News

A West Sussex online platform for storing, selling and printing fine art and photography has received a £200,000 equity investment from The FSE Group as part of a £1.25m funding round.

The investment will help the company increase their production facilities in the UK, Europe & The United States. Launched in 2007 to provide high end printing services to the professional fine art community, Printspace is the leading online fine art and photographic platform in the UK.

The platform has attracted over 50,000 users and had 1 million images uploaded. All printing can be ordered from the online platform with 100% colour match ability and allows users to specify the exact size, quality and paper requirements, as well as block mounts and frames, with orders then processed and despatched from their printing facility.

With the online fine art market rapidly growing Printspace developed the proprietary CreativeHub software, as Printspace CEO & Founder Stuart Waplington explains, “PrintSpace is a printing powerhouse with each item receiving a signed certificate of authority whilst CreativeHub is the inhouse software platform for artists which allows for the storing, sharing, networking and selling of artwork. CreativeHub links seamlessly with the e-commerce platform Shopify’s front end, giving artists the ability to earn additional income from their images. As well as focusing on the increase in production facilities, this investment will allow us to scale up the CreativeHub service with the introduction to mobile functionality and AI drive file organisation.”

Avent Bezuidenhoudt, Senior Fund Manager at The FSE Group, comments: “We are delighted to be supporting Printspace as they expand into the European and North American market. When combined, these markets are 14 times larger than the UK and will be the perfect launchpad to drive the business forward. The company already has an impressive client list, including The British Journal of Photography, The Royal Photographic Society, The World Photography Organisation and The Barbican. With the expansion plans in place the company is well placed to continue their growth journey.”

The FSE Group manages funds on behalf of public and private stakeholders, providing debt and equity finance, ranging from £25k to £2m. The FSE team focuses on business potential and works alongside entrepreneurs and SME business owners to help them achieve their growth ambitions.

A company looking to bring about a new way for cooks and diners to connect has received a £150,000 equity investment from The FSE Group as part of a £400,000 funding round. The investment will help the two-sided market place sharing economy business, WeFiFo, grow its user base and position itself as the leading platform for collaborative, community-based dining.

WeFiFo offers a platform where registered users can be both ‘hosts’, providing a dining experience in their home or a community space, and ‘guests’ who can book onto the events taking place in their local area.

The company was launched in 2016 by Seni Glaister who co-founded The Book People. Dubbed ‘Airbnb for the kitchen table’, WeFiFo uses best practice from the sharing economy but offers more than just a marketplace as it has been designed with a sophisticated infrastructure to encourage and empower talented cooks to upskill and earn an income.

The platform supports home cooks, Supper Club hosts and professional chefs who don't want the risk of a bricks-and-mortar restaurant but want to attract a new audience, work flexibly and run their own kitchen. At its core the model is founded on a desire to help people create and find unique, community building dining experiences, as Seni explains: “research shows that consumers are increasingly looking for something authentic and relevant to them with a personalised feel. WeFiFo fills this niche perfectly; hosts can offer anything from cake and coffee in the local community hall, to a barbecue in their garden, a picnic in the park or a full dinner in their home, giving guests an individual experience that connects with the community around them.”

The funds raised in this round will be used to further develop the product and grow the team to prepare for overseas expansion.

Avent Bezuidenhoudt, Senior Fund Manager at The FSE Group, comments: “Over the last decade the sharing economy has exploded, with some of the world’s best-known companies operating on this model. With Seni at the helm, WeFiFo has the potential to become a globally recognised platform for diners and home cooks; partnerships are already in place with a number of businesses, including Waitrose and WeightWatchers, and discussions are taking place to maximise links with further nationally and internationally recognised brands. We are really excited to be part of the WeFiFo journey and look forward to working with Seni and the team.”

The FSE Group manages funds on behalf of public and private stakeholders, providing debt and equity finance, ranging from £25k to £2m. The FSE team focuses on business potential rather than security available and works alongside entrepreneurs and SME business owners to help them achieve their growth ambitions.

FrontM, a UK based AI software platform startup announces the completion of £750K equity funding raise led by Green Shores Capital alongside Jenson Solutions, The FSE Group and angel investors.

The financing will be used to accelerate their go-to-market and to expand the teams in their London, Berkshire and Bangalore offices. This coincides with FrontM securing additional funding from Innovate UK to lead their £0.5 million research project in a consortium with Nick Lambert Associates and Inmarsat PLC. Deepak Ahuja, partner at Green Shores Capital joins the board as the investment director, alongside Kiran Venkatesh the co-founder CEO and Guillermo Acilu the co-founder CTO.

FrontM enables efficient communication, automation and customer experiences for airlines, cruises, shipping, fishing, remote enterprises and other frontier markets. While businesses around the world now thrive on Cloud-based software services, lack of continuous access to the Cloud is a significant constraint. FrontM's patent-pending Edge Intelligence technology enables creation of business and customer applications that work offline and need 70% less satellite data when connected.

