Composite innovation consultancy receives SEIS & EIS investment

Wiltshire based composite innovation consultancy Cecence has received an SEIS and EIS investment to fund growth from a group of experienced investors from the private equity sector who share their vision for developing cross sector innovative composite solutions and products. Particular focus post-investment is in the development of aerospace structural components and fibre cabling systems.

Earlier this year they were awarded the Modern Railways Innovation in the Environment Award for a project for UK Tram with Atkins & Brecknell Willis, exploring the use of advanced composite materials in overhead line equipment for light rail systems.

Founded in 2014 by Humphrey Bunyan and Mike Orange, both directors recognized the slow take up of thermoplastic/thermoset materials and set about developing user-friendly processing methods to accelerate usage of these materials. They quickly established themselves as an innovative composite engineering consultancy serving marine, rail, defence and sub-sea sectors. They share a mutual desire to take their know-how and innovative thinking from the marine world into alternate industries where larger scale production allows greater expenditure on tooling and plant that ultimately brings down the cost of lightweight components.

“Cecence is dedicated to reducing through-life costs by switching from traditional construction materials to lightweighting composite materials.” said Mike Orange. “We realise that this challenges the status quo and it will take time to change current standards. That’s why we’re fantastically excited that our investors have given us momentum to move to a large factory and install the plant to demonstrate our technologies. We’re going to de-risk the switch to our new materials for our clients.”

High-growth Gousto raises further £9m

BGF Ventures joins MMC Ventures, Unilever Ventures and the Angel CoFund to invest in the UK’s favourite recipe box delivery company

7th December 2015: Gousto, the recipe box delivery company, has raised another £9m funding round as its meals gain nationwide popularity, bringing the total raised to £20m.

Founded in 2012, Gousto delivers ingredients boxes for specific, suggested recipes. This latest investment includes £3m from BGF Ventures - the first investment for the £200m fund since it opened its doors to early stage technology companies in the autumn of this year – alongside existing investors MMC Ventures, Unilever Ventures and the Angel Co-Fund. TV presenter Andi Peters is also an investor, having been introduced to Gousto by his friend, star rugby player Jonny May, who converted him into a loyal customer after raving about the service.

Gousto is one of the UK’s fastest growing technology-based companies. Last month, it delivered more than 300,000 meals to homes throughout the UK, up nearly six times on the same time last year. Earlier this year, the business launched a free iOS app where customers can plan, order and arrange delivery of meals.

The UK market for online food delivery is already worth more than £8bn and the recipe box market is growing significantly. In little over three years, Gousto has achieved double Tesco’s inventory turnover, four times Ocado’s revenues on a per SKU basis, and double the average supermarket gross margin due to its zero waste rate and direct sourcing relationship with farmers, which cuts out the middlemen.

With the additional funding, Gousto will strengthen its team of chefs and nutritionists, broaden its sales and marketing efforts to reach even more customers, and continue to introduce a greater choice of meal and delivery options.

Gousto sends fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes - which can be prepared and cooked in just 30 minutes - straight to the door of time-poor Brits. Together with step-by-step recipe cards, Gousto creates ten new meals every week. According to customers, discovering new recipes is the primary motivation for subscribing, with ease and convenience a close second. Moreover, the service takes the hassle away from supermarket shopping and significantly cuts down on food wastage by giving customers the right quantity of ingredients for each recipe.

Simon Calver, a Partner in BGF Ventures, will join the board of the company. Simon is the former CEO of LOVEFiLM, one of the UK’s most successful online subscription based businesses.

Timo Schmidt, CEO of Gousto, said: "This is an exciting time for Gousto customers. The new funding will be used to drive amazing product improvements in 2016. With the help of the team and our farmers, we have built a scalable platform that offers truly incredible value to customers. I am pleased to have the continued backing of our early investors, and to welcome BGF Ventures on board. Simon Calver’s experience of running LOVEFiLM as its CEO will be invaluable and I look forward to working with him closely.”

Simon Calver, Partner at BGF Ventures, said: “Timo and the team have a built a fantastic product and are already demonstrating that Gousto has the platform and systems to meet rapidly increasing customer demand. I firmly believe that they have a capability and ambition to become the leading brand in this fast growing and disruptive new sector.

