Creative England
1st Floor, College House, 32-36 College Green, Bristol, BS1 5SP, United Kingdom
Overview
Creative England is a national agency that invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses in film, TV, games and digital media. They aim to grow the brightest, the best, and those with the most promise so that individuals and businesses can achieve their full creative and commercial potential. They help identify future opportunities to grow the economy and generate jobs. They are an Investor, an Influencer and a Creator; driving diverse creative collaboration and growth. Their mission is for England's creative businesses and talent to be the most successful and innovative in the world: a platform for new voices, building economic growth that benefits their nation.
- Total investments
- 2
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 2
Sector focus
- Creative Agency
- Financial Services
Investment portfolio
- EMU Films
Led · Equity · Sep 2021
EMU Films is an award-winning independent production company that develops and produces feature films and high-end television. Its credits include The Goob (BIFA Best Production), Jawbone (seven BIFA nominations and a BAFTA nomination), and associate production on Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, as well as recent collaboration on Terence Davies’ Benediction. The company has an international reputation for bold, independent content and aims to move into higher-budget feature films and high-end television. The investment will fund hiring an experienced development executive, expand the company’s development slate, and build infrastructure. EMU Films has worked with Creative England since 2014, initially receiving a £150,000 loan to increase capacity and growth.
- Covatic
Participated · Equity · Oct 2018
Covatic builds an ID-less, privacy-first audience targeting solution that keeps individual consumer data on the user’s device rather than sending it to the cloud. Its technology maps content consumption, device characteristics, inputs, and sensor data to audience segments to inform profiles and predict consumer behavior. The platform enables private-by-design addressable advertising across major platforms, aiming to maximise addressable reach and return without exposing personal data. Covatic works with global media companies and has positioned sustainability and regional innovation (as a certified B Corp based in Birmingham) at the core of its strategy. The company participated in Comcast NBCUniversal’s LIFT Labs Accelerator in 2020 and has continued deploying solutions to global brands. Recently it announced a $5 million Series A to further develop its technology and scale into the global advertising and media market. Covatic is a developer of a software platform for broadcasters that delivers personalized content and tailored adverts to users' mobile devices without exposing personal data. The platform detects where and when users consume media on mobile devices to recommend appropriate formats (for example audio when walking and downloadable material for train journeys). Founded in 2016 as a University of Oxford spin-out and led by CEO Nick Pinks, the company is based in Birmingham with offices in Oxford and London. Covatic has delivered a successful prototype for the BBC and is in commercial discussions with several global broadcasters interested in rolling out the software by the end of 2018. The company secured an additional £850k in funding, bringing total funding to over £1.6m. It intends to use the proceeds to bring the software to market and create six new technical and management jobs.