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TOWER Cold Chain Solutions, equity client of the Thames Valley Berkshire (TVB) Growth Fund, which is managed by The FSE Group, has closed a major new funding initiative, leading to a successful exit for TVB Growth Fund.

The deal, which is worth £6m+, has been led by TOWER’s major shareholders, Just Arne Storvik and Tor Erland Fysken, and backed by Investec.

Theale based TOWER provides environmentally friendly, cold chain packaging solutions to the pharmaceutical industry. The company has been receiving support from FSE since 2016 when it secured its first TVB Growth Fund equity investment. The Growth Fund also led a syndicate of follow-on investment of £1m in 2017, to further support the company’s growth.

At the time of the initial investment, the company had 7 employees. Investment from the TVB Growth Fund, alongside other investors, has enabled the company to grow to 23 employees, with representatives in key pharmaceutical hubs across the globe. This figure is expected to grow further as the business uses its latest funding to expand its fleet of rental containers by 400%.

Chris Pollard, Chief Executive at TOWER, said: “At the time TOWER met FSE it was less a start-up, more a small company believing it had the opportunity to become a great deal bigger and more profitable. TVB’s investment and FSE’s associated support was of enormous significance for two reasons: first, because we needed cash to invest in new stock, but second, and perhaps even more importantly, it represented a real validation of TOWER’s prospects and undoubtedly played a part in generating confidence amongst both customers and investors. Beyond that, the part played by Julie Silvester as a Board observer cannot be underestimated, bringing an extra dimension to the corporate governance of the business. I am extremely grateful to FSE, particularly Julie and our fund manager, Kiko Duffy, for the part they played in enabling this latest step forward for TOWER.”

Julie Silvester, Head of Commercial at The FSE Group, which manages the TVB Growth Fund on behalf of Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), added: “We are delighted to have been a part of TOWER’s journey to a successful business on the cusp of exponential growth and we wish Chris and the team every success in the next part of their journey. The TVB Funding Escalator is all about supporting companies with the potential to impact on the regional economy, promoting job creation and economic prosperity, and we look forward to helping more businesses achieve this.”

The proceeds from the sale of The TVB Growth Fund equity investment will be recycled into new investments or loans to support companies in the Berkshire area. TVB Growth Fund is part of Thames Valley Berkshire Funding Escalator, an initiative funded by Thames Valley Berkshire LEP to support businesses in Berkshire. The escalator, which also includes an expansion loan scheme and a trade finance loan scheme, provides eligible companies – from start-up to established – with debt and equity funding between £25,000 and £300,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities.

A touch-free, physical-digital payment platform helping charities, retailers and publishers drive engagement with customers, is the latest business to receive investment from the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF) via The FSE Group.

Camden based company, Thyngs Ltd, delivers innovative solutions that use frictionless smartphone technology to help its clients drive new forms of consumer engagement that are fit for a digital, cashless, COVID-19 world. Thyngs helps brands develop and monitor their offline marketing by turning any product, packaging, or advertisement into an interactive point-of-sale, without the need for human intervention.

Thyngs use simple, built-in smartphone technology, like QR code and Near Field Communication (NFC), for experiences to work across 3.5bn smartphone users worldwide, without an app. Its software negates the need for restrictive card terminals, giving clients the flexibility to take payments on-the-go using any physical object, whilst also using trusted tap-and-go payment providers such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal.

The current environment around Covid-19 is proving challenging for many businesses. Fortunately, Thyngs is well-positioned to help support its clients as they see an increasing demand for touch-free, cashless solutions that continue to work at-home. Outside of the current pandemic, Thyngs solutions can be anything from gaining digital loyalty points when buying a coffee, to giving directly to charity by tapping a unique fundraising badge.

