The Network for Sophisticated Investors SUMMER 2016
SHOPPING FOR ANGELS GOINSTORE’S FOUNDERS ON ‘FULL-ON’ FUNDRAISING
QUINN LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT MATCH
CIPHER SURGICAL A CLEAR WINNER
MY ANGEL AND I ADTHENA’S IAN O’ROURKE ON HIS INVESTOR RELATIONSHIP
Welcome An entrepreneur, said management guru Peter Drucker, is someone who “always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” It’s a fitting description, not just of start-up founders but of the angel investors who give their opportunities wings. As the second edition of Envestors’ magazine goes to print, we’ve yet to vote on whether we’ll stay in the EU or not. But whatever the result, the founders of the companies featured in this edition will be ready to respond. Whether that is ‘pivoting’ to direct its products to high-end consumers at EarlyBird (p.15) or capitalising on the boom in fintech at Savernake (p.12), the entrepreneurs featured in these pages are nothing if not agile. Disruption may not be a strategy in itself, but it’s a driving force for the deals featured in this edition, be it in medical technology, online services or the digital match-making market.
We also bring you an update of GoInStore (p.14), the award-winning retail business that is casting a fresh eye over the clicks-vs-bricks retail sector. It has raised £380,000 of its £500,000 target, thanks to Envestors. Its co-founders talk to us about their ‘full on’ induction into the art of fundraising and their plans for expansion.
Sitting above the crowd with a minimum investment of £25,000.
As all of the opportunities featured in this edition demonstrate, speed to market and scalability are more important for success in the digital economy. Yet deep market knowledge isn’t always a must, according to angel investor Damien Régent. He readily admits he is “not a techie guy”. His investment in the fast-moving digital media business Adthena was instead based on years of business experience and his confidence in CEO/founder Ian O’Rourke. On page 10 they explain the vital relationship between lead investor and CEO. Whether in or out, Europe’s influence will continue to be felt by investors in ventures looking to qualify for EIS assurance. The EU’s review of EIS and other venture capital schemes, aimed at closing the equity gap for fledgling businesses, yields important changes. Smith & Williamson’s Adrian Walton explains all on page 7.
Scott Haughton COO & Co-Founder
Nick Taylor CFO & Co-Founder
Oliver Woolley CEO & Co-Founder
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Investment Presentation Lunch Wednesday 29th June 2016 at 11.45am and Thursday 15th September 2016 at 11.45am. Coutts, 440 Strand, London, WC2R 0QS Featuring four to six hand picked companies, looking to raise equity investment of up to £5m. Each company has eight minutes to make their investment presentation and two minutes to answer investor questions. Full details about each company are sent before the event.
New Investor Lunch Wednesday 28th September 2016 at 12noon Envestors,1 Lancaster Place, London, WC2E 7ED Our new investor lunches, held every two months, are a perfect opportunity to find out more about Envestors, to meet the team and fellow angel investors and for us to understand more about your investment preferences.
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Contents FEATURES
7 New tests for EIS New rules may seek to make investment fairer, but are they over-complicating matters?
10 My angel and I Adthena founder Ian O’Rourke and lead angel investor Damien Régent discuss their business relationship.
14 Shopping for angels They had cutting edge technology, but when it came to securing investment, GoInStore’s founders admit they had plenty to learn.
19 Company updates Ffrees, Calon Cardio, Faction Skis, Yocuda and Atlantic Healthcare.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
5
Book Your Lifestyle
The Network for Sophisticated Investors
6
EnXray
8
Quinn
© Envestors Limited, 1 Lancaster Place, London WC2E 7ED.
9
Intoware
12 Savernake Capital 13 Cipher Surgical 15 EarlyBird
Envestors Limited is incorporated in England and Wales, registration number 07236828. Envestors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.
envestors.myedash.com
16 Ombar 17 Student Money Saver 18 The Wave
Risk Warning Responsible Investing Please be aware that investments of this nature are
Before investing in a project about which information
not for everyone. Investment in new business carries
is given, potential investors are strongly advised
high risks as well as the possibility of high rewards.
to take advice from a person authorised by the
Risks include a lack of liquidity (ie. the ability to sell
Financial Service and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), who
your shares) and loss of investment. To help manage
specialises in advising on investments of this kind.
risk you should invest in a diversified portfolio. For full information as to the risks, please visit: envestors.myedash.com/risk-warning
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INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
A DIGITAL BOOKING PLATFORM FOR THE UK’S £4BN HAIR AND BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Book Your Lifestyle Ltd envestors.myedash.com/deals/852 Online Trading: Early revenues 2015 London (UK) £500,000 (EIS Advanced Assurance obtained) £1.25m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Oliver Woolley
A service-centric online marketplace for the £4bn UK hair and beauty industry. Try to remember what it was like to book a holiday 20 years ago. That’s a bit like how the UK’s hair and beauty industry operates today. Book Your Lifestyle aims to change that. Book Your Lifestyle is a fully developed and launched marketplace for the hair and beauty industry, similar to Booking.com for travel. Formed in early 2015, the team is made up of key members of online success story HostelBookers.com, who led the business from start-up to a $100m exit in 2013. Their vision is to make booking your hair and beauty appointments as simple and convenient as booking a taxi through Uber.
Book Your Lifestyle allows salons and spas to market their services on the platform, giving them immediate access to the growing number of customers searching online. This also enables salons and spas to reduce the risk of no-shows by offering payment solutions which encourage committed customers. Meanwhile, consumers can search, compare and book appointments at the touch of a button using a mobile, tablet or desktop.
Quality over quantity The competitive landscape is extremely similar to that of the management team’s previous venture, HostelBookers. There are a handful of small start-ups offering booking services, but there is only one real direct competitor, Treatwell (formerly Wahanda). Feedback from salons suggests they are “just a number” and that Treatwell’s platform takes a “scattergun approach” that makes it hard for service providers to stand out on the site. Book Your Lifestyle offers a far more personal and “quality over quantity” proposition. By scaling district by district, the management team works closely with salons to build goodwill. Having signed more than 120 London salons/spas with limited resources, Book Your Lifestyle is already gaining rave reviews for its personalised approach, simple sign-up process and ability to quickly deliver new business to suppliers. Its technology also allows suppliers to push deals and offers through the platform. This enables them to increase revenue by promoting and selling those hard-to-fill slots, while enabling Book Your Lifestyle to acquire both the “deal hungry” customer as well as those who demand convenience. Early feedback from customers has been equally positive. Key site and customer metrics have moved ahead of expectations in the three months since launch.
