Led · Equity · Feb 2018

BaseKit provides a website editor for hosting companies, telecoms and enterprise customers to create phone, tablet and desktop websites, blogs and online stores while on the go. The product is distributed by more than 120 partners in the hosting and telco sectors and is available in 29 languages. The company is led by CEO Simon Best and was founded in 2008. BaseKit plans to use newly raised funds to develop products for the mobile and consumer markets. It also intends to streamline its SME offering to better serve smaller customers. The recent financing of £2.5m is positioned as growth capital to support these initiatives. BaseKit provides a browser-based drag ’n’ drop website editor aimed at small businesses and designers. Its latest Editor 7 works on mobile devices and the product is available in 15 languages with integrations including on-premise, SaaS, cPanel plugin and Parallels APS. Growth is driven via a B2B partner/reseller strategy; the company recently reached its 100th partner and is deploying 40,000 new subscriptions per month through partners across 25 countries. BaseKit has over 80 employees and maintains offices in London, Bristol, Toronto and Sao Paulo. The company plans to use new funding to continue platform development and to win more partner sites/resellers in the website hosting and telecoms space. The article states total investment to date is approximately £14.5m following the latest round. BaseKit provides a website creation service that automates turning visual designs into working websites, removing the need to hand-code HTML/CSS. Founded in 2008 by Simon Best, Richard Best and Richard Healy, the product targets designers who start with design concepts in tools like Photoshop. It offers a drag-and-drop interface and a range of ready-to-use features and templates, including contact forms and social networking tie-ins. The company says it will use the new funding to rapidly expand its global reach and open offices in Barcelona, Sao Paolo, Mexico DF, Buenos Aires and San Francisco. This raise follows a previous A round in June of last year and brings BaseKit's total funding to just over $10 million. BaseKit provides a Photoshop-to-website service that turns Photoshop designs into functioning websites. The company has launched its service in both the U.K. and U.S., signaling an expansion into those markets. The TechCrunch article reports BaseKit raised $2.6 million. The piece does not disclose investors, the financing instrument, or any operating metrics. No founding year, headquarters, revenue, or user figures are provided in the article. Further product roadmap details or future plans beyond the U.K. and U.S. launches are not described.

Led · Equity · May 2017

RTX provides payment and settlement solutions to the global carrier market via a platform integrated with a high-street bank's cash management software. Its platform supports pay-as-you-go and post-paid services, with members' funds held in client accounts by major international financial institutions and offering 24/7 account visibility and real-time fund movements. RTX operates a public exchange used by the global carrier community and runs a Partner Program adopted by some of the largest tier-one telecoms operators. Founded in 2007 and led by Chairman Albert Mackey and CEO Miles Esfahani, the company focuses on delivering secure cash management and settlement services to carriers. RTX intends to use the new funding to expand into new markets and to develop a new product range and services. The current reported financing position includes an initial £6M growth investment and a further £40M of committed funding scheduled for the second half of the year.

Led · Equity · Apr 2017

Aeriandi is an Oxford, UK-based provider of SaaS voice security solutions for large corporate customers. Led by CEO Matthew Bryars, the company supplies secure voice solutions used in highly complex infrastructures for call recording, archiving, PCI phone payments, fraud detection and speech analytics. The company employs over 40 people. Aeriandi received £1.5M in growth financing provided by BOOST&Co. The firm intends to use the funds to scale its development and sales capabilities. The financing is positioned to support expansion of its product development and commercial efforts.

Led · Debt Financing · Dec 2016

ACS Clothing operates a purpose-built, automated 19,000 sqm fulfilment facility that provides end-to-end rental, subscription and resale services, including environmentally-friendly cleaning, brand authentication, garment repair, photography, branded packaging and delivery. The company processes in excess of 6 million units per year, stores more than three million clothing items and keeps over 6 million garments in circulation annually. ACS uses ozone technology to sanitise garments, employs microplastic filters to minimise water pollution and recycles by-products into building bricks. For 25 years the business has specialised in rental fulfilment and clothing renewal and has expanded to enable brands to offer circular formats alongside existing e-commerce. The company works with a range of fashion brands and technology partners to deliver Clothing-as-a-Service, rental platforms and luxury resale integrations. The recent investment will support further expansion of ACS’s enabling solution to meet growing demand in the fashion rental industry. ACS Clothing supplies formalwear across the UK, stocking more than three million garments and processing circa 400,000 orders per year. The company was established in Glasgow in 1997 by Richard and Joe Freedman and employs over 150 people. ACS now has offices in Glasgow, Memphis and Chicago. It received a £3M venture loan from BOOST&Co. The company intends to use the funds to expand into the US market by establishing a 240,000 sq ft facility in Memphis to service the US wedding and prom market. The financing is intended to support its US expansion and operations. ACS Clothing is a Glasgow-based provider of formalwear founded in 1997 by Richard and Joe Freedman. The company supplies formalwear across the UK, stocking more than three million garments and processing circa 400,000 orders per year. It now employs over 100 people. ACS secured a follow-on £8.8m investment from Business Growth Fund. The company intends to use the funds to expand into the American market and has established a 240,000 sq ft facility in Memphis, Tennessee. Peter Abruzzo has been appointed CEO of the US operations to lead that expansion. ACS Clothing supplies formal hirewear to retailers and consumers, operating exclusive supplier agreements with chains such as Debenhams, Austin Reed, Greenwoods, Slaters Menswear and Burton, and sells under its own Cameron Ross brand. Its software arm, Xedo, provides a range of products to the hire and wedding industries, including a retail order management system that connects customers directly to ACS and Xedo inventory for electronic ordering. The group intends to grow operations and expand Xedo’s consumer-facing SortMyWeddingOutfit website so members of the bridal party can source outfits regardless of location. The company was established in Glasgow in 1997 by Richard Freedman and his father Joseph and acquired Blackburn-based Etiquette Formal Hire in April 2011. ACS Clothing currently employs around 100 people. The business combines physical hirewear supply with integrated software-driven ordering and inventory connectivity through Xedo.

Led · Equity · Sep 2016

makepositive is a UK-based independent Salesforce implementation partner offering Sales, Service, Marketing, Community, Analytics and App development services. Led by CEO Mark Richards and COO Matt Cooksley, the company has delivered over 600 projects and employs more than 90 Salesforce experts across offices in London, Manchester and India. The company received £1.5M in growth capital from BOOST&Co. It will use the funds to continue to expand its offering. The raise was reported by FinSMEs on 19/09/2016.