“BGF Ventures has been established to back disruptive UK technology businesses, just like Gousto. We are also pleased to be announcing our first investment alongside respected funders Unilever Ventures, MMC Ventures and the Angel Co-Fund, who clearly share our view of Gousto’s market potential.”

Jon Coker, Investment Partner at MMC Ventures, said, "It has been a privilege to work with the team at Gousto for the last two years as they have grown the business incredibly quickly while also maintaining their focus on efficiency. We are pleased to welcome Simon Calver and BGF Ventures to the business - and are excited by what this round of funding will allow Gousto to achieve."

Mobile Ticketing Leader Masabi Secures $12m Growth Funding From Keolis, Lepe Partners, MasterCard & MMC Ventures

Strategic Support from Leaders in Digital Payments and Transport to Speed Global Expansion of Company’s JustRide Mobile Ticketing Solution

London and Boston - December 7th, 2015 - Masabi, the global leader in mobile ticketing and innovative fare collection for transportation, today announced a $12 million funding round with investment from leading international public transport operator Keolis, Lepe Partners, MasterCard, and existing investor MMC Ventures. This latest round, including corporate partners for the first time, marks a step change in Masabi’s growth and speed to market.

Masabi’s JustRide platform is a cloud-based, end-to-end mobile ticketing and fare collection system, in use in cities worldwide. It comprises award-winning apps for ticket purchase, display and inspection, together with back-end infrastructure for secure payments, ticket management, ticket inspection, customer service, reporting and real-time analytics. Masabi works with more than 22 transport operators and agencies around the world, including: Virgin Trains, Abellio, Thames Clippers, New Orleans RTA, Boston’s MBTA, Las Vegas, Transport for Athens, and New York’s MTA.

Today’s announcement builds on strategic partnerships with MasterCard and Keolis. MasterCard and Masabi are working together to help drive cash and its associated costs out of public transport including integrating the one-touch MasterPass digital wallet platform into JustRide. Keolis is working to include Masabi’s mobile ticketing into its integrated digital offering, dedicated to delivering a new passenger experience.

Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi, said, “Our mission is to transform everyday transport for millions of people in cities world-wide. The combination of Masabi, MasterCard and Keolis represents three companies working at the forefront of their respective fields to develop and deploy products, making this a reality. We are delighted to welcome their investment together with that from Lepe Partners and MMC Ventures to support our operations around the world where mobile ticketing is enhancing the quality of life of urban residents and visitors and bringing about smarter, better connected cities.” 

Masabi’s technology revolutionises the customer experience across all modes of transport, freeing passengers from waiting in line for a ticket or scrambling for cash when paying for their fare. For cities and transport operators it significantly reduces the cost of fare collection, removing the need for costly hardware and ticket media. At the same time integrated big-data analysis and visualisation tools present agency activity via a user-friendly graphical interface, allowing them to better plan, manage and optimise their services. 

Hany Fam, president MasterCard Enterprise Partnerships said, “Technology is revolutionising city transport and Masabi is at the forefront of this movement, working in major global cities such as New York, London and Athens. Making access to a city’s transit system as simple as possible for residents and visitors is a key component for sustainable urban growth.”

Jean-Pierre Farandou, Executive Chairman of the Keolis Group said, “As a leading public transport operator, one of our key priorities is to improve our passengers’ travel experience, using mobile technology to make journeys seamless. Through our partnership with Masabi, our PlanBookTicket solution will go up to the next level by integrating Masabi’s ticket technology. The combination of our expertise will give us a step ahead both in France and around the world.”

Jonnie Goodwin, founder of Lepe Partners and co-founder of Founders Forum said, “Our focus is on helping unlock growth in businesses with huge potential – and Masabi fits this exactly. This is about a real, long-term relationship with the team at Masabi as they expand across the globe, enabling them to enhance their core platform to incorporate technology that will change the face of transit payments. We are delighted to be involved in this deal.”

Simon Menashy, Investment Manager at MMC Ventures, said, "MMC backed Masabi from an early stage because we were convinced that their technology was going to catapult public transport ticketing from paper to mobile, giving passengers the fantastic experience that they've come to expect in every other industry. Masabi have proven us right, winning contracts with leading transit operators all across the globe. We are delighted to continue to support Masabi and welcome new investors to help us take the company to the next level of scale."