Investor offer Book Your Lifestyle is seeking to raise £500,000 (EIS assured) at a pre-money valuation of £1.25m. It is tapping into a sector ripe for technological evolution. The UK’s hair and beauty market is worth £4bn, with 18-40 year-old woman spending an average of £1,100 a year on treatments. Yet it is largely stuck in a pre-web era that seems creaky compared to the hotel industry. With most appointments made by telephone, salon owners are lumbered with unsold slots, no-shows and late cancellations. Meanwhile, customers cannot easily compare salon services, quality and pricing. According to Google Trends, the shift online has begun, and Book Your Lifestyle has strategically positioned itself to take full advantage.
It will use funds to increase supplier contract sales, and to bolster its marketing team in order to build the brand, win and retain customers. It will also go towards expanding tech team capabilities and web development capacity, and drive KPIs in order to raise final funding (around £500,000) prior to reaching profitability.
Exit strategy The management team aims to exit the company within five years through trade sale or via a private equity firm. One possible acquire is Treatwell, which has grown through acquisition.
ENVESTORS 5
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
THE STERLISATION DEVICE THAT CUTS TIME AND COSTS IN HALF
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
EnXray Ltd envestors.myedash.com/deals/871 Healthcare Manufacturing Early stage, pre-revenue 2012 Liverpool (UK) £500,000 (EIS eligible) £4.5m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Victoria Collin
Innovative medical technology start-up EnXray has patented a low-energy X-ray (LEXR) technology, which can sterilise plastic and other objects on-site, either at the manufacturing plant or in a laboratory. Currently, to sterilise products means shipping them to a third party, then returning them to the manufacturer. This is time consuming (the process can take up to two weeks) and expensive. The annual cost to one company is around £120,000 a year. EnXray’s onsite sterilisation unit could cut time and travel costs in half. It can be licensed to almost any production line as a stand-alone unit. Most likely to operate as a back-up resource initially, the company expects uptake to increase as the advantages of the technology become clear. “I see a large competitive advantage for customers who choose to purchase or lease from EnXray. It will enable them to meet demands for reduced cost, payment terms and most important, lead times,” says Lee Robinson, chairman of the CIPS Health Technology Group.
The market The global sterilisation market is worth $8.1bn (2014 figures) including equipment and consumables, with global OEM medical device sterilisation valued at just over £1.2bn. But a flurry of M&A activity has resulted in less innovation. Over half (54 per cent) of this market currently uses ethylene oxide (ETO) for sterilisation, and 43 per cent use ionising radiation. EnXray plans to compete with those using ionising radiation, initially in medical devices. But there are other opportunities to use the tech for lab supplies, blood and other IV products, contact lenses, food and FMCG packaging, as well as terminal sterilisation at pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
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Innovative technology The company’s LEXR penetrates up to 10cm in air and several layers of plastic, which means it can sterilise smaller batches (likely on conveyor belts) of most medical grade polymers. OEM medical device manufacturers are already interested in EnXray, with several reference customers committed. A patent was filed in 2013 and extended in 2014 to a global PCT application, which puts EnXray in a competitive position. The patent has been progressed to national phase filings in the EU, US, Japan, China, India, Canada and Israel. The team, which is highly experienced in the healthcare sector, plans to retain ownership of the technology via a licensing model and to maintain certain IP as know-how or trade secrets (such as the proprietary power supply). Initial talks with regulators (FDA, MHRA, BSI and HSE) regarding approval of LEXR have been encouraging.
Funding so far The company raised £1.2m of equity in June 2014. EnXray is also part of a consortium that was awarded £3m (£1m grant + £2m loan) from the UK BIS’s Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative. The funding is exclusively to develop and commercialise EnXray’s technology. Revenue is based on a base annual technology license cost of £30,000 for each machine, with licenses on a five-year term distributor margin of 20 per cent for the first year. Manufacturing costs per unit are estimated at £25,000. EnXray has a pre-money valuation of £4.5m, based on the board’s estimate of the company’s present value. This equates to a 2.5x net income multiple on a February fiscal year 2018 (the first year of profitability). Using a more typical multiple for high-growth companies of 25-40x net income would value the business at £45m to £72m.
Investor offer EnXray is seeking £500,000 of equity investment (EIS eligible) for 10 per cent of the company. Funds will be used to complete beta testing and prototype development, to bring the initial version to commercial production, and to investigate new market opportunities in laboratory supplies and pharmaceutical products.
Exit strategy Management sees the most likely exit via a trade sale. Potential acquirers include sterilisation companies (such as Steris/Synergy Health or Sterigenics) as well as scientific equipment manufacturers (Danaher, Smiths Industries or Perkins Elmer).
FEATURE
NEW TESTS FOR EIS
New rules may seek to make investment fairer, but are they overcomplicating matters? By Adrian Walton
Changes to the EIS rules, largely coming from the EU, took effect for shares issued on or after November 18, 2015. One change for investors is the introduction of the “independence” test. An individual will not be able to claim EIS income tax relief on an investment if he already holds shares in the company at the time of the relevant investment, unless: • EIS, SEIS or SITR (Social Investment Tax Relief) has been claimed on all other shares held by that individual in the company, or • The other shares held in the company were subscriber shares on the incorporation of the company, or were acquired when a preformed dormant company was bought “off the shelf” at a time when it had not begun to prepare for trading. This is a significant development. If, for some reason, SEIS or EIS relief was not available to an investor on a previous share issue, then EIS income tax relief would not be available on any subsequent share issues. Careful planning will be required to avoid breaching this new rule. There are also significant changes for the investee company. The main provisions are: • The total amount of ‘risk finance investments’ a company may receive in its lifetime is limited to £12m, or £20m for ‘knowledge– intensive companies’. ‘Risk finance investments’ comprise EIS/SEIS/SITR/VCT investments and some government grants.
• EIS money must be used for the growth and development of the company or group. • EIS money can no longer be used to buy the trade and assets of another company or business. (Using EIS money to acquire the shares in a target company has been prohibited since 2012). • A company must receive its first EIS investment no later than seven years after its first commercial sale, (10 years for knowledge-intensive companies), unless certain conditions are satisfied. The last change warrants further explanation. The rationale for the restriction is that EIS should be available to investors in younger companies where the equity gap is deemed to be greatest. There are detailed exceptions to the new sevenyear or 10-year rule. It does not apply if any of the following conditions are met: • There was a previous ‘risk finance investment’ in the company during the seven/10-year period from the first commercial sale, and that previous investment was used for the same activities as the current EIS investment is to be used. This is the so-called ‘grandfathering’ provision. • The proposed EIS investment is at least 50 per cent of the average turnover of the company (or group) for the last five years and all of the EIS money will be used for the purpose of “entering a new product or geographical market” (the average turnover test). • The company has had previous EIS investment which satisfied the average turnover test and at least some of the money raised from the proposed EIS investment will be used for the same activities.