Charities are being hit particularly hard this Spring, with cancelled face-to-face fundraising events, plummeting donations and fewer volunteers, at a time when many will be experiencing an increase in demand for their services. Thyngs are helping them stay connected with donors in new and safe ways, encouraging at-home fundraising material and amplified online collection efforts. In partnership with a donation management organisation, Thyngs has introduced the opportunity for any business to support one of up to 18,000 charities by transforming their product’s packaging, such as groceries, into instant donation points for consumers to engage with at home.

The £250,000 GLIF loan will be used to increase the sales and marketing operation as well as further develop the technology and purchase associated hardware.

Dr Neil Garner, Thyngs Founder and CEO, says: “It is great to be working alongside Jerry and the GLIF team with a loan that has come at an extremely important time. Thanks to the loan, we will be able to accelerate our growth plans and continue to help businesses adjust to the immediate and long-term changes this tough pandemic has highlighted we need to make. Businesses and charities will be searching for safe, touch-free contactless solutions to move forward sustainably, and we will be able to offer them cost-effective and robust solutions.”

Jerry Donohue, Senior Fund Manager for The FSE Group, which managed the £55 million GLIF debt fund on behalf of Funding London, comments: “With a strong management team and an offering which delivers USPs unmatched by the competition, Thyngs is well-placed to take advantage of the growing market for smartphone customer engagements and transactions. We look forward to continuing to work with them as they look to grow the business across the UK and beyond.”

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO at Funding London, adds: “Developing a powerful value proposition and discovering a way to turn challenges into opportunities is what the Thyngs team excel at. We are extremely delighted to support the team’s expansion by creating much needed job opportunities during the pandemic.”

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 business offering innovative solutions for the satellite technology and space communications sector is the latest company to benefit from an Enterprise M3 Expansion Loan.

Guildford-based business Clutch Space Systems (CSS) has received £300,000 to help support its growth plans, enabling the immediate expansion of its technology, sales & marketing capabilities.

Satellite technology is used across many commercial, government and military applications from TV, radio and internet provision, to navigation systems and weather forecasting.  The space sector is growing exponentially, with experts valuing the market at anything between £400 billion and £1trillion by 2040.

Ground stations, which process the data received by antenna systems from satellites, typically use bespoke legacy hardware systems to process the signals into a functional format that can be sent on to the end user.

CSS has developed a unique software solution for these satellite ground stations that can expand existing inflexible and costly hardware systems currently in use with a lower cost, easily deployed solution. 

The software has been developed by CSS experts, who have over 130 years’ experience between them in the space sector, to robust industry standards using automated test regimes proven to stress test the system’s resilience and robustness. 

Satellite technology is a growing market, being transformed by new opportunities for commercial exploitation, but this has brought some challenges, as CSS co-founder and CEO, Martin Philp, said: “a bottleneck is occurring due to the limits of a signal processing infrastructure that is unable to deliver in line with demand. Our software offers high functioning, reliable and flexible solutions that can reduce the cost, risk and complexity of satellite development and operations for both new and existing players in the sector. We are delighted to have secured this funding, which will allow us to recruit additional staff, further develop our product and infrastructure, increase marketing and really take hold of the global opportunity available to us.”

Derek Ellis, Fund Manager at The FSE Group, which manages the Enterprise M3 Expansion Loan Scheme on behalf of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), added: “during this time of uncertainty for many businesses, we are delighted to continue supporting CSS with their efforts to deliver a technology that can support communications across the globe. The management team are well-connected and highly regarded in the sector and in a strong position to take the business forward. We look forward to working with them over the coming months to help them achieve their goals.”

Kathy Slack, Director, Enterprise M3 LEP, commented: “Space technology is a sector which continues to show an exciting level of growth within the EM3 region, so I am particularly pleased to see Clutch Space Systems benefiting from an expansion loan. It’s wonderful to see the EM3 Funding Escalator continuing to help businesses grow, even in times of economic uncertainty.”

