News

Penzance based independent film production company, Bosena, has received a £40,000 loan from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF).

The funding will enable the company to expand and recruit two new members of staff, while supporting the company’s sustainability-focused, ethical and environmentally positive principles and ways of working.

Bosena is focused on supporting and promoting Cornish and other under-represented talent within the media sector, while delivering each project in an ‘ecological harmony’ manner. The company does this by creating jobs across the creative industries, building upon their commitment to making creatively and critically successful films which also follow the Bosena ‘stepping lightly’ regenerative principles of production.

They are currently working on projects across film, TV, and animation including niche Cornish language productions and these projects will be delivered across media channels including theatrical distribution, broadcasting, digital streaming and mobile.

The company’s latest feature is Enys Men, by BAFTA winning writer-director Mark Jenkin and produced by Bosena CEO Denzil Monk. The ‘ecosophical horror’ is set in the Cornish landscape and is the follow up to BAIT (2019), the highly acclaimed, award-winning drama which focuses on the issues surrounding the gentrification of a small Cornish fishing village.

Denzil Monk, CEO of Bosena, commented: “We are committed to showcasing the wealth of production talent that Cornwall has to offer by producing critically celebrated and commercially successful features. Acting local, whilst thinking global is vitally important to us as we’re proud of our roots, which is why we are always keen to make work which uses and celebrates our Cornish language and culture, and why finding and continually employing Cornish talent is a cornerstone of our ecosophical objectives.

“Wherever our productions are based, Bosena is committed to working with sustainable suppliers, local crews and talent, and to evolving our production process to achieve positive effects and outputs wherever possible. This way of working is more relevant, and more important than ever, so we are delighted to be partnering with Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) to enable our growth whilst remaining steadfast in our commitment to Cornwall, and our surrounding environment.”

Rachel Thomson, CIOSIF Business Manager, added: “We are thrilled to be supporting a company that is so committed to its local heritage, using both the Cornish landscape and the people who live there. Many art house film fans were disappointed by the delay in release date for Enys Men which was postponed due to the pandemic, but we are delighted that production has now been able to resume. Bosena has some exciting projects in the pipeline, and we are pleased to be supporting them as they take their ideas and creativity forward with such a fitting, and admirable, sustainability philosophy.”

The £40m Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund provides debt and equity finance from £25,000 to £2 million to help growing small businesses across the region. It has been established by the British Business Bank in partnership with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Lloyd Brina, Senior Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “Cornwall’s screen sector is booming in the digital era and wants to be known for world-leading sustainable practice. It’s good to see a business like Bosena helping to lead that vision, producing award-winning film in an ethical and environmentally positive way.”

John Acornley, LEP non-executive director and chair of the CIOSIF Advisory Board, said: “Bosena is committed to showcasing Cornish language, culture and talent and is the latest business to be backed by the fund that puts sustainability at the heart of everything it does.”

CIOSIF is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

For more information about the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund including how to apply, please visit www.ciosif.co.uk  or follow the fund on Twitter at @CIOSIFBBB2

Find out more about Bosena here: https://www.bosena.co.uk/

A London based technology company has secured a £250,000 investment from the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF), backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme. 

The GLIF loan, along with additional private equity investment, will be used for further product development and to create 100 new jobs over the next two years, more than doubling the current workforce. 

Looper Insights began developing its product in response to an industry problem that the major Hollywood Studios and VoD Streaming companies were experiencing. They simply couldn’t see where their content was placed on Connected TV Devices like Smart TV’s, set top boxes, streaming devices, games consoles and web stores. Looper has created a black box which scans all of these UIs for App and Title placement, which is used to provide data analysis and insights to film and television studios, distributors, and Video on Demand stores to optimise their revenues. 

Previously, media companies did not have up-to-date information on pricing levels and promotions, and many managed their back catalogues on spreadsheets. Looper’s software allows the content creators to manage their content across platforms such as iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, XBox and Samsung TVs, enabling clients to use the data to advise them on what they need to change in the distribution of each film/TV show, and whether there is potential to increase its revenues through visibility and campaign opportunities. 

Lucas Bertrand, Co-founder, CEO and Board Director, said: “Looper provides a service to content providers that no other company is currently offering, bringing a huge opportunity in a growing sector. We are extremely grateful for this GLIF loan, which has come at an opportune moment to capitalise on the rapid increase in the Video on Demand market through the expansion of our staff base as well as funding our product development work, which focuses on building access to more and more devices.”  

The complex technology has taken over two years to develop and build, assuring Looper an early market adoption advantage, which they are planning to protect through patent applications this year. With the global Video on Demand market worth around $55bn and projected to rise to $160bn by 2027, the importance of Connected TV Devices in delivering the end user experience is increasing, making the service Looper offers even more relevant to content providers. 