It is the second exception that is causing particular problems. The calculation of average turnover is straightforward, but the secondary part of the test -- what determines “entering a new product or geographical market” -- is subjective and open to interpretation. HMRC recently published draft guidance on its interpretation of this new rule and the other changes, but the examples it sets out fail to address the grey areas. HMRC has asked for comments on this draft guidance by August 31, 2016 as part of a consultation process. Inspectors considering EIS advance assurance applications are referring matters to HMRC head office for an opinion. Inevitably, this leads to delays. Replies to such applications are taking eight weeks in some cases. That is not good for the industry. One recent case where we obtained EIS advance assurance from HMRC involved a software company that was over 10 years old. The company had been dormant for the last eight years and the new business requiring funding was the development and sale of specific software applications as opposed to the previous business, which was a consultancy. It was a different business. That did not exclude the company from the new rules. HMRC granted the assurance on the grounds that the new products being developed did represent “entering a new product market”, but only after several rounds of correspondence. The overriding message is that the new rules are complex. It is easy to trip up if professional advice is not taken. Adrian Walton Business Tax Partner at Smith & Williamson Contact Adrian: 020 7131 4000 adrian.walton@smith.williamson.co.uk www.smith.williamson.co.uk
ENVESTORS 7
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
USING CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY TO TURN MATCH-MAKING INTO A MORE PERSONAL AFFAIR
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
My Mate Your Date Ltd envestors.myedash.com/deals/915 Mobile / Web / Internet Pre-revenue 2013 London £400,000 (EIS eligible) £1.6m
Globally, the dating industry is already worth over £2bn. Traditional dating sites that appeal to the more genuine relationship-seekers have the majority of market share, but the market is expanding as a result of in the number of single people in the UK, and a rapid uptake of mobile apps for social activities.
To arrange a meeting, contact: Scott Haughton
Quinn is the Artificial Intelligence-powered personal matchmaker – consider it the ‘Siri’ for dating. Co-founded by experienced entrepreneur Dan Joyce and senior software engineer Jared Mooring, Quinn is using cutting edge architecture to disrupt the £2bn dating industry. Quinn chats to users in Instant Message (IM), builds a personal profile and intelligently makes a handful of introductions. On traditional dating sites (Match.com, OK Cupid), achieving this level of matching rigour requires singles to complete lengthy personal profiles (which less than 20 per cent are motivated to do), or pay a matchmaker anything from £3,000 to £50,000. Quinn’s target users are aged 28 to 40 and are genuinely looking for relationships. They’re likely to have been turned off by impersonal Tinder-like dating apps. Quinn has evolved out of the company’s existing dating app, My Mate Your Date, which has over 17,000 installs, 500,000 matches and 60,000 Icebreakers sent. The core Quinn experience will be free, but paying users can access a wider range of features. Additional revenue will come from third-party providers who can list related services (such as date coaching and singles events) within the app for users to book. Quinn will collect a 33 per cent commission for all bookings.
The market Mintel forecasts that the UK dating market will grow to £225m by 2019.
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Quinn is targeting users aged 28-40 who are more likely to be seeking genuine relationships, as opposed to under-28s who are more likely to use flirting/casual apps. Its target group is more likely to pay for dating services. Tinder charges over-28s £15 per month, £4 per month for under 28s.
Proprietary technology There are three core components to Quinn’s proprietary architecture: 1. BOTS: Quinn is the first dating site to use Instant Message (IM) to engage with users. This concept has been labelled ‘conversational commerce’ and is predicted to be a major mobile trend in 2016/7. 2. Artificial Intelligence (AI): Quinn’s intelligence allows it to speak to users in different contexts. Taking into account factors such as the user’s behaviour in-app, time of day and Facebook activity, Quinn can tailor its engagement to each user, building a deeper relationship. 3. Machine Learning: Internally developed and proprietary, Quinn’s detailed algorithms and machine learning underpin its matching and recommendations system. A multitude of data are processed through the machine learning systems to decipher which matches Quinn should suggest for each user.
Investor offer The company has secured £300,000 of investment to date, with funds used to build an initial user base of 17,000 and to develop the technology platform. The company is seeking to raise £400,000 for 20 per cent of the equity. Half of these funds will be used for marketing, with the company expecting to reach 377,000 new members within a year. The other half will be used to enhance the company’s software engineering and AI capability.
Exit strategy Mergers and acquisitions are prevalent in this market. The company anticipates exiting the business to a dating group such as Match Group, eHarmony or Spark.com.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
A SMART SUITE OF SOFTWARE TO MAKE MOBILE WORKERS MORE PRODUCTIVE, WHATEVER DEVICE THEY’RE USING
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Intoware Ltd envestors.myedash.com/deals/807 Technology / IT / Software Early stage - early revenues, pre-profit 2015 Nottingham & Bristol (UK) £750,000 (£550,000 pledged) £4.25m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Scott Haughton
Mobile technology has made more of us ‘desk-less’. Google estimates that 80 per cent of the global workforce (some three billion people) perform physical or desk-less work daily. Yet the paperless office remains a pipe-dream for some. Around 900 million desk-less workers worldwide are still wasting time on paper forms, checklists and handwritten reports, not to mention conflicting interpretations of how best to complete a task. Intoware aims to close the digital loop with its WorkfloPlus software, which empowers people to work smarter and more productively, while cutting costs. The software does more than simply translate paper forms and checklists into their digital equivalents, it provides intelligently guided outcomes.
How it works WorkfloPlus instantly converts everyday tasks into a set of digital instructions and distributes them to workers’ mobile, wearable or desktop devices. Each workflow can be tracked, monitored and verified using the WorkfloPlus admin panel. Once a user receives their workflow they simply follow the steps as outlined. When tasks are completed, confirmation is uploaded to the Cloud and reports are generated and distributed automatically, saving hours of repetitive report writing. The system records full digital audit trails for Big Data analysis.
• Some 40 million desk-less workers in the US and around 900 million worldwide need WorkfloPlus to guide and monitor their activity. • Demand for enterprise mobile apps will grow five times faster than supply by end of 2017, according to analysts at Gartner.
