11
Oct

IPL joins forces with Catalyst Venture Partners to provide a leg up to early stage IT companies

Catalyst IPL Partner ProgrammeNew partnership between corporate finance advisors and IT services company provides young software companies with combined investment and research & development assistance to boost business growth.
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Press Release 11 October 2011: IPL, an IT services company specialising in business intelligence and information management, has partnered with corporate finance advisers Catalyst Venture Partners to provide businesses with a combined investment and software development proposition that is specifically designed to help small technology businesses enter new markets and accelerate their growth.

Catalyst Venture Partners provides early stage technology businesses with development funding, commercial expertise and consultancy in order to help grow the businesses into highly successful operations. The partnership with IPL will mean that once an organisation is identified that has a strong proposition and concept, the IT services company, with extensive software development expertise, can be brought in to help define, drive and deliver the development of the software product or portfolio.

Richard Turner, CEO at Catalyst Venture Partners, comments, “There are plenty of businesses in the UK SME technology market that have excellent propositions and the potential to radically change their respective markets, but simply investing in them is not enough to help them realise that potential. Often, technical guidance is required on the best ways to develop the software and the practical requirements of bringing the product to market. We therefore needed to partner with an organisation that could offer reliable direction and assistance, no matter what the technology or industry sector.”

Turner continues, “We chose to partner with IPL because of their broad experience and success in multiple vertical markets and in high-profile and demanding projects, including for the public sector, defence & aerospace and telecoms. We had to be certain that if we were going to invest time and money into these organisations, we could be confident that the IT services partner who we entrusted with guiding the software development would be able to deliver success. IPL’s highly impressive track record with so many varied projects meant that trust became thoroughly implicit.”

Shaun Davey, CEO at IPL, comments, “IPL as a business has an enviable reputation of success in high profile projects and in the development of new products to enhance our clients’ portfolios. However, it was important to us to show that we are not solely focused on blue chip companies or large public sector departments, but are equally interested in and equipped to help smaller organisations with their software and product development. Joining forces with corporate finance advisors such as Catalyst Venture Partners, especially considering their history of working with technology companies in their early stages, allows us to approach SMEs that have ambitious ideas for their own organisations and their markets and use our broad expertise to help them achieve those goals.”

The new partnership is open to UK B2B or B2C entrepreneurial technology start-ups, or companies with proven propositions, in any sector. Following successful application for funding, IPL and Catalyst will work together with the partner organisation to develop the software prototype, test the final product and ensure its market feasibility so that the new products can be profitably launched to the target market.

Turner concludes, “Securing investment from third parties has been notoriously difficult in the current economic climate, meaning that we have had to create inventive ways to make investments more secure and less risky. Technology companies in the UK that aspire to lead their markets but lack the expertise with which to develop – both from a technical and commercial stance – are now able to take advantage of a funding package that brings with it proven exceptional practical benefits.”
ENDS
About IPL: www.ipl.com

IPL – Information Processing Limited – is a software development and consultancy company, established in 1979, based in Bath and has 260 employees.

IPL prides itself on its professional and reliable approach to software development, delivering ‘right first time’ solutions which significantly reduce Total Cost of Ownership.

IPL’s quality, environmental and information security management systems are certificated to ISO 9001/TickIT, 14001 and 27001.

IPL provides enterprise level solutions for major industry sectors including aerospace and defence, banking and finance, emergency services, government, telecoms and media.  IPL’s clients include Nationwide, BT, ITV, Thales and Sony.

5
Oct

Richard will be giving a paper on ‘Routes to Funding’ next Friday. Alpha Version’s annual event for tech ventures in the software, digital media, consumer applications and Web 2.0 space.

The event offers the opportunity to meet some of the most active investors in UK, hear their thoughts on the investments they are looking for and discuss your plans with them over lunch. Other participants include:

Oscar Jazdowski: Head of origination, Silicon Valley Bank UK

Kevin Douglas, Partner, Antrak Capital

Dan Somers: Partner, Boundary Capital

Tickets are available from the Alphatech website.

Date: Friday 14th October

12 Henrietta Street
Covent Garden
WC2E 8LH London

21
Sep
Weymouth launch of GreenMotion charging stations

Stewart McKee, Green Motion managing director (far right), watches on as Councillor Peter Finney MBE, the portfolio holder for Dorset Highways and Transportation, opens the authority’s new Green Motion electric vehicle charging stations, in Weymouth.

 

Catalyst Venture Partners (CVP) has signed an exclusive agreement to advise Green Motion (UK) Limited on its entry into the rapidly growing UK market for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Richard Turner, CVP managing partner says: ‘The move to electric transport is now well underway. For widely documented reasons of dwindling oil reserves, desire for cleaner cities and future energy security, electric car charging infrastructure is becoming a mainstream mass market.

