FORESIGHT JOINS BUSINESS SECRETARY SAJID JAVID ON INAUGURAL NORTHERN POWERHOUSE-FOCUSED TRADE MISSION TO SOUTH EAST ASIA

 Focus on inward investment for UK Infrastructure from South East Asian institutions and the development of UK export

Bernard Fairman, Co-founder and Chairman of Foresight Group (“Foresight”) and Head of Institutional Capital, Mark Burrows, are in Kuala Lumpur for the four day ‘Northern Powerhouse’ trade mission visit to south-east Asia led by Business Secretary Sajid Javid.

The visit, which started yesterday in Singapore where it was joined by the Prime Minister’s trade delegation, has now moved on to Kuala Lumpur where Mr Fairman and Mr Burrows will be meeting with potential South East Asian institutional investors who are part of the investment delegation and are looking to invest in infrastructure in the UK.

Bernard Fairman, Chairman, Foresight, commented:

“Our strategy of setting up regional offices in the UK is filling a gap in the market which perfectly complements the Prime Minister’s ambitions to create an economic hub in the North of England.”

David Cameron, Prime Minister, commented:

“The government is committed to ensuring the UK’s northern regions play their part in rebalancing our economy. With so much untapped potential, I’m delighted to be part of this first Northern Powerhouse trade mission – the first of what I hope will be many.”

Business Secretary, Sajid Javid added “Our long-term economic plan seeks to rebalance growth across the regions and nations of the UK, and building a Northern Powerhouse will be a key part of this. This mission – the first of its kind – will demonstrate the strength of the northern regions, which are home to some of the most innovative companies and institutions in the world.”

Mark Burrows, Head of Institutional Capital, Foresight, commented:

“We are delighted to see the strong demand that is coming from Institutional Investors in South East Asia with a mind to invest in UK Infrastructure”

Crowdcube set to innovate in the IPO market with £6m investment

• Crowdcube prepares to engage retail investors in IPOs through a strategic investment from Numis
• Iconic Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper invests alongside Draper Esprit
• Existing backer Balderton Capital invests
• Crowdcube has already amassed an investor community of nearly 200,000

 Crowdcube, the pioneering investment crowdfunding platform, today announced that it has raised £6m of investment to further accelerate its growth. The investment is led by Numis, a leading UK stockbroker and corporate advisor. Tim Draper and London-based Draper Esprit have also joined this new funding round alongside existing backers Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s largest venture firms.

The investment will enable Crowdcube to accelerate growth, continue the expansion of its team, ramp up new product development including the creation of a new solution for companies going public, and invest further in its acclaimed marketing activities.

“We’re on a mission to help more businesses raise the finance they need to grow, create jobs and deliver returns to investors. We’ve dominated the democratisation of seed-stage equity investment since we launched in 2011 and we’re determined to do the same for larger businesses. We want to put the Public back into IPO,” commented Darren Westlake, CEO and co-founder of Crowdcube. 

Numis, which has raised £10bn for businesses since 2009 through more than 46 IPOs, will work with Crowdcube and the regulators to enable large high growth businesses who are ‘going public’ by listing shares on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market or AIM, to access individual investors. 

Darren added “Our goal is to solve the funding continuum for ambitious, high growth businesses; delivering seed-capital right through to IPO. We have a proven track record of disrupting the status quo. With high calibre new investors joining the team who share our vision of widening companies’ access to capital, this new round of funding puts us in a very exciting position.”

Oliver Hemsley, CEO and founder of Numis said, “Crowdcube has created an impressive business model and technology platform that makes it possible for people to join together to finance pioneering businesses. Numis has a long track record of helping companies access funding for growth and this investment in Crowdcube will put Numis at the centre of the entire investment chain, from initial start-up capital all the way to IPO. We are very excited to be part of an innovative fintech solution to help the public markets evolve and connect retail investors directly with fast growing businesses.”

Tim Draper, managing partner of Draper Associates added: “I’m incredibly excited to finally become part of the Crowdcube story. I’ve followed Crowdcube’s success for many years and have always been impressed with how they’ve managed to create and dominate the UK market, which is way ahead of anything in the US. We love to invest in market leaders with ambitious entrepreneurial teams so Crowdcube was an obvious choice for us.”

Simon Cook, CEO of Draper Esprit added: “Crowdcube is breaking out as the leading financial tech platform for connecting communities of investors with fast growing companies in the world’s most developed crowdfunding market. Crowdcube is rapidly expanding interesting products from small VC rounds to larger bonds, funds and now IPOs; using the power of the crowd to reduce costs, time and increase transparency for businesses and investors, within the UK’s leading regulatory regime.” Simon Cook will represent Draper Esprit at Crowdcube.  