Competitive edge There are several competitors emerging, but none is at Intoware’s level of development. Prior to its 2015 MBO, Intoware was the in-house software development team for NASDAQ-listed Kopin Corporation. Kopin had invested some $3.4m into the development of WorkfloPlus. (The IP is now owned by Intoware, with Kopin holding a 17.5 per cent stake in the new venture). That background gives it an essential edge: it is one of a handful of vendors globally that can offer mobility software that is deployable across all devices. Its previous ownership – and the presence of co-founder James Woodall, CTO and a wearable tech expert – means its team has a deeper understanding of the hardware it powers. All of its tools are ‘mobile centric’ from the outset, not just diluted desktop applications. They are also fully compatible with wearable tech operating systems and integrate with existing systems and the Internet of Things. Its team – which combines entrepreneurship, tech expertise and 20 years of senior IT leadership – has negotiated a number of valuable contracts with global businesses, including a British energy and shipping business and a prestige German car manufacturer. NDAs for proof of concept have been signed with US Department of Defence suppliers and a number of other global mobile, IT and technology research organisations.
Investor offer The company is raising £750,000, eligible for EIS tax relief, for a 15 per cent equity stake. Most of the newly raised capital will be used to further develop the product, with the rest going to build the sales and marketing teams.
Exit strategy There are a number of options for shareholders to exit, including IPO, reverse merger and trade sale. But the company believes that a trade sale within three or four years is the most likely exit route.
Intoware positions itself in two booming global markets: enterprise mobility and wearable technologies. • There are now 10 billion mobile devices in use worldwide, creating the hardware landscape and demand for the rapidly expanding enterprise app market. • The enterprise wearables market is forecast to grow from $6bn in 2016 (IMS) to $170bn by 2020 (Forrester).
ENVESTORS 9
THE ANGEL AT MY TABLE
Adthena founder Ian O’Rourke
A lead investor is a resource that, if used correctly, can be incredibly valuable. Founder Ian O’Rourke and lead angel investor Damien Régent’s relationship has been decisive in start-up Adthena’s rapid growth, and it’s not just financial doors that have been opened to the tech start-up. “Damien’s little black book has been invaluable. We have doubled in size and revenue in two years”.
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In 2013 Envestors helped Adthena raise £500,000 to expand its business internationally, hire for new roles and develop its product, a proprietary and patented provider of competitive intelligence for search marketers and advertising planners. Adthena’s platform combines market insight and data analytics and evaluates competitor performance and strategy.
He also acts as a sounding board to me as CEO – he’s reviewed our strategy, interrogated our knowledge and resource base, and is constantly on the lookout for opportunities, be it service providers or new recruits. He’s a very creative force.
Ian O’Rourke: We completed our first fundraising round in 2013 with the help of two investment syndicates, one of which was Envestors. Damien Régent came to us via the other syndicate, where he acted as the lead investor. Damien Régent: I formally joined the [Adthena] board in early 2014 and since then I’ve been to every board meeting. I also meet with Ian for at least several hours every month, helping with anything from brainstorming to analysing performance to promoting the company to new contacts and investors. Balance is important: I know when to provide support but I don’t interfere with the day-to-day responsibilities. IO’R: Damien is highly participatory in his role, helping us with intros, and not just to VCs, but new staff and clients, too. His little black book has proved invaluable. It has helped the business to double in size and revenues over the past two years.
Investor, Damien Régent
FEATURE
IO’R: Damien’s energy and commitment have been pivotal, and luckily, we’ve built a very strong relationship. The division of responsibility means I can take more of a back seat at times and vice versa. He acts as a bridge between the executive team and our investors. His communication with them is vital, particularly as we look at raising more funding.
DR: My role equates to much more than non-exec. Ian and I have had many, many discussions around company strategy and I’m always happy to help. I can use my experience to open doors, make introductions and add value that way as well. With my background (as a former head of trading at a major investment bank), I know what needs to be done in certain scenarios and I can help take some of the pressure off Ian. I’m not a techie guy so my understanding of the business model was not perfect, but as soon as I met Ian I found him credible and competent. He’d already successfully run start-ups and his knowledge of the sector is exceptional. He’s delivered a lot with a little. Adthena solves problems effectively and efficiently. The beauty of what I do is that my interests are completely aligned with the best interests of the company, and its financial backers and shareholders. Ian and I provide regular updates to all investors, which helps them understand the direction the business is taking and the rationale behind key decisions.
“ANYBODY THINKING ABOUT ANGEL INVESTING SHOULD NOT SIMPLY BE THINKING ‘HOW MUCH MONEY I AM GOING TO MAKE FROM THIS DEAL?’ ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU BRING TO THE BUSINESS” IO’R: I think the proof the model works is the stellar growth of the company. We have around 30 employees now, three in Australia, the rest in London, and we’re expanding into the US, France and Germany. We’re now helping more than 130 clients with their Google ad strategies and competitor analysis, and saving them money and time every step of the way.
DR: One of the biggest challenges has been finding the right people for the right jobs at the right time. Adthena operates in a very competitive market within the tech sector, so recruitment strategy is key. I helped the business find a new finance director, and I’ve interviewed candidates for new positions within the firm. We’ve also had to balance the need for growth versus the availability and cost of injecting new capital. Do we want to raise more and grow faster, and if we do how much will it take to achieve that growth? These are some of the strategic topics we regularly discuss. I really enjoy working alongside Ian and being close to the management team. It’s not always plain sailing. You expect certain outcomes but they don’t always materialise – it’s a steep learning curve. The worst thing you can do as an angel investor is claim to understand the sector if you don’t really know it. Mind you, that goes for any business scenario.
DR: It’s great for any investment syndicate to have a presence on the board – particularly if the majority want to take a more passive role. From the perspective of the lead investor, it’s fulfilling, it’s exciting – but a lot of that is down to the mutual respect Ian and I have for one another. Now we’ll look to reset our objectives, decide if we need to complete another raise, and for how much, we’ll look at all the different scenarios and make decision with the company’s, and the investors’ best interests at heart. “Anybody thinking about angel investing should not simply be thinking ‘how much money I am going to make from this deal?’ Ask yourself what you bring to the business” The answer will help you decide whether to invest or not. Being a lead Investor is something I take seriously. Only do it if you have the time and the dedication, and the right experience. If you can satisfy those criteria I can’t think of anything more exciting.
Helping young companies raise finance Business savvy, no-nonsense advice from Nabarro.
Contact John Finnemore on +44 (0)20 7524 6432 j.finnemore@nabarro.com www.nabarro.com
ENVESTORS 11
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO TRADE FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKETS
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Savernake Capital Ltd envestors.myedash.com/deals/985 Fintech Early revenues, pre-profit 2016 Guernsey £1.5m £6m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Scott Haughton
Financial firm Savernake Capital has developed innovative technology for trading Foreign Exchange markets to generate highly competitive returns. It will use this technology and its team’s expertise to trade investor portfolios. Savernake has access to a unique combination of market data, giving it powerful insight into market moves. It combines this informational advantage with powerful technology, mathematical models and artificial intelligence systems to trade Forex.
