Participated · Equity · Oct 2019

Pollinate is a global software business that partners with banks to extend relationships with their business customers via a cloud-based toolkit for SMEs. The platform, built with bank-grade privacy and security, ingests data feeds from banks and third-party systems to give merchants a single place to understand, manage and grow their business. It enables banks to offer an SME storefront with access to capital, payment acceptance, digital loyalty schemes, marketing tools and insights. Founded in 2017 and led by CEO Al Lukies CBE, Pollinate works with banks including NatWest Group (powering Tyl by NatWest) and National Australia Bank. The company closed a $50m Series C funding round led by Insight Partners with participation from NatWest, Mastercard, NAB, EFM Asset Management and Motive Partners. Pollinate plans to use the funds for further global expansion and to move into North America. Pollinate is a London-based provider of a cloud-based services platform powering merchant and consumer digital experiences including onboarding, portals and loyalty programs without migrations. The platform enables merchants to manage their businesses with digital tools and data integrations, connect with consumers and give back to local communities. It also helps banks understand and engage with their customers and build relationships with merchants and consumers. The first deployment occurred in Spring 2019 with the launch of the Tyl by NatWest merchant services business, and Pollinate is in advanced discussions with other retail banks worldwide. Available globally through Microsoft Azure, the platform uses Microsoft’s big data and distributed AI platforms, threat intelligence and authentication services. Pollinate has strategic partners and backers including Mastercard, Endava, Motive Partners and EFM, and has raised £60M in funding to date. The business was conceived in 2017 and is led by executives from the payments, technology and loyalty industries including Al Lukies CBE, Jonathan Hughes, Fiona Roach Canning, Tim Joslyn, David Beresford and Anna Moore.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2018

Vizolution is a UK-based SaaS company offering an omni-channel digital suite that replicates face-to-face interactions in remote channels, allowing customers and agents to share, display, verify and sign documents without downloads. Its end-to-end platform targets complex customer journeys across financial services, telecoms and utilities and is used by 30 global enterprises, including HSBC, Santander, RBS and O2. The company reports typical outcomes of over 40% increases in sales conversions, 50% reductions in transaction times and Net Promoter Scores above 80%; it has also helped clients unlock operational savings such as removing nearly 7m pieces of paper per year. RBS used Vizolution to introduce a paperless mortgage process that has facilitated approximately £1bn of mortgage loans per month. Launched in 2013 and headquartered in Port Talbot, Wales, Vizolution employs nearly 140 people and has opened new offices in Port Talbot, Toronto and Boston in the last year. The company says it will use the new funds to develop additional products for its award-winning suite and accelerate growth in its markets. Vizolution is a Port Talbot- and London, UK-based Software as a Service company offering omni-channel digital solutions that streamline customer journeys for large contact centres. Its platform enables businesses to interact with customers and to send, receive and sign documents in real time. The product suite includes vScreen (screen sharing that replicates face-to-face interactions and supports electronic signatures), vDoc (a secure portal for signing, downloading and uploading documents via any browser or device), vChat (an advanced web chat with support for images, signatures, calculators and document exchange) and vVid (an integrated video and telephony solution). Led by CEO Bill Safran, Vizolution received external financing to support growth. The company said the funds will be used to accelerate international expansion and to strengthen its development team. Vizolution has developed vScreen, a product that enables call-centre staff and advisers to remotely demonstrate mortgages, insurance and other protection products on a client's desktop. The product has been piloted with several large financial services companies in the UK. The company launches vScreen this week, initially targeting large banks and insurance companies, before expanding to intermediaries and advisers. Vizolution is founded and led by CEO Bill Safran and is based in Port Talbot, Wales. The company has raised over £750k in funding to finance its UK market launch. Backers include Finance Wales, Notion Capital, the company's management team and angel investor Peter Birch.

Participated · Series B · Nov 2017

1QBit develops software and algorithms that apply both quantum and classical hardware to computationally intensive industry problems, offering a hardware-agnostic platform from SDK to web API. The company focuses on machine learning, optimization methods, and simulation for domains including advanced materials, life sciences, energy, and finance. 1QBit works directly with Fortune 500 clients such as DowDuPont and Biogen and partners with leading hardware providers. Over the last four years it has grown into a multidisciplinary team of over 50 researchers, software developers, and industry experts. The company plans to use its latest investment to continue expanding its research and software development teams. 1QBit is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Led · Debt Financing · Aug 2016

ByBox, founded in 2000 by CEO Stuart Miller, develops smart app-locker technology and field service solutions. Its Konnect app-locker solution addresses core field service supply-chain challenges by improving security, reducing transport costs, increasing visibility and improving technician efficiency. The company is based in Oxford, England, and also has offices in Burlington, Massachusetts. In 2018 it received a strategic investment from Francisco Partners that values the company at £221m and marks an exit for mid-market private equity investor LDC. LDC had originally provided £37.5 million of development capital in 2016. ByBox will use the proceeds to expand its UK infrastructure and to deploy Konnect globally. ByBox operates a network of smart, locker-based solutions and proprietary software (Thinventory) that connects nearly 900 smart box locations with a hub in Coventry and nine UK distribution centres. The company supports more than 250 blue-chip clients and offers added-value technical courier services as a flexible field resource. It also operates a B2C Click&Collect electronic locker network across 27 countries. ByBox reported an existing annual turnover of around £73m. The business intends to use new capital to accelerate organic growth in the UK, expand smart metering and global technology deployment, grow its technical courier proposition and further develop its Click&Collect service. Senior management includes CEO Stuart Miller, COO Steve Huxter, MD Click&Collect Dan Turner and CFO Pete Rowse.

Participated · Debt Financing · Feb 2015

Chemoxy operates two sites in Teesside and provides specialised manufacturing services to large blue-chip customers in the chemical and oil & gas industries. The company has developed its own portfolio of low-toxicity solvents, including the Coasol range, used in environmentally friendly paints, industrial coatings and cleaning products. Chemoxy has a turnover of around £50m and employs more than 130 people, including chemical engineers and apprentices. The business was acquired from Dow Chemical in a 2011 MBO led by Chief Executive Ian Stark and Chief Operating Officer Martyn Bainbridge. Management intends to use new funding to invest in capital and plant over the next four years to increase capacity, expand its product and service range and drive growth. The management team plans to grow revenue to in excess of £100m by 2020.