Paul Shadbolt, Investment Manager for The FSE Group, which manages the £55 million debt fund on behalf of Funding London, commented: “Looper has developed a ground-breaking product that is solving the problems of some of the biggest television and film distribution companies across the world, including Amazon, Sony and Disney. This, together with a team of advisors and board directors with vast experience in this sector and the ability to support and advise Lucas in the development of the brand, positions the company well for future growth and we are excited to be working with them to realise this.” 

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO at Funding London, adds: “We were very impressed with the pioneering technology Lucas and the team have created. The market opportunity is substantial and by having a first-mover advantage, we believe Looper is best positioned to achieve its ambitions. We are thrilled to be supporting the business’ and team’s expansion through the GLIF loan.”

GLIF is a £100m initiative to help address the SME finance gap in Greater London, promoting economic growth through enterprise and an inclusive and sustainable economy. £55m of debt funding is available, via loans between £100,000 and £1m, to early-stage and established SMEs looking to scale-up and realise their growth ambitions. GLIF is financed through the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), London Waste & Recycling Board (LWARB) and Funding London’s Legacies.

The Recovery Loan Scheme is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. British Business Bank plc is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or the FCA. Visit http://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/recovery-loan-scheme.

A company which builds products to increase the success of app marketing has secured £170,000 from Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF), backed by the government’s Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

The funding will be used to scale up their staff team by creating six new positions in their London head office and will enable the company to focus on their marketing activity throughout 2022.

Machine Advertising started life as a tech solution to help brands optimise their return on advertising spend. The technology was built inhouse and additional tools were added, including a fraud detection tool. The fraud detection aspect of the software has been hugely successful. When they ran one of their larger global client’s campaigns through their fraud tool, 92% of app installs were found to be fraudulent. At this point they pivoted their business towards further developing the fraud tool.

Clients run their campaigns through Machine Advertising’s platform which checks 25 billion data points every month. These checks are designed to detect whether marketing is reaching the intended audience or whether fraudsters are using bots, or domain spoofing, to siphon off money from advertising transactions.

Gary Danks, CEO at Machine Advertising said: “Growing our team is an exciting step for us, as it will enable us to increase our marketing reach and welcome new clients to the Machine Advertising portfolio. Our existing clients are from a breadth of sectors, from travel to advertising. But for all their differences each of them need transparency when it comes to successfully spending their marketing budget. Our products facilitate this by protecting ad campaigns from fraudulent attacks. We’re very much looking forward to building our team so that we can work with the next round of clients, our thanks to Paul at The FSE Group for facilitating the funding that will enable this.”

Paul Shadbolt, Investment Manager for The FSE Group, which manages the £55 million GLIF debt fund on behalf of Funding London, added: “Machine Advertising is a perfect example of a company who has successfully amended their focus to take on board their strengths, rather than missing exciting opportunities. This foresight and drive impressed us, along with winning the Business of Apps Top Ad Fraud Prevention Tool in 2020 and being named the Most Effective Anti Fraud Solution at the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. We wish Gary and his team all the very best for the future.”

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO at Funding London, added, “Gary and his team have built an innovative product which delivers great value to its users. Pivoting the business has helped them go from strength to strength. We are delighted that GLIF’s capital will underpin Machine Advertising’s team expansion and support their growth ambitions.”

GLIF is a £100m initiative to help address the SME finance gap in Greater London, promoting economic growth through enterprise and an inclusive and sustainable economy. £55m of debt funding is available, via loans between £100,000 and £1m, to early-stage and established SMEs looking to scale-up and realise their growth ambitions. GLIF is financed through the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), London Waste & recycling Board (LWARB) and Funding London’s Legacies.

A Birmingham-based developer of digitisation solutions for businesses has secured a growth finance loan from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund, and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).

The investment, which accompanies an additional equity raise, will fund staffing and overheads whilst facilitating the creation of six new sales roles.

Opinsta’s Operations Management Platform is an all-in-one mobile-first solution designed to eliminate manual processes, discover actionable data and enhance the ROI of existing systems within large enterprise organisations.

The platform can be quickly deployed in organisations and customised to meet the exact needs of clients. It can integrate with existing software enabling a seamless data flow between complex legacy systems (including SAP, Maximo and ServiceNow) and front-line operations.

It has been pivotal in helping organisations optimise operational efficiency, saving costs and time, enhance the ROI of existing software platforms and increase customer and employee satisfaction levels.