The market Savernake’s addressable market will be the Forex hedge fund market. In terms of volume of trading, the Forex market is by far the largest in the world, with between US$3trn and $5trn traded daily. Foreign exchange trading increased by 20 per cent between April 2007 and April 2010 and has more than doubled since 2004. With liquidity far outstripping any other sector, Forex has become a highly attractive proposition in this low-interest environment. The hedge fund market in which Savernake will operate currently holds a total of $2,796bn in assets under management (AUM), of which $327.3bn is directly related to CTAs (Commodity Trading Advisors). Around 11 per cent of all hedge funds have a Forex focus. Typical AUM for a large hedge fund is in the region of $5bn-$50bn. Funds of this size can generate annual revenue of £400m-plus. Although Savernake’s focus is currently on the Forex market, the systems operate equally well on equities, futures and commodities, widening the company’s potential future market.
Proven strengths Savernake has forward tested its systems over a 10-year period, yielding very competitive returns and rapid recovery rates, including throughout the financial crisis. These forward tests show a 68.06 per cent record of
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winning months with an average of 3.07 per cent per month return. This ranks Savernake as a top quartile Forex trading system. It has also delivered very competitive live performance in the first four months of 2016, generating audited returns of 31.85 per cent. • Savernake is one of only a select group worldwide with access to its unique combination of data, and potentially the only firm with the capability to combine trading strategies, Big Data and systems development in this way. • The company’s bespoke, modular infrastructure is fully resilient and scalable, so Savernake will never be reliant upon third-party infrastructure. • Reliable, tested models have been further enhanced by rigorously tested data. • The business was established with a low cost base, without sacrificing quality control or compliancy. Combined, these four components set the company apart from competitors, making imitation difficult, time-consuming and costly.
Revenue model • Management fees: monthly management charge based on a percentage of AUM (standard fees are two per cent, negotiable on big ticket AUM). • Performance fees: charged against the clients’ monthly growth in AUM (standard fees are 20 per cent of returns). The company only earns when investment clients earn above the ‘high water mark’ (historic portfolio highs in excess of initial equity contribution), a differentiating and unique proposition. • Licence fees: charged for white labelled software and/or analysis that is licensed. Fees are typically on a fixed monthly basis for a minimum of one year.
Investor offer The company is looking to raise £1.5m in exchange for a maximum 20 per cent stake in the company. The majority, £1m, will be primarily used to further develop current systems, acquire additional data and marketing, with £500,000 used as investment into Savernake’s proprietary trading accounts, which will yield immediate returns to investors through issue of special dividends.
Exit strategy Savernake expects to exit with a trading sale to a rival hedge fund. Mergers and acquisitions between rival hedge funds are frequent in the industry and would benefit a rival wanting access to Savernake’s IP and client base.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
NOVEL SOLUTION TO A PRESSING MEDICAL CHALLENGE
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Cipher Surgical envestors.myedash.com/deals/983 Medical Technology Product launch UK, Europe, Canada & Australia 2010 West Midlands £250,000 (EIS eligible) £9.8m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Oliver Woolley
Cipher Surgical’s OpClear is a novel solution to a pressing medical challenge: ensuring a surgeon’s vision remains clear throughout laparoscopic (keyhole) procedures. During laparoscopic surgery, the lens of the laparoscope acts as the surgeon’s eyes. But it can become covered in fluid, blood, tissue, fat or condensation, impairing the surgeon’s view as projected on the external screen. At the moment, the first assistant or scrub nurse cleans the lens by removing the laparoscope from the patient’s abdomen. According to a 2013 study by King’s College Hospital, removal occurs on average 13 times per procedure and even then the surgeon will still spend over 30 per cent of the operation with suboptimal vision. The process of cleaning can take up to 6090 seconds (101.5 minutes) adding time to the operation. Critically, the surgeon’s work flow and concentration is broken, their control over the situation momentarily impaired. There is also a recognised risk to patient safety, particularly at critical points during the procedure, since the surgeon can no longer see the operating field. Previous attempts to address this problem have been technologically flawed or only partially successful. There is no satisfactory solution on the market. OpClear will enable the surgeon to maintain an uninterrupted view of the operating field and eliminates the need to remove the laparoscope for cleaning. The pre-optimised OpClear was used in 254 clinical evaluations by 52 surgeons in 21 UK hospitals with a highly favourable response in each case.
A £455m opportunity Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure undertaken for general surgery (for example, removal of the appendix and gallbladder, or hernia repair), gynaecology, urology and colorectal surgery. In nearly all developed markets disposable single-use devices are either very common or mandatory. This means that an OpClear disposable can be used for each procedure. The immediate market objective of the OpClear is to become an integral accessory to the standard 10mm laparoscopes of the major manufacturers which together represent 50 per cent of all laparoscopic procedures – that is over 6.5 million procedures annually, and a total sales opportunity for OpClear of £455m.
Sales launch The model has launched through specialist laparoscopic distributors into the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia during spring 2016, followed by launch into the US in 2017. Resistance to adoption by laparoscopic surgeons is expected to be low because OpClear involves no major change to operating procedure and delivers considerable immediate benefits to clinician, patient and hospital. Over 10 early adopter hospitals are in a launch sale process. As speed to market is vital to optimise exit, sales may be through established sales distributors. Manufacture of both the disposable and capital items (a control unit) is outsourced. Research indicates that the UK and European surgeons will buy the device for an end-user price of up to £70. Distributor margins are estimated at 50 per cent worldwide. The total cost of goods is currently estimated at £12 per disposable unit before volume discounts. The control unit currently costs just over £1,800 to build and may be initially loaned to hospitals to help seed the market. Four patent applications are in varying stages, with patents already granted in the US, Europe (including UK) Japan and China.
Investor offer Founded in 2015, the company’s pre-money valuation is £9.8m. It is looking to raise £250,000. Investors in this round will be investing at the same price (£150 per share) as those at pre-clearance development stage. This price expires June 30th 2016.
Exit strategy Medical technology is a fertile field for corporate activity. There have been three exits of two partial competitors (and one in a related space) within the last 18 months for 5-10x sales at $120m-$250m each. Management has identified 17 possible buyers. On target hospital sales of £20m, exit is achievable by end of 2020 for over £120m.
