Edge Investments announces £40m fund to boost creative industries

Edge Investments, a leading creative industries investor, has raised a new £40m fund to invest in high growth companies in the creative industries.

Edge's new Edge Creative Enterprise Fund brings together private sector funding from leading institutions and high net worth individuals, with a significant investment from the government's British Business Bank.  The creative and cultural economy is an important and growing part of the global economy, and Britain's creative industries sector is thriving: the creative economy accounts for approximately 10% of the entire UK economy and provides 2.55 million jobs; this employment is growing four times faster than the economy as a whole. 

The fund will target investments in the creative industries, in essence companies that trade with creativity, knowledge and information. The key aspect which these businesses have in common is the creation, acquisition, management and commercial exploitation of intellectual property, which translates into economic value.

The sector is characterised by the opportunity to build scalable revenues. Nimble businesses produce content that can be sold multiple times globally, whilst new technologies continue to provide impetus within the sector.  Edge Creative Enterprise Fund will back fast growing and revenue generating small and medium-sized creative companies, which have access to core intellectual property assets which Edge believes are poised to benefit greatly from the growing digital economy, and which can be scaled.

The fund is targeting a minimum three times return for its private investors over its 7 - 10 year life.

Investments CEO David Glick called the creative industries

"one of the UK's great success stores". "Our view is that a high degree of sector knowledge mitigates risk and also allows us to assess the most promising opportunities and most talented executives," he said.

"There are nearly 160,000 creative industries businesses in Britain yet despite being in this high growth sector, many of them find it difficult to attract adequate capital to maximize their potential.

"Our new Edge Creative Enterprise Fund aims to fill that funding gap.  Edge Creative Enterprise Fund will bring much-needed growth capital to smaller businesses in the creative industries, and we are grateful to the British Business Bank and all the fund's investors for their support."

Ken Cooper, managing director, Venture Capital Solutions at British Business Bank, added:

"This is the first fund specifically focused on the creative industries backed by the British Business Bank.

"We look forward to working with Edge Investments, which has extensive experience in this sector and a proven track record. The creative industry is of increasing importance to the wider UK economy and we are particularly pleased that this fund will ensure these high-growth businesses have access to the finance they need to scale."

The new fund will be formerly announced at the launch event for a new finance guide for the sector, Creative Industries - Routes to Finance, at the National Theatre this morning.

The new guide, jointly published by the ICAEW and the Creative Industries Federation, draws on insight and expertise from organisations across the creative industries.  

eCommerce specialist SEOshop acquired by retail commerce company Lightspeed POS 

SEOshop, the fastest growing eCommerce platform in Europe, announced today its acquisition by Canadian software company Lightspeed POS. Lightspeed is the most powerful point of sale (POS) platform for stores and restaurants, and combined with SEOshop, will enable merchants to offer a unified in-store and online omnichannel customer experience.

SEOshop currently serves more than 8,000 leading online merchants including Philips Lighting, Heineken, National Geographic Netherlands and the Van Gogh Museum. The company has doubled revenue every year for the past three years, delivering more than 1000 percent revenue growth from 2011 to 2014. As part of the deal, SEOshop CEO Ruud Stelder will join the Lightspeed leadership team as Director of Global eCommerce Revenue, and CTO Dennis Cuijpers will become Lightspeed's Director of eCommerce Development and Architecture.

For retailers and online merchants who need to compete in an increasingly competitive, global retail environment, the acquisition will bring together powerful, easy to use eCommerce and in-store technology that features advanced tools for inventory management, reporting and analytics, full eCommerce design customization and engaging in-store sales experiences. Starting today, Lightspeed will introduce SEOshop technology, branded as Lightspeed eCom, in the UK and North America.

"We are extremely thrilled by the acquisition by Lightspeed POS," says Ruud Stelder, CEO of SEOshop. "Our customers will be able to tap into the possibilities of Lightspeed's mobile POS and commerce platform and Lightspeed customers will have easy access to our eCommerce platform. This acquisition will enable retailers around the globe to reach out to customers wherever they are, both online and offline."

In September 2015, Lightspeed announced US $61 million in funding. With the acquisition of SEOshop, the company now serves 34,000 businesses in more than 100 countries, processing US $12 billion in annual transactions.

"Bringing SEOshop into the Lightspeed family gives us additional global scale, and allows us to help store owners create a great shopping experience and sell smarter- no matter how their customers choose to shop," said Dax Dasilva, CEO, Lightspeed POS.

The Rug Company appoints James Seuss as CEO

Marty Wikstrom and Tord Dyrssen join as non-executive board directors

The Rug Company announces the appointment of James Seuss as Chief Executive Officer, effective from 14th December 2015. Mr. Seuss is joined by newly appointed Non-Executive Board Directors, Marty Wikstrom and Tord Dyrssen.

These appointments follow the majority acquisition of the Company by Palamon Capital Partners, a pan-European growth investor, from founders Christopher and Suzanne Sharp earlier this month. Current CEO Christopher Sharp will remain as a Non-Executive Board Director and will continue to be very involved in the company's growth initiatives going forward.

Mr. Seuss has built an extensive career in leading a number of international luxury and fashion brands in London and New York, with a mission to grow the Direct to Consumer business through compelling in-store and online consumer experiences.

He joins The Rug Company from Hunter Boot Ltd, where as CEO he led the development of the company into a global lifestyle brand from a single category business, and increased sales significantly. Prior to that he was CEO of Tourneau, the multi-brand US luxury watch retailer; and before that was the first CEO of Stella McCartney Ltd. Mr. Seuss began his retail career at Tiffany & Co., where he held senior positions in both Europe and Asia before going on to become the President of Harry Winston.