Rajesh Verma, Opinsta founder and CEO, said: “Since our launch in 2014, Opinsta has delivered B2B software for industry-leading businesses across multiple sectors, helping to deliver millions in operational savings for our clients. Although Covid-19 delayed our planned growth across other sectors and geographies, we are now facing extensive opportunities in these areas. This MEIF funding will allow us to forestall any further Covid impact and focus our efforts fully on escalating the delivery of our market-leading platform.”

With increasing numbers of businesses seeking effective and efficient digital solutions for their work processes, the market opportunity is substantial. Opinsta is looking to expand across multiple industries including manufacturing, logistics, sports stadiums, car manufacturers and infrastructure companies, both in the UK and internationally.

Kerry Haughton, Investment Manager at The FSE Group, which manages the MEIF Debt Finance Fund, added: “Raj has spent considerable time assembling a strong core team to hone the platform and lay the groundwork for expedited growth. Despite Covid related setbacks, the team continued to add a significant number of new clients throughout 2021 and they are now ready to capitalise on this traction. As an agile and client-focused SME with a first-to-market advantage, Opinsta is in a great position to scale quickly and achieve its growth ambitions.”

Ryan Cartwright, Senior Manager, UK Network at the British Business Bank added: “MEIF funding has a range of uses for businesses, such as building team, expanding premises and purchasing new equipment. This latest package, backed by the Recovery Loans Scheme, will support Opinsta with the creation of six new job roles. Other businesses in the Midlands region looking to mitigate the impact of Covid or move into the next stage of development should consider MEIF funding.”

Ian Tandy, Board Director at Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) commented: “Across our region, we have a thriving community of digital technology businesses and innovators like Raj and his team at Opinsta. With digitisation a growing trend due to the pandemic, B2B digital platforms are in demand more than ever. This latest round of investment therefore is not only supporting Opinsta’s growth ambitions but SMEs looking to improve the efficiency of their operations. This is critical to delivering GBSLEP’s mission to drive inclusive growth through enabling and supporting our businesses to unlock their potential.”  

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

The FSE Group, MEIF Debt Finance Fund provides loans between £100,000 and £1.5million to help growing SMEs across the region.

A Surrey based performance cycling wheel brand is the latest company to receive finance through the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator. The £100,000 expansion loan will fund further product development, marketing and growth of the team.

From its Puttenham workshop Parcours designs and retails its range of wheels with cutting-edge aerodynamic technology. Since its launch in 2016, the company has built a solid reputation for a premium product at an affordable price point, with a number of top cyclists and triathletes winning races and championships riding on Parcours wheelsets.

As a small business among a myriad of large competitors, ongoing research and development is key to Parcours remaining at the forefront of technical improvements to maintain its reputation and underpin its future growth. A research partnership with Nottingham Trent University Sports Engineering dept has already resulted in the launch of a unique rim technology following Parcours’ #thinkwider project and design philosophy. This involved fitting bikes with ultrasonic sensors that were used to run tests in real-world wind conditions over a 12-month period. Data was collected via smartphones and used to inform and drive product development.

Its innovative approach to research and development has allowed Parcours to deliver a product with performance and technical credentials beyond its price bracket and, having seen sales increase by 70% in the last year, the business now faces an opportunity to expand in a number of international markets.

Parcours founder and CEO Dov Tate commented: “As a small and agile business we have been able to react quickly to the growth in cycling that has taken place during the pandemic. Unlike many of our larger competitors, we haven’t been so significantly impacted by significant supply chain issues and are still delivering to our direct sales consumers as well as our retailers and distributors. We are now looking to expand our presence in Europe, North America and Asia and this Enterprise M3 loan means we can get ahead of the competition in taking advantage of the wider market opportunities.”

Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator is managed by The FSE Group on behalf of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. Cheryl Weeks, The FSE Group’s Head of Funds, South East added: “Over the past five years Dov has developed a range of technology driven, high-quality products which, alongside a pricing model that is difficult for larger competitors to match without disrupting their distribution model, has helped him to establish a robust, niche business with strong relationships across the sector. With the pandemic led cycling boom showing no signs of slowing, the market opportunity is considerable and we look forward to working with Dov and his team as they drive the growth of the business.”

Kathy Slack, Director, Enterprise M3 LEP, comments: "It’s encouraging to see a small, local company expanding into global markets and I look forward to seeing their continued success. Innovative research and product development between Parcours Velo and Nottingham Trent University shows how small companies can grow in a competitive market and I’m delighted that our Funding Escalator has been able to support their expansion.”

The Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator is a £10million initiative funded by Enterprise M3 LEP. The escalator includes an expansion loan scheme, a short-term trade loan scheme and an equity growth fund, and provides eligible companies with loans and equity funding between £50,000 and £300,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities across the EM3 area.