MMC announces exit from TotalMobile

New investment represents 11x return for MMC Ventures investors

Tuesday 15th September 2015, London: MMC Ventures, the award-winning venture capital firm, today announces its exit from portfolio company, TotalMobile, the leading developer of enterprise mobility software. The sale comes in connection with a significant investment from growth investors Lyceum Capital to fund further product development and expand TotalMobile’s market presence within the UK and internationally. 

Since MMC first invested TotalMobile has developed a market-leading position in local government and healthcare, where its customers include Fife Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Bristol Community Health and Virgin Care. It has also recently expanded further into the private sector across utilities, engineering and facilities management, with customers such as Allianz Engineering and Clancy Docwra.

The Belfast-based business, whose software is used by over 30,000 workers in more than 200 organisations, has grown quickly over the past four years to become a leading player in the enterprise mobility market with revenues of £15m.

TotalMobile’s success has been driven by accelerating usage of mobile devices and the growing trend towards mobile working, as more and more organisations across the public and private sectors adopt agile working practices in order to improve processes and to retain and attract talent. The UK’s mobile workforce population is estimated to be 4.1m, with related annual IT spend at £4.5bn.

The investment by Lyceum will enable the company to accelerate its new product development – including additional functionality and an enhanced SaaS proposition – as well as expanding into new vertical sectors and overseas markets through its partnership channel.

This deal provides an exit for MMC and represents a 11x return for their investors.

Jon Coker, Partner at MMC Ventures and Non-Executive Director at TotalMobile, said: “Total Mobile have built a great company offering a globally leading product that helps solve a huge problem. They have done this while fostering a fantastic culture, which comes across in everything they do. It is exactly the type of company MMC looks to invest in. It has been a pleasure to work with Colin, Ronnie, Geoff, Gareth and Michael. We would like to thank them for the years of hard work and we look forward to watching their continued success.”

Colin Reid, Chief Executive of TotalMobile, said: “I’d like to thank MMC Ventures for its strong support and valued input over the years. MMC backed TotalMobile from an early stage and their continued belief in the team has helped us build our business, now we have an excellent platform for continued expansion. I cannot speak highly enough of them as an investor partner and would strongly recommend them to any growth company seeking venture funding.

With a growing imperative to drive cost savings in local government, and the continuing trend of mobile working in the private sector, we have the perfect platform to position TotalMobile for growth as the market’s first choice for customer-focused enterprise mobility software. Partnering with a firm like Lyceum, gives us the strategic, operational and financial support we need to achieve scale in a high growth market.”

Martin Wygas, Investment Director at Lyceum Capital said: “TotalMobile is a classic software success story, whose growth has been driven by a dedication to customer-focused design. This has given the business a genuine point of difference, resulting in impressive growth. We see enormous opportunity to develop further their world-class software business in the social, mobile, analytics and cloud (SMAC) market over the coming years working alongside a first-class management team.”

Former Virgin Galactic President announced as Chairman of Crowd Reactive

Mercia Technologies PLC, a Midlands-based leader in the funding and commercialisation of technology businesses in the UK, announces that Will Whitehorn, the former President of Virgin Galactic, has joined user-generated content platform Crowd Reactive as Chairman.  The appointment follows a second tranche investment by Mercia totalling £500,000.

Mr Whitehorn, who has over 30 years of experience in brand development, media and communication, will assist the leadership team with the direction and strategy of the business as it evolves from an early stage start-up to a globally established brand.  He will be working in particular with EventsTag, a browser-based live display platform that is used by existing clients including O2, Nike and Coca Cola.

Mr Whitehorn will now work closely with Mercia’s Investment Director Rob Johnson, as well as Crowd Reactive’s Founder and CEO Dan Strang, to build awareness of the business as it continues to expand into Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Formerly spokesperson for Sir Richard Branson, Mr Whitehorn has a wealth of experience in building and developing young businesses into successful brands.  During his 25 years at Virgin Management, he coordinated the branding, marketing, PR and Corporate Affairs across Virgin’s investments and businesses.

He now acts as Chairman of Speed Communications, and is non-executive director of a number of companies, including Stagecoach Group PLC and Purplebricks.com.  Alongside this, he is also a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, The Marketing Society and he is also Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Commenting on the new appointment, Rob Johnson said:

“I have worked with Dan on Crowd Reactive from its foundation and it’s wonderful to see one of Mercia’s ‘emerging stars’ attract such an industry heavyweight as Will Whitehorn.  Will’s time at Virgin, as well as his close partnership with Sir Richard Branson, means that he will be able to contribute valuable experience and expertise as the team continue the international expansion of their business.”

Dan Strang, CEO of Crowd Reactive, said:

“I am proud to welcome Will Whitehorn to chair the Crowd Reactive Board.  Will worked at the forefront of one of the world’s most exciting and powerful brands, and we are incredibly excited that someone with his wealth of experience has joined our team.  He will be a huge asset to EventsTag in our quest to take our rapidly growing company to the next level.”

Will Whitehorn commented:

“I am delighted to be joining such an ambitious and innovative team.  The calibre of brands already using EventsTag for their global campaign is testament to the vision and expertise of Crowd Reactive.  Having worked for a globally recognised brand for many years, I know only too well how important it is to differentiate a business within competitive markets.  EventsTag is uniquely placed to offer that opportunity.”

Limejump secures £1.4 million to transform UK's energy market

Funding round sees Angel CoFund and JamJar Investments join existing investors Passion Capital

The UK-based electricity supplier combines real-time data with software and technology to help businesses optimise energy use

London, 16th September 2015: Limejump, the UK’s first technology-driven utility using the power of big data analytics to transform today's energy market, has received additional funding to the tune of £1.4 million in a seed extension round. This funding round sees the Government-backed Angel CoFund co-invest alongside JamJar, the investment vehicle from the Innocent Juices founders, and existing investor and shareholder Passion Capital.

The UK-based business, founded in January 2014 by Erik Nygard and Ning Zhang, is a revolutionary electricity supplier that utilises real-time data to ensure businesses can make their electricity supply work better for them. Limejump’s mission is to transform energy with data, by using a combination of software and technology to allow businesses to take part in – and profit from – demand-side response programmes from the National Grid and other electricity network operators. This in turn benefits businesses both financially and environmentally by increasing energy efficiency.

The funding announced today will go towards three main areas. Research and development will be a key focus, as will development of both the business’ software and technology, with the aim of building on momentum and Limejump’s offering. Customer acquisition will also be a core area of investment, as the business looks to add to its impressive list of customers, which includes NWF Agriculture and Planet Ice.

Limejump co-founder and executive director Erik Nygard commented: “All of us at Limejump are extremely grateful for the validation from this funding. As we continue to expand and accelerate our momentum, we look forward to working with and garnering insights from our esteemed investors Angel CoFund, JamJar and Passion.”

Tim Mills, investment director, Angel CoFund added: “Limejump occupies an exciting space in a market where the opportunity and challenge of distributed power generation meets the global need for more efficient energy consumption. The problem they are solving is easy to underestimate, but their depth of knowledge and the quality of the product really came through in our diligence. We have also been really impressed by the growth they have achieved in 18 months, growing from the two founders to 15 staff in that time. We are very pleased to be working with them”