Downing selected as a new LCIF co-investment partner

Downing Ventures has been selected as a new co-investment partner by the London Co-investment Fund (LCIF). The £25m fund, launched in 2014, was designed to help early stage businesses in London and is backed by the London Mayor's Office.

The LCIF was set up to bridge the funding gap for technology start-up companies and now works with some of the best seed-stage investors in the capital. Downing Ventures joins existing partners in the fund which include Angel Lab, Crowdcube, Firestartr, London Business Angels Network, Playfair Capital, and fellow new partners, Craigie Capital, Forward Partners and Seedcamp.

Matt Penneycard, Head of Downing Ventures comments:

''We are delighted to have been selected as one of the new funding partners of the London Co-investment Fund to continue to fund exciting and dynamic start-ups. We look forward to working with them to fund the next generation of London tech businesses."

The newly augmented LCIF partner network now provides broader coverage and consists of some of the most active investors in the early stage technology space in London. This opens up additional approach routes for start-ups to access the LCIF and provides an opportunity to choose the investor that is best suited to them. Since launch, the fund has attracted co-investments of over £15m and been recognised as one of the busiest investors in the UK*.

Penneycard concludes:

"Downing Ventures launched in August last year and since then we have invested in a large portfolio of companies across a wide range of software and hardware sectors. Our core strategy is to invest in entrepreneurs and small management teams that are passionate and talented, and look for opportunities to disrupt large markets with innovative technology."

Interested parties can learn more and apply for Downing Ventures funding - www.downingventures.com, or the London Co-investment Fund at http://lcif.co

*Source: Ascendant Corporate Finance, Q2 2015 Pageone report

Bridges-backed The Vet hires new CEO as it opens sixth site  

• Jonathan Bell has joined the business as chief executive 
• The Vet offers low-cost veterinary services, primarily in underserved areas
• It recently opened its fifth and sixth sites, as part of its ongoing expansion

The Vet, a low-cost veterinary service developed by Bridges Ventures ("Bridges"), has hired Jonathan Bell as chief executive as it continues its roll-out. 

Bell was previously managing director of Just Learning, a private equity-backed nursery operator, where he oversaw its successful expansion and exit to Busy Bee Nurseries, the largest childcare provider in the UK. He has also worked in management roles for Mitchells & Butlers and Whitbread. 

His appointment comes as The Vet accelerates its roll-out. In the last two months it has opened new branches in Liverpool and in Waltham Forest, east London; this takes its total to six, adding to its existing sites in Bristol, Mitcham, Southampton, and Nottingham. 

The Vet is a full-suite veterinary service for domestic pet owners. It primarily serves regions of the UK where affordability of veterinary care is a significant barrier, with a high proportion of its customers having never previously been to a vet. Consultations are available from as little as £14.99, and healthcare plans from £4.99/month; it also offers ample parking space, experienced clinical staff and longer opening hours, with no need for appointments. 

Bridges, a specialist sustainable and impact investor, incubated the concept in 2013 with investment from the Bridges Sustainable Growth Fund III. The deal is in line with its 'Underserved Markets' impact theme, which focuses on boosting access to quality services and economic opportunity in more deprived areas. 

Bridges partner Garret Turley, who led the deal (and has previous first-hand experience of 'buyand-build' strategies in this sector), said: "The Vet is pioneering a new concept in veterinary services, making affordable care readily available to consumers who might previously not have had access to it. We're delighted that Jonathan is joining us at this exciting stage of our roll-out, and we look forward to working alongside him to bring The Vet concept to new sites around the UK in the coming years." 

Jonathan Bell, CEO of The Vet, said: "There's a clear gap in the market for better, cheaper and more flexible veterinary services - and the overwhelmingly positive customer response we've had at these two new sites has only served to reinforce that. So I'm very excited about what The Vet can achieve." 

What’s more boring than accounting software?

What’s more boring than accounting software? Business progress reporting!

Duane Jackson, founder of KashFlow Accounting Software has launched his next venture: Supdate.com, a tool to help new businesses keep their investors informed of business progress.

“Since selling KashFlow I’ve been a seed investor in a small number of startups,” he explains. “I was struck by how badly most of these businesses keep their seed investors updated on monthly progress. It’s either neglected entirely or done in a rather ad-hoc fashion. I’ve spoken to other, more active, investors and they see the same problem.”

Supdate.com aims to solve this problem by making the process much easier for the entrepreneur and more useful for the investor.

“I can related to the problem from my own experience” says Jackson, “When you’re staring at a blank email at the beginning of a new month it’s hard to know where to start. It’s much easier to do something that feels more productive like the next software release or a sales call”

The software takes a formulaic approach to the problem. The entrepreneur spends a little bit of time configuring the software to suit her specific business - entering key metrics and defining business areas. Then each month they just fill in the blanks and are prompted for an update on each specific area. A report is then generated complete with charts and comparative figures for previous months and stated targets.

Whilst being attractive to time-strapped entrepreneurs, it should also appeal to investors who want their portfolio companies to keep them up to date. As well as benefiting from a consistent reporting format, regular updates should mean they can be aware of  - and help resolve - business issues sooner rather than later.

The software is being provided for free and, whilst it solves this key problem, the features are relatively basic.