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FEATURE
SHOPPING FOR ANGELS
They have cutting-edge technology, but when it came to securing investment, GoInStore’s founders admit they had plenty to learn Online retailing may be on the rise, but in-store sales still account for a sizeable proportion of consumer spend. Forwardthinking retailers are betting on seamlessly linking bricks and clicks to make omnichannel retailing a reality. So any company that can help the £28.1bn retailing industry is likely to attract headlines. That’s one of two things delighting André Hordagoda, who co-founded GoInStore with business partner Aman Khurana. The other is the company’s product itself – “a great idea that delivers value to customers at a point that has not been well addressed by others,” he says.
That idea marries tech with traditional shopping by allowing customers to shop virtually as if they were in-store. A customer is assigned a sales assistant, who demonstrates products in the store using a digital camera. The software alerts store staff to potential online ‘visitors’ they could be helping, using
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an algorithm to allocate a salesperson to each customer. At the store, sales people get relevant, real-time information about the customers they’re helping. Its smart technology gives GoInStore the wow factor, but it’s also a practical solution to a serious problem: how to replicate the in-store immediacy of shopping for digital customers. GoInstore has attracted the media’s attention, not to mention an innovation award from the 2015 Mage Titans and a nomination for a coveted GLOMO at this year’s Mobile World Congress.
Pitch perfect Financially, the business is growing. GoInStore has raised £380,000 of its £500,000 target from High Net Worth individuals. But getting there was initially tough. “When we started fundraising we didn’t know much about the venture capital scene at all. We began by Googling VC firms,” says Khurana. “Every time we met a new investor, we’d have a new business plan – we must have had 10 business
plans written by the time we met Envestors.” This proved a turning point. Says Khurana: “We were put in front of a lot of investors. At one event we formally pitched for eight minutes, which we had never done before. At first, it was hard to get good, solid offers on the table. But we persevered and all of a sudden there was an avalanche of interest.”
Adds Hordagoda: “At first we were a little concerned that they [Envestors] charged an upfront fee as well as a success fee – we’d had some bad experiences with that model so we expected a top notch service.” “Alongside the money, they brought relevant industry experience and a strong network which could potentially open doors at CEOlevel among some of our key prospects,” says Hordagoda, perhaps referring to active investors such as former advertising entrepreneur Matt Nicholls. GoInStore’s team also gained insight into Envestors’ rigorous due diligence, which ensured they had everything ready when investors started to express interest. “We lacked experience in that department, and frankly, we had more than enough to focus on. Fundraising is full on,” adds Khurana. “We attended lunches, dinners, pitching events and follow-up meetings, all facilitated and attended by Envestors. Some investors wanted to meet several times before committing, others were happy to invest after just a single meeting. But that only happens when investor and company are well matched.” Having secured funding and clients (including a major high-street electronics store), GoInStore is now looking to expand. It has made a key hire at CTO level, bringing the UK team to six, and it has moved offices to a vibrant coworking space, Interchange Atrium. The next challenge? “Making sure we continue to hire the right individuals, the ones that can truly add value to our business and to deliver a service to our clients that goes beyond their best expectations.” Investors such as Nicholls will be helping them all the way.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
TASTY SNACKS ON THE GO
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Eat Well. Play More Ltd (EarlyBird Snacks) envestors.myedash.com/deals/982 Snack Subscription by post Revenue generation, Pre-profit 2014 London £500,000 (EIS eligible) £2m
To arrange a meeting, contact: Victoria Collin
EarlyBird (EB) is a premium, subscription-based UK snacks business targeting health-conscious women who want nutritious, balanced, tasty snacks on the go. It is now seeking to expand market share via a targeted ‘land grab’ focusing on the brand’s premium qualities. EB snacks are uniquely suitable for vegetarians and vegans, contain no refined sugars or dairy and are free from a large number of unhealthy additives. The launch range comprises 24 innovative products with original flavours created in the EarlyBird Kitchen by Lilly Abrahamson of Innocent Drinks fame. Its strategy is to continue to innovate with ever more tasty and healthy snacks, and to secure its presence in the premium segment. Customers play a large part in that process: less popular snacks will be de-listed and new snacks developed based on feedback data.
The market Subscription snacking is a relatively new, growing market estimated to be worth £60m today. Market leader Graze is currently shipping approximately 200,000 boxes per week, showing the potential scale of the industry. EarlyBird’s believes the online to offline subscription/retail offering will be valued in excess of £100m by 2020. With EB sales of £33m by 2020, the business is forecasting a minimum 33 per cent share of the market by then. Barriers to entry are high, which has allowed the dominant player to remain unchallenged since inception. Hurdles include the ability to build a team that has both the technical breadth and entrepreneurial ability to execute its ideas.
Premium position EarlyBird and Graze.com are the only UK companies that can deliver snacks produced at scale to British consumers for under £5.00. A fastlearning second mover has all the advantages and little of the cost of establishing a market. Founder Oliver Pugh believes that this in itself presents a rare investment opportunity. The dominant player offers a wide range of snacks but they contain high levels of low-cost carbohydrate and refined sugar and lack visual appeal and creativity. EB’s offering is priced at a premium (typically costing £4.95 vs. £3.95) and sets out to demonstrate to consumers that there are far healthier options available that don’t have to break the bank.
Customer growth Its £4.95 box currently sells at the rate of 2,500 boxes per week (bpw) which is on track to increase to approximately 15,000 by year-end. EarlyBird is currently returning the capital invested in marketing back to the business in an average of five weeks and cohorts become profitable within 15 to 20 weeks. Initial data show the net revenue per customer will be in excess of 2x acquisition costs once the team surpasses 5,000 bpw and close to 3x acquisition costs once it surpasses 10,000 bpw. Its mass marketing approach has a large impact on brand equity, raising awareness and attracting more customers. EarlyBird has over 14,000 Facebook page ‘likes’, over 6,000 Instagram followers and over 5,000 Twitter followers -- all organic and growing week on week. The company has a pre-money valuation of £2m, based on a sales multiple of 5x for annualised May 2016 monthly sales of £35,000. It raised £605,000 of equity via four previous fundraising rounds. The last fundraising in October 2015 raised £303,000 and was used to fund a brand pivot and relaunch.
Investor offer EarlyBird is seeking £500,000 of equity investment (EIS eligible) for 20 per cent of the company. Funds will be used to expand the marketing team and its activity. It will also support the development of the EB platform and further products, including online multi-packs and on-shelf retail offerings. The team has secured pledges of around £130,000 thus far and is seeking to raise the remaining £370,000 to close the round.
Exit strategy Exit is most likely via a trade sale. Potential acquirers include current market players, food manufacturers, EB suppliers, or a US company seeking a UK entry point. The business may eventually be sizeable enough to interest a private equity buyer.
