a hugely exciting step for Moralbox and for the North East’s growing tech community. We’re proud to be based in Sunderland at a time of incredible innovation and momentum across the city, and to be building a highly skilled team that’s passionate about transforming how organisations manage workforce training, compliance and development. With the backing of Northstar Ventures, Creative UK and our angel investors, we can accelerate innovation, scale faster and bring our vision for AI-powered workforce intelligence to life. It’s a major milestone for our team and a significant step forward in our growth journey.”
Notes To Editors
Press contacts – Northstar Ventures Limited
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About Northstar Ventures
Northstar Ventures is a long-established venture capital company based in the North East of England.
As the region’s leading early-stage investor, we have provided over £150m of funding into start-ups, early-stage businesses and high impact social enterprises.
Supporting entrepreneurs since 2004, we know how to identify strong, effective teams with innovative ideas that will drive high growth, scalable businesses. Our particular focus is on those organisations who provide solutions to societal and industry-wide issues on a regional, national and even global scale.
Our investment managers have a wealth of expertise supporting new and growing businesses. They bring commercial and operational knowledge to the table combining everything from PhDs, MBAs, international careers and finance to micro-business experience.
Northstar Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. For more information see www.northstarventures.co.uk.
About the Venture Sunderland Fund
Venture Sunderland provides investment for ambitious, high-growth companies at all stages.
The fund has been established to invest in companies that will catalyse the economic growth and prosperity of the Sunderland city region.
Venture Sunderland is primarily focused on businesses in technology, advanced manufacturing, the creative sector and green industries that are focused on growth and creating high-quality, well-paid jobs in the city region.
Sunderland is a leading digital and creative hub, nationally recognised as a Smart City with an automotive sector that is leading the UK’s switch to electrification.
One of the key aims of Venture Sunderland is to accelerate the city region’s development as an innovation hub for the wider north of England. The fund seeks to make initial investments of £200,000 – £750,000, targeting scalable companies with innovative solutions for societal challenges.
About Moralbox
Moralbox was founded in the North East of England and is based in Sunderland, with a mission to revolutionise how organisations manage workforce training, compliance and development. What began as a regional start-up has grown into a global platform used by businesses across five countries, empowering teams in highly regulated, people-driven industries such as construction, food production, aviation, logistics and health and social care.
Proudly rooted in the North East’s tradition of innovation, resilience and community, Moralbox is harnessing AI and workforce intelligence to simplify compliance, close skills gaps and future-proof organisations. Its intelligent software helps employers understand their workforce in real time, tracking qualifications, identifying training needs and giving every worker a digital record of their skills and learning journey.
With ambitious plans to build the first unified Workforce Intelligence Ecosystem, Moralbox is reimagining the future of work: a world where businesses can anticipate change, develop talent and thrive through smarter workforce insights.
For more information, visit www.moralbox.com