“I can think of hundreds of ways to improve what we’re offering and features people will be willing to pay for” says Jackson, “But I’m keen for our users to tell us what they want us to add”

This customer-centric development approach has worked for Duane before. He launched KashFlow in 2005 as not much more than a basic invoicing tool. It grew to become the industry leading SaaS accounting platform with over 20,000 paying customers before being sold to IRIS Software for a reported £20m in 2013.

Kenilworth firm doubles workforce as it plays key role in readying cars for the future

An innovative Kenilworth company has developed groundbreaking clean technology which will help automotive manufacturers dramatically reduce emissions levels and improve engine efficiency.

The success of Aeristech’s patented technology has helped the company to double the size of its workforce in the past six months. Aeristech has worked closely with automotive component suppliers and major technical development and research centres at the heart of the UK’s automotive industry for the past nine years to develop, test and validate the technologies. They not only use the West Midlands supply chain, they have created high tech jobs – helping boost the region’s economy.

Now the company, which has received backing from venture capital specialists Midven and other private investors, is set for further growth.

Aeristech has developed electric supercharger and turbocharger technologies to tackle two of the biggest problems facing automotive manufacturers – emissions levels and fuel efficiency.

The 2021 European legislation targets state that CO2 emissions from cars must be reduced by 40 per cent.  Emission regulations worldwide are also moving in the same direction. Fuel efficiency to reduce running costs and better use limited resources is also now a key driver.

To address these issues, the automotive industry typically downsizes its engines but has encountered difficulties as users expect the same performance.  Turbochargers are commonly used when downsizing engines to boost the engine’s power.  Traditional turbocharged engines, however, suffer limitations such as “turbo lag” - the delay from when a driver steps on the accelerator until the boost from the turbocharger delivers extra power from the engine.

Aeristech’s advanced boosting solutions provide solutions to these problems. Their clean electric supercharging and turbocharging technologies enable greater engine downsizing (60 per cent or more), reduce CO2 emissions, enhance engine efficiency and satisfy end-customers by improving vehicle performance through the elimination of turbo-lag. Compact and requiring minimal changes to the engine and vehicle design, their plug and play solutions are priced in line with market expectations.

Aeristech’s CEO and founder, Bryn Richards, said he was proud to head up a “forward-thinking company, which is very aware of the market potential”.

“At Aeristech, we’ve developed the latest technology to maximize an engine’s power, fuel economy and performance at a low cost.  In an industry dominated by big players, our small, pioneering company has the entrepreneurial and technical know-how to both influence and take a share in this emerging market. Our most recent award by the UK Business Angels Association (UBAA) for the Best Investment in Eco Innovation 2015 further validates that we are on the right track.  With the financial and business support from our investors, we’re now ready to license our technology to Tier 1 automotive suppliers and we encourage these suppliers as well as any other potential investors to enter this huge market opportunity with us.”

Potential investors would receive a range of attractive tax benefits as Aeristech is recognised by HMRC as an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)company. 

He added that demandcontinued to rise worldwide as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were increasingly putting pressure on their suppliers for competitive solutions that would help them meet environmental regulations. “This demand provides a tremendous opportunity for Tier 1 suppliers to deliver fuel-saving products such as Aeristech’s.”

150 businesses benefit from £500,000 skills funding

Over 150 businesses have benefitted from funded training through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP). More than £500,000 has now been awarded to businesses to invest in skills, enabling them to maximise their training budget and support their staff development.

The LEP’s recent business survey revealed that 74% of businesses have identified skills gaps in their workforce, demonstrating the importance of investing in training for current employees to stimulate growth.  From the investment, some organisations have trained over 40 employees with leadership and management courses proving popular to improving performance and enabling staff to move into higher level roles. More specialist training requests have also been supported including parametric modelling, which involves using the computer to design objects by modelling their components with real-world behaviours and attributes.  Companies are also taking the opportunity to learn Russian, Swedish and Italian, with potential to expand their business overseas and tap into the export market.

One business benefitting from the support is Blueberry Marketing Solutions, a business-to-business telemarketing agency in Leeds who have taken advantage of the skills offer from the LEP. Working with advisors to construct a complete training package for their organisation. The training included sales and marketing, leadership and management, PRINCE2 and a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification.

Managing Director of Blueberry Marketing Solutions, Faresh Maisuria explained:

“What’s been really pleasing for us is that we had a specific budget in place to run training this year already – and so the skills service has simply allowed us to increase both the frequency and numbers of staff being trained.

“The skills service allows businesses to really take control of their skills gaps by upskilling existing staff of any age and any previous qualifications. It has helped to make training accessible offering employees a well-defined development road map which will have a positive impact on our continued business growth.”

Board Chair and skills lead, Mark Ridgway OBE DL, of Group Rhodes said:

“With grants of between £500 and £50,000 available to businesses with a budget to put towards training, employers have the opportunity to work with a team of expert skills advisors, discuss their long term growth plans and skills needs, and put together a robust training plan for their staff.

“Offering a comprehensive service to businesses, the team of advisors support employers to tackle paperwork, source appropriate training provision and submit an application for funding. The LEP are dedicated to ensuring local businesses primed for growth have the skills to succeed.”

The £13.9 million funding is available to eligible small and medium sized businesses within Leeds City Region and available until March 2017 and businesses are encouraged to contact the LEP to find out how they could benefit.

Do you want to find out more about how the LEP skills service could help your business? Find out more and apply for funding by visiting:www.the-lep.com/skillsservice or contact one of our experienced skills advisors: [email protected] or 0113 386 1910.