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INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
REDEFINING CHOCOLATE AS A NUTRITIOUS FOOD
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation Board Appointment
Mood Foods Limited envestors.myedash.com/deals/917 Food Manufacturing Established, profitable (sales over £1m in 2015) 2007 Cambridge £1m (mix equity £600k & debt £400k) £1.8m Seeking additional non-executive director
To arrange a meeting, contact: Nick Taylor
Mood Foods Limited (MFL) is redefining chocolate as a nutritious food and pioneering a new health-food category. The business is in the perfect position to capitalise on the growing demand among European and UK consumers for dark chocolate and healthy snacks. There are several raw chocolate brands in Europe, but none has yet managed to enter mainstream channels. MFL’s Ombar chocolate brand is perfectly positioned to seize the opportunity. The brand is already regarded as one of the best tasting and branded raw chocolate products available, and the company is currently operating with a turnover of £1.2m. It exports to 20 countries and is the bestselling raw chocolate in the UK. The MFL has reached capacity at its current factory and is looking for finance to increase its capacity and seize potential growth.
By adding other ingredients such as real fruit, probiotics and coconut sugar, Ombar can create a health perception around the brand that has not been typically associated with chocolate. MFL has proven it is possible to create an exceptionally tasty chocolate bar without compromising the health aspect. Ombar is listed in the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands, and is stocked by Wholefoods and Planet Organic, with other retailers considering adding it to their shelves.
The market Raw chocolate has become a new category: it is seen as the most promising innovation to occur in chocolate since milk was added to cocoa. Previously only found in health food stores, raw chocolate is now considered by the mainstream. “Sales of dark tablets have increased at the expense of milk and white as consumers look to products with a high cocoa content and labelled provenance as a sign of quality, as well as dark chocolate and cocoa flavanols being increasingly associated with heart health.” (Euromonitor 2014). The European cocoa and chocolate market is worth £10.9bn, of which the UK accounts for £4.3m. There is a trend towards more health-related product launches in response to “consumers’…demand for healthier treats”. (Leatherhead Food Research, 2015). There is rising demand for artisan and dairy-free/vegan products, too. Ombar is in a perfect position to address all these trends with its premium chocolate bar.
Healthy chocolate
MFL currently employs 12 members of staff. Post-funding, the company will seek to appoint an additional non-executive director to the board.
MFL is building on the growing awareness of dark chocolate’s potential health benefits through its Ombar brand.
Investor offer
Using low temperature processing, the company preserves up to six times more flavanols (plant nutrients) in the final product than other brands with the same cocoa solids percentage. Cocoa flavanols are the subject of much research into chocolate’s health benefits and are responsible for dark chocolate’s high antioxidant capacity.
MFL seeks £600,000 of new equity investment to increase production capacity, increase marketing spend and to generate a healthy buzz around the brand. This amount will represent 25 per cent of the postmoney valuation of £2.4m, subject to a ratchet agreement. The company is in the process of seeking Advanced Assurance that it is a qualifying company for EIS.
Ombar encourages a rediscovery of cacao, not only recognising its nutritious qualities, but preserving them in Ombar’s processing methods. The company approaches Ombar chocolate like a health food, so it aims to deliver as much goodness as possible in every bar.
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Exit strategy MFL plans to become increasingly attractive to trade suppliers and directors will actively consider opportunities to exit in due course.
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
UK’S LEADING PLATFORM FOR STUDENT DEALS AND DISCOUNTS
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement Pre-money Valuation
Student Money Saver Ltd. envestors.myedash.com/deals/863 IT and Publishing Trading: early rev. CY 2015 revenues over £600k 2011 London (UK) £800,000 (EIS eligible) £4m
SMS now has over 440,000 subscribers and 500,000 monthly hits to the website. The original team of three has expanded into an entrepreneurial team of 12. Its platform aggregates third-party deals and offers from around the Web, and features its own original money-saving content and commentary on university life.
To arrange a meeting, contact: Scott Haughton
Student Money Saver (SMS) is the UK’s leading platform for student deals and discounts. With close to half a million subscribers, it is dedicated to finding students the best offers and savings, while educating them about their finances and creating engaging daily content around university life. Last year the company generated £600,000 revenue from selling native advertising campaigns to brands such as Apple, Virgin Media and Pizza Hut with just two sales people, a 33 per cent year-on-year increase. The company’s growth has been purely organic with little spent on marketing. Given its achievements so far with minimal investment, the team believes the company is ready to expand into new areas and scale up its existing proposition. SMS was conceived when founder Joe Levi started university. With an increased level of control over his finances, but no available help or advice specifically designed for students, he saw the opportunity to fill a gap in the market. Initially, he began with a blog featuring money-saving tips alongside all the readily available student deals. In 2011, after graduating, he teamed up with James Bentley and Anthony Goldman, raised some angel investment and launched a proper website. The team began building the site’s following through social media, sourcing the best deals and ensuring their product served students well.
The market
What really differentiates SMS from other third-party aggregators is the content. All adverts on the platform are fully native and add value to the user by being a good deal, competition or an opportunity for the student to benefit.
Consolidating its lead SMS is currently the market leader for curating great deals and publishing money-saving content for UK students. Recent engagement numbers are breaking records as SMS consolidates its position. The company has built solid relationships with several large brands and most of the media-buying industry. Feedback from clients and SMS subscribers has helped the company to shape its strategy. Over the next 18 months the company will be re-tooling and improving its existing platform, adding a dedicated video channel and will be first to market with a new student verification API and dedicated student cashback proposition. Longer term, SMS sees a great opportunity to branch into other verticals such as jobs and accommodation, and to also launch overseas where nothing similar to SMS exists.
Investor offer SMS is seeking to raise £800,000 (EIS eligible) at a valuation of £4m. The company will use the funds to launch a student video platform and a leading-edge verification platform. It will also increase the commercial team and upgrade the website.
Exit strategy SMS is expected to be an attractive acquisition target for online publishers or financial aggregators such as Buzzfeed, MoneySupermarket.com, and Vouchercodes.co.uk, among many. Adding scale will increase its attractiveness to these acquirers. A trade sale is the most likely exit vehicle.
The number of students in UK higher education system exceeds two million and accounts for an overall spend of £20bn across multiple sectors from property rental to entertainment. SMS taps into this vast market by helping students to reduce their expenditure while enabling companies to engage millennials.
