Par Equity is an award-winning venture capital firm founded on the principle of equality – with fund investors and professional business angels investing alongside each other for mutual reward.

 The firm, based in Edinburgh, invests in innovative companies with high growth potential.  Since it was founded in 2008 it has invested £69 million in 57 companies.

Mr Noble joins Par Equity from Transition Capital, the private equity company he founded to pursue Scottish SME buyouts.

He is a serial angel investor in technology companies and he has built an investment portfolio of more than 30.

In her former role at Transition Capital, he led deal sourcing, due diligence and fundraising.

Andrew Noble’s unusual route to Par Equity started while he was a member of the British Alpine ski team. He joined it in 2002, rather than study Economics at Bristol University, and over the following eight years he became the number one Alpine skier in the UK.

By 2008 however, his interest in business had driven him to start investing in early-stage technology companies and commercial property. After early success in outdoor advertising, he put his business activities on ice while he competed as a member of the British Alpine Ski team in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

After representing his country, Mr Noble decided to formalise his investing expertise. He joined Par Equity working initially as an analyst and later launching the firm’s inaugural property fund.

In 2013 Andrew left Par and dedicated himself to gaining an MBA from the prestigious INSEAD Business School in France. On graduating he joined McKinsey and Company as a management consultant specialising in Sales Optimisation for FTSE 100 clients.

Two years ago Noble founded Transition Capital, a private equity search fund based in Scotland. As managing director of the company he built relationships with over 200 advisers and investors and reviewed over 300 business opportunities, meeting 40 owner-managers in the process.

Mr Noble said: “Since I left in 2013, Par Equity has established itself as a top-tier venture capital business, specialising in EIS qualifying investments. The track record speaks volumes about the quality of the investments Par has made and the added value it brings to the table. Knowing the team so well, it was an easy decision to come back and help grow the business further.”

Paul Munn, partner at Par Equity, added: “We are thrilled to welcome Andrew Noble back to Par Equity as a Partner. Two-thirds of our portfolio is based in Scotland, which has some of the UK’s most interesting early-stage ventures. Andrew’s ‘local knowledge’ will help us strengthen our position in the area still further.

“The additional firepower that Andrew brings will enable us to back more companies across the UK, which will result in new technologies getting to market and create dozens of jobs.”