"Most people believe ubiquitous unlimited internet is a reality as we head towards 5G. But the truth is the opposite for remote spaces and the disparity in digital experiences is ever increasing. We are addressing this. From making flying un-boring, through to enabling higher crew productivity, the range of use cases our platform enables is proving to be compelling for our B2B clients. As we hit global markets, the smart money and the active participation from our investors is invaluable", said Kiran Venkatesh who has previously helped satellite companies develop new digital products for the same markets.

FrontM offers customer branded apps or APIs to enhance existing customer channels. For 4 billion people who fly every year, the apps leap-frog from static content based inflight entertainment to continuous and personalised inflight engagement, e-commerce and content marketing. Similarly, for companies serving the 28 million cruise passengers and 15 million crew & fishermen, FrontM's programmable SDK turbo-charges offline interactions and value exchange.

Deepak Ahuja, partner at Green Shores capital, the lead investor and now the investment director, said "Deep Tech start-ups such as FrontM embody the creativity and innovation much needed in the Legacy Industries such as Maritime and Airlines. The founders of FrontM have a visionary and long-term view that most people may not take. Green Shores are delighted to have led FrontM's funding round with a future view of topping in the next series of fund raises and in assisting the team drive a step change in the markets"

Sarah Barber, Jenson Funding Partners CEO commented, “We are really excited to be working with Kiran and the team, this is a fantastic opportunity and we look forward to helping the business grow”.

Simon Labahn, Fund Manager at The FSE Group, who manage the Thames Valley Berkshire Growth Fund, said, “We were immediately impressed by FrontM’s current client base, the strength of their partnership with Innovate UK and the level of experience of their management team. They have created a multi-use platform that benefits some of the fastest growing sectors in the world. We look forward to working with Kiran and his team and seeing the company expand into new markets, whilst developing their suite of products.

For more information, visit www.frontm.com or email info@frontm.com

Cornish start-up, Henderson Fletcher Yachts, has received a £39,500 loan from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) to support its boat building business. The Gweek-based firm will manufacture high end, sail powered yachts and motor cruisers to be sold to clients worldwide via an international brokering network. A 44ft hull, deck and basic superstructure has already been purchased for the first project, ‘Yacht Sofia’, with primary engineering taking place over the coming months. The funding received will primarily be used to create new jobs, enabling the business to begin its growth journey.

Henderson Fletcher Yachts’ owner, Samuel Foster, a qualified shipwright with over twenty years’ boat construction experience working for major yards in Bristol and Cornwall, said: “Once the initial build is complete the sales process can start, allowing the full fit-out to then be more bespoke. This means however, that the business will have a pre-income period of heavy investment. Getting funding for this type of project is obviously not easy and we are excited to have secured a CIOSIF loan to help us through this stage.”

The deal was handled by SWIG Finance who are working with fund managers The FSE Group to deliver the small business loans part of the fund.

SWIG’s Business Manager Mike Wall commented: “Sam is committed to growing a viable business based on premium build quality at fair pricing, given his relatively low overheads. With future expansion funded from retained capital, this is an opportunity to provide ongoing economic value in the area, along with quality training for sustainable, high-quality employment.”

John Acornley, non-executive director of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who chairs the CIOSIF Advisory Board, added: “The fund exists to help small businesses in Cornwall and Scilly overcome barriers to accessing the finance they need to grow and create jobs. This is a great example of how this alternative finance can help a new business get off the ground and I would urge any business with growth ambitions to look into how the fund might help.”

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 LEP and is operated by appointed fund managers FSE Group. 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. Further investment has come from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local LEP and HM Government. 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 rapidly growing Truro cleaning business is the latest company to receive funding from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF). Spotless Cleaning Cornwall will receive a £55,000 loan made up of £48,125 from CIOSIF and £6,875 from SWIG Finance, who work with The FSE Group, the appointed CIOSIF Fund Manager, on delivering smaller business loans.

The investment will help owner, Ilona Ziarko, take on new staff and expand her services to other holiday lets businesses across the area. Spotless Cleaning Cornwall operates mostly in the holiday let sector and has grown significantly since being established a little over three years ago, with turnover increasing from around £50,000 in 2017 to an expected £100,000+ this year.

By offering B2B customers high-end housekeeping with added-value services, Ilona has grown the business to full capacity and is now taking steps to ensure future demand can be met. She said: “We reached the point where we could not take on any more business so the decision was made to find a way to grow the company rather than keep turning away work. The CIOSIF loan means we can move to new premises and purchase the necessary commercial equipment to do our laundry in-house, which will allow us to take on more staff and manage more cleaning contracts. We are really excited about the opportunities that lay ahead and look forward to expanding our offering to new and existing customers.”

The Spotless deal was handled on behalf of The FSE Group by SWIG Finance Business Manager, Aaron Hamshire, who said: “Ilona has carved a niche for Spotless with her determination to provide a service that exceeds the expectations of her clients. With the holiday let sector continuing to expand, the company has a growing pipeline of potential custom that we are delighted to help develop.”

LEP non-executive director John Acornley, who chairs the CIOSIF Advisory Board, added: “I’m delighted to see the investment fund unlock the growth potential of another Cornish business. Without this loan Spotless was being held back – now they have the support to grow with confidence.” 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 aims to make a further 195 investments over the next five years.

The fund 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. 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. Further investment has come from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP and HM Government. 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.