The Enterprise M3 Expansion Loan Scheme is part of the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator, a £10million initiative funded by Enterprise M3 LEP. The escalator, which also includes a short-term trade loan scheme and an equity growth fund, 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 Enterprise M3 area.

For more information about Clutch Space Systems Ltd visit https://www.clutchspace.com/

A Cornish software developer has secured a £150,000 loan to take its business to the next level with the support of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF).

Caterbook, based in Camelford in North Cornwall, is a cloud-based hotel management platform providing hotel owners and managers with a sophisticated solution for handling bookings, payments and much more.

Business owners, Chris and Sally Noon, gained their expertise in the sector whilst selling a third-party product for over 10 years but, as they became increasingly frustrated by its limited functionality, took the decision to develop their own software solution for the industry.

Their platform automates and simplifies many of the repetitive daily tasks facing hotel managers, whilst providing an interactive dashboard, intuitive reporting and integrated payment system.

The £131,250 CIOSIF loan is complemented by a co-investment of £18,750 from SWIG Finance. The £40m CIOSIF 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) and is operated by appointed fund manager, The FSE Group.

Whilst the impact of Covid-19 is undoubtedly taking its toll on the hotel industry across the region and beyond, Chris and Sally believe it will provide an opportunity for managers to review their systems and practices and look to integrate new systems that can help strengthen their position for when we are through this current crisis.

Chris said: “We want the industry to know that we are still here, working hard to provide them with a robust system that can save them time and money. The funding from CIOSIF will allow us to further develop our solution and ensure the platform continues to offer what our clients need. We are grateful to FSE and SWIG for their ongoing support at this challenging time.”

Mike Chapman, business manager at SWIG Finance, who are working with FSE to deliver smaller CIOSIF business loans, adds: “Chris and Sally’s experience in this field is extensive and they have established a good reputation both across the region and nationwide. This helped them secure strong early sales for their impressive platform. We know that the coming months will be tough but we are here to support them and help ensure their business is in a position of strength when we come through the other side.”

Lloyd Brina, Senior Manager at the British Business Bank, said: “This deal is a good example of a growth business that has created an innovative product but needs extra capital to develop it further and grow sales. We are pleased that CIOSIF is providing important funding to support growth at Caterbook and would encourage similar businesses to consider the options available through the CIOISF to see if it can help fund growth.”

LEP non-executive director John Acornley, who chairs the CIOSIF Advisory Board, said: “Caterbook are part of a growing tech industry in Cornwall and this is the third investment by the fund in a software business, spanning retail, accountancy and now hospitality, and all operating nationwide. Many B&Bs, guest house and hotels are using this time to review their systems, including how they manage bookings.”

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

A software and consulting business specialising in supporting businesses with becoming more efficient is set to grow with the support of a £100,000 loan from The Greater London Investment Fund.

Xendl Limited which has been established in the United Kingdom since 2014, is an innovative and diligent software company led by an expert team of SAP & Oracle Development, Data & Security industry professionals carrying a wealth of over 30 years cross vertical industry experience. The funding will help support the company with hiring three new staff members to help increase growth in both the business’s consulting and SAP software services.

Nicolas Winston, CEO at Xendl, commented, “As a growing software company, access to funding was key to our success. The FSE Group allowed us the flexibility to explore options other than equity investment. Working with the group (via Paul) was a real pleasure and securing our funding has recently helping us drive revenue up almost immediately through the development of new software solutions that have already hit the market.”

Paul Shadbolt, Senior Fund Manager at The FSE Group, said, “I am delighted we have been able to support Nick and his team with growth funding for new staff hires in London using Mayor of London’s Greater London Investment Fund. This will enable Xendl Software to develop new software solutions and expand their consulting capacity”

Maggie Rodriquez-Piza, CEO at Funding London, added, “It is a great pleasure to support ambitious founders like Nick, on their journey to success. We are delighted to be the catalysts for Xendl’s growth by proving the capital needed to expand the team and operations.”

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.