‘In addition to massive scale, the market is a cross roads for hardware installation, software applications and smart energy management. Green Motion has brought together a uniquely talented team and proven technology to fully exploit the commercial opportunity. This is a great moment to participate directly in the energy revolution.’

In 2011/12 major car brands such as Nissan, PSA, Citroen, Mitsubishi, Renault, Ford, Toyota and VW are all launching affordable electric vehicles, which is driving municipal and private sector growth in charging infrastructure investment. By 2015 there will be 100,000 recharging stations fuelling 300,000 electric vehicles in the UK.

Green Motion has developed a new generation of charging post infrastructure, which paves the way for many innovative and essential carbon reducing technologies. Fully GSM networked and powered up with more enabling microprocessor technology than a PC, the Green Motion devices have the unique distinction of being the only UK charging points to connect electric cars directly with renewable electricity, from wind and solar sources, giving electric car owners the ultimate green credentials.

The same technology also sets up vehicle to grid load balancing and micro generation ‘feed–in’, which allows energy generators to rely more on renewable alternatives without risk of supply interruption.

Green Motion has invested £500,000 into a two-year product development programme with a key focus on energy and mobility. Green Motion smart charging networks are presently operating in several locations in Switzerland, including Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) – one of Europe’s leading technology institutions.

Green Motion (UK) Limited has exclusive technology IP, manufacturing and management expertise. Having established its credentials by winning a prestigious contract to install infrastructure to support the 2012 Olympic sailing event in Weymouth, the company is looking for investment to quickly scale up its UK operations.

 

For further information contact Rosie Bennett at Catalyst Venture Partners on 01225 331498 or email rb@catvp.com


About Green Motion: http://www.green-motion.co.uk

GreenMotion is an independent electronic device manufacturing, integration, and software development company. Its vision is to encourage the use of clean energy sources, by becoming Europe’s leading developer and manufacturer of electric vehicle charging stations. The company also has exclusive partnership agreements with innovative electricity retailer Green Energy (UK) Plc and energy management software specialists Smart Grid Technologies Limited.


6
Sep

Catalyst is pleased to announce a partnership with a Japanese based financial group that is able to create structures to raise new loan funds for business projects in the UK.

The Japanese / UK consortium offers the opportunity for private and professional investors in Asia to participate in, and benefit from, the development of new projects and the expansion of existing businesses in the UK and mainland Europe.

The deal comes after a concerted effort on Catalyst’s part to find new sources of capital finance for UK growth companies that are struggling in the current economic climate to access traditional sources of loan finance from banks and other institutions.

Richard Turner from Catalyst Venture Partners said of the deal; “Raising funding to support business growth and development of companies in UK and Europe has never been harder. By tapping into Asia, one of the biggest investment markets in the world, we are able to substantially increase the flow of funds and finance companies and projects that would otherwise not get financed.”

The minimum size of Bond is £2.5m. There is no maximum.

The key point about the financial structures created are:

• Effectively they are a type of bond, therefore fund raising involves no equity dilution;
• The Bond is secured against the company not individual assets;
• interest rate of between 8.5% and 11% paid quarterly in arrears;
• Loan repayment at the end of five years or sooner;

We will consider companies from any sector but specifically interested in:

• Energy including Solar and Wind;
• Recycling;
• Property development and infrastructure;
• Finance;
• Media, Healthcare, and Technology companies with a strong trading history.

Companies must be able to demonstrate:

• Strong corporate governance
• Good management team
• Trading history
• Strong financials
• Profitability

For more information please contact Richard Turner on 01225 331498.

 

1
Sep

Oil StudiosOil Studios has become part of the portfolio of Catalyst Venture Partners.

Oil Studios is an award winning digital media company spun out from Oil Productions Ltd. The Hoxton based company has created a software technology that enables intellectual property such as a product brand, TV programme, a book, or any “big” concept to be exploited and monetised across different platforms such as TV, Online and Mobile.

Oil’s market space is at the cutting edge of digital media convergence where social media meets games; entertainment meets interaction; TV meets iPhone apps and multi-player on-line games.

Oil’s formats have to date been funded by broadcasters and brands. ‘Routes’ won the equivalent of a digital ‘Oscar’ from the British Internet and Multimedia Association for ‘cross-platform’, funded by Channel4 and the Wellcome Trust.

Andy Chambers, the COO of Oil Studios, said: “We are very pleased to have Catalyst as our strategic and funding partner. We have some busy months ahead and some great projects in the pipeline.”

Richard Turner of Catalyst Venture Partners commenting on the deal said ” Oil Studios is one of the most exciting digital media companies we have seen. Led by a dynamic and creative team, the Studios have huge growth potential. We will be seeking further funding for Oil when the timing is right.

For more information contact Richard Turner on 01225 331498.

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