TIDMGROW
RNS Number : 1280T
Draper Esprit PLC
10 October 2017
10 October 2017
Draper Esprit plc
("Draper Esprit" or the "the Group")
NEW INVESTEE COMPANIES RAISE A TOTAL OF GBP59 MILLION
WITH GBP17 MILLION INVESTED BY DRAPER ESPRIT
Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital
firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology
businesses, announces that funds managed by the Group have recently
committed GBP17 million into three exciting new European based
digital technology businesses: Ieso Digital Health; Insurtech
Company Premfina; and Verve, the world's leading word-of-mouth
sales software for live entertainment.
In aggregate, these companies have recently completed
fundraising rounds totaling over $75 million
In the four month period to 30 September 2017, following the
GBP100 million raise in June, Draper Esprit has invested a total of
GBP26.5 million from the plc and a further GBP12.0 million from
across the Group, into new and existing portfolio companies
including Graphcore, Perkbox, Trustpilot, Pushdoctor.
Simon Cook, CEO of Draper Esprit plc, commented:
"We want to help build large successful European technology
companies that can compete on the global stage and all three of
these recent investments have that potential. Premfina has
innovated on the traditional insurance model, having built a strong
SaaS revenue model with excellent growth. Ieso is a perfect example
of the kind of company we like to invest in in the digital health
space. It has a strong clinical platform and a scalable model that
is delivering robust outcomes with high levels of quality control.
Verve has already proven word-of-mouth is a scalable and powerful
tool for live entertainment.
"We are now in a position to invest larger amounts in investee
companies and retain the ability to hold and grow these companies
for much longer than our non-listed competitors can. With larger
sums available for later rounds entrepreneurs are increasingly
realising that partnering with us maximises the opportunity to
scale their businesses quickly."
The three recent investments are:
PremFina Ltd (www.premfina.com)
Draper Esprit co-led a $36 million equity funding and debt
facility investment alongside Rakuten Capital, Thomvest Ventures,
Emery Capital, Rubicon Venture Capital, Talis Capital and the
company's founder in PremFina a UK-based premium finance
company.
PremFina supplies insurance brokers with their own branded
premium financing service with a software package to manage the
sale of broker-branded insurance policies to consumers and
businesses, and the ability to finance insurance premiums via
instalments. With PremFina, brokers receive higher profit, greater
autonomy and opportunity to increase the lifetime value of their
customers as well as the chance to cross-sell and up-sell
additional products.
Ieso Digital Health (https://UK.IesoHealth.com)
Draper co-led an GBP18 million funding round, investing GBP7.5
million alongside existing investor Touchstone Innovations, as part
of round to accelerate growth in Ieso's home market and the
commercialisation of its transformative technology platform in the
US.
The funding round is the largest amount raised by a digital
behavioural health business in Europe.
Cambridge, UK based, Ieso Digital Health's breakthrough
technology, is transforming the way mental health is delivered.
Ieso provides patients with access to secure, one-on-one,
real-time, evidence based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
programmes, delivered by accredited therapists, at a time that is
convenient for patients. Ieso's intelligent technology platform is
both cost effective and removes many of the significant barriers
preventing treatment, including stigma and accessibility, whilst
also giving its therapist network computing assisted guides and
insights to continually enhance their performance and clinical
outcomes.
More than 16,700 patients have been treated to date and Ieso now
leads the way in digital therapy as the number one provider of
on-line CBT in the UK and has also recently expanded into the USA.
Unlike many other online or digital services Ieso's method was
validated in a randomised clinical trial published in The Lancet in
2009. With innovation at the heart of Ieso's patient-centred
approach, Ieso is continuously improving its service by applying
artificial intelligence and machine learning to constantly enhance
its therapist support and feedback, ensuring best in class
treatment for patient and therapist now and into the future.
Verve (https://verve.co )
Draper Esprit led an $18.5 million funding round including
former investors, Kindred, Frontline Ventures, and Backed VC in
Verve, the world's leading word-of-mouth sales software for live
entertainment. Verve is building a global platform that enables
people to sell the products they love to their friends in exchange
for rewards. Over the last 12 months, Verve has achieved
significant success within the live entertainment industry, growing
from 170 to 450 clients, selling more than 500,000 tickets globally
and securing major partnerships with some of the best ticketing
companies around the world, including Ticketmaster, Eventbrite,
Paylogic and Frontage.
Verve's customers include Live Nation, AEG, C3, Bonnaroo, React
Presents, Bestival, Digital Dreams, Electric Zoo and many more.
With $28.5m raised to date, the company will use the new capital
to continue its global expansion within the live entertainment
sector, as well as enter new markets.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Draper Esprit plc
Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer)
Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer) +44 (0)20 7931 8800
Numis Securities
Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker
Alex Ham
Richard Thomas
Jamie Loughborough
Harry Trueman +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Goodbody Stockbrokers
ESM Adviser & Joint Broker
Don Harrington
Linda Hickey
Charlotte Craigie
Richard Tunney +353 1 667 0420
Belvedere Communications (PR)
John West
Kim van Beeck +44 (0)20 3567 0510
Notes to Editors
Draper Esprit is one of the most active capital firms in Europe,
developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology
companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable
of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their
growth with long- term capital, access to international networks
and decades of experience building businesses. Currently Draper
Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies
including Trustpilot, Graze, Perkbox, PushDoctor and Graphcore.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
UPDOKCDPFBDDOKK
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 10, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Molten Ventures (LSE:GROW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Molten Ventures (LSE:GROW)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024