Crowdcube celebrated its first company exit in July 2015 when E-Car Club, which raised investment in 2013, was acquired by Europcar and delivered a multiple return to its investors.   Crowdcube has amassed an investor community of nearly 200,000 and attracts seasoned entrepreneurs of well-known and established, often VC-backed, businesses like Eden Project, JustPark, River Cottage and Camden Town Brewery, as well as start-up companies. Almost £100m has been successfully invested through the site since its launch in 2011. Crowdcube has also secured more investment for businesses in 2015 than the rest of the market combined, according to data from Crowdsurfer, an independent crowdfunding market data researcher.

Balderton Capital, which has also invested in disruptive financial tech companies such as Zopa, Nutmeg, Revolut and GoCardless, has a long history of backing disruptive and innovative businesses. Partner Tim Bunting, who also sits on Crowdcube’s board of directors said: “Crowdcube enables growth-phase companies to appeal to a broad and diverse community of investors. E-Car Club's recent exit demonstrates the wisdom and effectiveness of the crowd, and the positive effect they have on ambitious businesses. Crowdcube is exceeding its growth expectations, and continuing to disrupt and democratise business finance, and we are delighted to continue working with the team.” 

With over 70 employees in London, Barcelona and Exeter the company surpassed the amount successfully invested through the site during 2014 in the first six months of 2015. An infographic charting the success so far in 2015 is available here: http://blog.crowdcube.com/2015/07/07/2015-so-far/

Datawords welcomes new partners to accelerate its global growth strategy

Datawords today welcomed new investors to reach a new stage in its development and accelerate its international growth strategy. This strengthening of Datawords’ capacities will help to foster the recognition of e-Multiculturalism, the discipline pioneered by Datawords, with premium European, American and Asian brands. Datawords thus affirms its goal of becoming the world leader in the international deployment of digital strategies. This new group of investors is led by Cathay Capital along with Keensight Capital, and with the support of Bpifrance. Capzanine, who has been an investor since 2011, also renewed his confidence.

Datawords, which celebrated its fifteenth anniversary last June, has pioneered the innovative discipline of e-Multiculturalism, which allows premium brands to streamline the international deployment of their online marketing strategies. Dedicated to adapting digital content to the cultural specificities of local markets, Datawords has significant market share across the following key business areas: localization of websites and e-marketing content, international deployment of advertising banner campaigns, global optimization of search engine, online referencing and social media (SEO, SEM and SMO), as well as and the production of multicultural video content (following the acquisition of Digiprod in 2014).

Having recorded sustained double-digit growth since inception, Datawords generated over 30 million Euros in revenues in 2014, 70% of which outside its domestic market in France. Employing 320 people from varied multicultural backgrounds, Datawords has a broad geographic presence, with hubs in France, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the USA. Datawords has become today a trusted partner for a wide range of prestigious clients in a wide range of sectors (such as L’Oreal, Seb, Audi, Clarins, Total, etc.)

With the active support of this new investment group, Datawords will leverage its high-quality and unique product and service offering in order to accelerate its international development, with a particular focus on international brands based in North America, through the New York office opened last year, and Asia, through the fast-growing Tokyo office and projects in mainland China. The company’s strategic development plan will take into account as much organic as external growth drivers.

Alexandre Crazover, Co-Founder and CEO of Datawords, declared: “Our company begins a new and exciting stage of its growth story today, which we would label as Datawords 3.0. We are delighted to welcome investors with specific expertise in our core geographies and who understand our main business areas perfectly. We are pleased to be working closely with Cathay again, who since our previous partnership has grown in parallel to us and now offers a unique platform connecting ecosystems in Europe, the United States and Asia. We are equally excited to have the teams of Keensight Capital joining us with their strong sector expertise and experience of growth strategies. We would also like to thank Capzanine, who has been with us since 2011 and has decided to keep working with us”

Mingpo Cai, President of Cathay Capital Private Equity, stated: “Having previously partnered with Datawords and their talented managers at an earlier stage of the company’s and Cathay’s development, we are thrilled to be able to build on the strong foundations already established and to help Datawords implement its cross-border growth strategy. Alongside the management of Datawords and our partners Keensight Capital and Bpifrance, we share a strong conviction in the importance of appreciating local conditions when expanding across different geographies, and we will help Datawords boost its global growth going forward.”

Philippe Crochet, Partner at Keensight Capital, added: “We are impatient to play our part in helping Datawords succeed in the next steps of its development, as the company looks to expand its positions internationally in high-potential markets with major brands. We will leverage our expertise and experience in helping fast-growing, profitable businesses to help the company’s talented and ambitious management team achieve the goals its has defined.”

Alexandre Ossola, Director with the Mid & Large Cap department of Bpifrance Investissement goes on: “We are happy to accompany Datawords’ international development alongside our partners Cathay Capital and Keensight. This investment fully illustrates our strategy to assist and support French-based companies in the new growth markets.”