ENVESTORS 17
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
WORLD-CLASS, INLAND SURFING FACILITY
Company Name Website Sector Stage Year Started Location Funding Requirement
Surf Bristol Ltd (The Wave Bristol) envestors.myedash.com/deals/792 Leisure & Entertainment Early Stage, pre-revenue 2011 Bristol (UK) £14,000,000 of which £2.9 - £3.9m sought by Envestors
Pre-money Valuation £1.4m To arrange a meeting, contact: Victoria Collin
Picture a world-class, inland surfing facility in the form of a man-made freshwater lagoon set in stunning natural surroundings and powered by cutting edge wave-generating technology. The singular vision of entrepreneur Nick Hounsfield, The Wave Bristol promises to be a unique sporting and leisure venue with a host of revenue generating opportunities including ‘glamping’, food and beverage services, ethically-sourced retail, water sports tutoring, and large-scale events. It already has 200,000 social media followers and aims to be a unique and valuable global brand with a positive impact agenda: financial, social and environmental.
Positive impact The project will foster an environment of respect, learning and innovation. This is an opportunity to invest in a venue and a brand that will generate impressive returns while having a positive impact on the community and the environment. • Children and families will learn about and experience holistic, healthy living and environmental sustainability; • Ground-breaking research will be carried out; • Products will be ethically sourced. Independent market analysis suggests there are 10 million potential visitors within a two-hour journey of the site.
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Wave of support The SurfLoch wave-generating technology produces consistent waves every 10 seconds that can be enjoyed by surfers of all abilities, from beginner to professional. Tuition and coaching will be available at every level. The Wave Bristol will be able to host local, national and international surfing competitions as well as being an elite training facility. Surfing GB, the national body for surfing, plans to relocate to the site once it is ready. There is an opportunity to develop a range of The Wave branded products, as well as other UK and global sites. Other expansion opportunities include surf holidays, instruction, retail and café/ restaurants. The management team has already been approached by several developers in the UK and internationally.
Superior experience The lake surfing industry is in its relative infancy, but there are several hundred established and successful man-made wave facilities globally. Surf Bristol will be using SurfLoch technology (part of the WaveLoch Group that invented the FlowRider® ), which has successfully developed over 200 sites worldwide. There are no directly comparable UK facilities to The Wave Bristol. A similar site, Surf Snowdonia, opened in August 2015, but it uses different wave-generating technology. There are seven UK surf ‘experiences’ such as FlowRider®, which provide a year-round experience using sheet wave technology. But these are not destinations in their own right and can only be used by two people at a time.
Site plans Surf Bristol Ltd requires a total of £14m, including working capital requirements to complete this project for commercial opening. The management team intends to raise £4m from commercial loans, and is also offering an investment opportunity for individual investors. Commercial partners will include the provider of the SurfLoch technology and the filtration equipment, Xylem. Further investment to complete the project is being sought from larger institutional debt and equity investors. Planning consent has been granted and a 72-acre, just over 29 hectare leasehold site has been agreed close to the M4/M5 interchange in north Bristol. This will feature a large, freshwater lagoon (230m x 80m) with embedded wave-generating technology.
Investor offer The private investor offer is £20,000 (or multiples thereof) comprised of £10,000 of non-asset backed debt (paying an annual 10 per cent coupon) and £10,000 equity (EIS eligible). The offer includes other benefits including an option to ‘ride the wave’ before the venue’s official opening, plus quarterly investment meetings where the lagoon will be available exclusively for investors and priority booking rights.
COMPANY UPDATES
Where are they now? We’re pleased to bring you exciting updates from Envestors companies:
It has been an exciting year for eReceipts, now known as Yocuda, the leading digital receipts provider. The business recently launched the world’s first, end-to-end, in-store customer identification and engagement solution. This was the driving force in the rebrand of eReceipts to Yocuda, an abbreviation of ‘Your Customer Data’, a name reflecting the company’s new, wider service offering. Its database has grown to over 20 million unique customers and the company is processing around one million receipts a day for clients including Argos, Debenhams, Halfords, Monsoon Accessorize and Booths.
www.yocuda.com Faction Skis’ recent apparel range launch has enabled it to reach the technical, lifestyle market. It has helped Faction Skis to grow 68 per cent in the season just closed, making it the fastest growing ski company in the industry. Its opening of 100 new retail channel doors for 2016-17, from Japan and Dubai to Colorado, along with a licensing deal with Quiksilver for Roxy means Faction Skis is set to grow another 70 per cent in the season ahead. www.factionskis.com
Ffrees, the online current account provider has now opened over 65,000 accounts and has had current account throughput of over £150m. In July this year it will launch the UK’s first fully integrated, fully functioned digital current account.
www.ffrees.co.uk
Atlantic Healthcare is a transatlantic specialist pharma company focusing on gastrointestinal diseases. The first six months of 2016 have been extraordinarily busy for Atlantic. In February, it started a Phase 3 clinical trial (the last stage before regulatory approval) for its lead product, Alicaforsen, to treat pouchitis – a rare form of inflammatory bowel disease. The company also raised $24m through the founders of Salix Pharmaceuticals, Clinigen, and LDC (the private equity division of Lloyds Bank). These funds will take Alicaforsen through to “marketready”. Most recently, Atlantic established its US office and appointed both sales and marketing, and business development teams. www.atlantichc.com
FUNDING ACHIEVED
Congratulations to Ancon Technologies, which has achieved £965,000 in funding, of which £465,000 has come through Envestors. It’s a major achievement for the company, which has developed a disruptive technology that has the potential to revolutionise the detection of explosives, drugs and chemical weapons within the security, border control and defence industries. The technology detects trace concentrations of threat materials in the air at the level of a single molecule, providing levels of sensitivity many orders of magnitude superior to existing technologies.
Calon is developing the next generation of affordable, implantable micro-blood pumps to treat chronic heart failure. It has completed the pre-clinical testing to demonstrate the effectiveness of its new, passive magnetically levitated bearing in the MiniVAD system, and has achieved extraordinarily ‘clean’ animal data to support the lab data previously generated. Calon has also benefited from a series of positive interactions with major corporates active in cardiology/cardiac surgery. They have expressed interest in partnering with Calon and/or funding the development of one of its programmes, the MicroVAD, a smaller blood pump for use in earlier stage patients.
www.caloncardio.com
Ancon has also been selected to represent manufacturing in this year’s Parliamentary Review, where it will showcase best practice to leading policy-makers, manufacturing executives and government officials. “Raising funds is always demanding, but it was really helpful to be in a well-defined, efficient process with Envestors, with the backup of an experienced, professional team,” says Dr Robert Muir, Ancon’s managing director. Ancon has confirmed that it is now seeking to raise £535,000 in the second close of its £1.5m fundraising requirement. To find out more, contact: Nick.Taylor@envestors.co.uk.
www.ancontechnologies.com
ENVESTORS 19
Fuelling your momentum.
To find out more, please contact: Guy Rigby 020 7131 8213 guy.rigby@smith.williamson.co.uk
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