Marty Wikstrom is a seasoned brand and retail executive with over 30 years' experience in the US and Europe. She is the founder of Atelier Fund, specialising in the acquisition and development of luxury brands. She is also currently Chairman of the Board of Harrys of London and is a Board Director of Fortnum & Mason, Johnstons of Elgin and Farrow and Ball. Tord Dyrssen is currently President EMEA Wholesale at Ralph Lauren, where he has driven significant increases in the EMEA division's growth and profitability. He was previously CEO of Agnona, the Luxury Women's Clothing and Accessories brand, owned by the Ermenegildo Zegna Group and Managing Director of Nautica Inc.

Christopher Sharp, Founder of The Rug Company commented, "We extend a warm welcome to James as the new CEO of The Rug Company as well as Marty and Tord to the Board. It is testament to the growing reputation of our business that we have attracted leaders of this calibre to support our growth plans. Marty and Tord have achieved success at the highest level across a variety of brands and I am thrilled that they have decided to join our Board as Non-Executive Directors. Their experience will be invaluable as we continue to grow The Rug Company."

James Seuss, CEO of The Rug Company commented, "It is a privilege to be joining a company with such passion and focus on delivering exceptional products to consumers, and I look forward to building on the success the business has had globally. I have long been an admirer of this uniquely British company and what it stands for in the market."

Pascal Noth, Partner of Palamon Capital Partners, said, "With the appointments of James, Marty and Tord, The Rug Company will now benefit from the addition of world-class managers with the experience to help the company's team to open up new markets and fulfil the firm's true global potential."

The Rug Company is a leading global brand in luxury handmade rugs with an established international sales presence through ten own showrooms and a number of franchisees and concessions worldwide, generating sales of £23 million. The Company has built a strong reputation for design, based on its own in-house collection and through ranges developed in collaboration with iconic designers such as Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg, Kelly Wearstler, Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood.

The Rug Company operates in the £3 billion luxury & affordable luxury segment of the global rug market and has proven success in three of the world's largest rug markets, US, Germany and UK; and with a rich heritage of high-quality design-led rugs, is ideally positioned to accelerate growth.

Pitch ICE start-up competition 

• GamCrowd and Clarion make Pitch ICE 2016 start-up call
• Entries invited for show that takes place in February

GamCrowd and Clarion Events are delighted to once again make the call for start-ups looking to make a mark in the online gambling space to enter the Pitch competition taking place during ICE Totally Gaming 2016.

Entrepreneurs are also invited to take a place in a day of curated presentations and discussions designed to give start-ups the very best advice about launching a business in the sector. Participants will also receive trade press exposure in the lead up to the event and in the post-Pitch ICE coverage as well as networking opportunities during the three days.

Start-ups interested in being a part of the show have until 31 December to apply.

Pitch ICE is now in its second successful year. It gives start-ups the platform to present their ideas and innovations to attendees from the global gambling industry direct from the stage.

Over the first two days of Pitch ICE, between 15-20 start-ups will get two 15-minutes slots to present their business while on the Thursday, the GamCrowd Studio workshop takes over with a series of talks and start-up advice from industry experts.

Chris North, founder and chief executive at GamCrowd, said: "The Pitch ICE show has evolved this year to and is more content-rich than ever. We are hoping not only to showcase the best new ideas but also to provide information and advice from a range of advisors with knowledge of how to get a business up-and-running in this sector."

Pitch ICE is also the stepping stone to the LaunchPad events also run in conjunction with Clarion Events at its EiG and Gigse shows. Said North: "We're hoping we can find the right start-ups and also push them further along the path to success with these follow-on shows."

Ewa Bakun, head of content at Clarion Events, added: "We are really excited about the opportunity Pitch ICE now gives to the start-up community in the gambling sector. By linking Pitch ICE with the LaunchPad events that take place at EiG and Gigse, it gives the start-up culture in gambling a defined structure. It achieves our aim of placing our shows at the heart of the sector."

A host of experts

Among those taking the opportunity to share their knowledge at Pitch ICE are founders of last year's competition winners Gamevy, Paul Dolman Darrall and Helen Walton who will be talking about how to overcome familiar start-up pain points such as how to handle questions of banking, regulation, payment processing and routes to market.

Walton said: "Winning Pitch ICE was an extraordinary boost for our company - helping us to find investment and a route to market. The whole process of pitching was a useful one, giving companies like us a real grounding in how the industry works to help get our foot on the first rung of the industry ladder."

Also taking to the stage this year will be Phil Hails Smith and Shula Hagan from London-based law firm and iGaming specialists Joelson Wilson, Melissa Blau from iGaming Capital and John Bradfrod, ex-chief executive at Tech Stars alongside North from GamCrowd who will be talking on the Thursday about how crowdsourcing can help a business scale while keeping to a lean start-up model.

The talks will go through every stage of the start-up journey from doing the paper work to getting the word out and pulling in the cash. North said: "The first Pitch ICE and other events we have been involved in alongside Clarion have demonstrated a real desire for more information and help from start-ups and entrepreneurs. We hope that the expanded Pitch ICE element to Totally Gaming will help even more companies at the most important stage in their businesses development. The quality of participant in the presentations also shows the willingness of those within the industry to give the invaluable benefit of their years of experience."

Crowning a winner

The ultimate winner of Pitch ICE will be handed a trophy on the Thursday afternoon by GamCrowd founders North and Ian Hogg. Further awards will be given including best idea, best presentation and best use of social media campaign to promote there pitch and most developed start-up.

Entrepreneurs and start-ups who thing they have the right stuff should apply in the first instance by emailing [email protected] requesting a submission form and Pitch ICE pack with more information about this opportunity.