Liverpool-based Simul Software Ltd receives £150k of NPIF funding to develop successor product, SimulCaster

Simulation software developers, Simul Software Ltd, has received a £150k investment from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The fund is delivered by MSIF working with Maven Capital Partners in the Liverpool City Region.

Founded in October 2007, Simul is a simulation software company that specializes in real-time rendering. TrueSKY, one of the company’s best-selling products, offers real-time rendered weather & sky for use in games and simulation markets, with customers including Sony, Microsoft Game Studios, Ubisoft and Boeing. With trueSKY, Simul pioneered the use of raytracing in real-time applications, which has since been adopted widely in the industry.

Following this, Simul Software has secured £150k of NPIF funding to invest in the development of a new VR streaming technology, “SimulCaster”. SimulCaster enables cloud experiences (entertainment, industrial engineering, medicine and education) for VR/AR. In SimulCaster, a patent-pending algorithm is used to distribute the application between client and server devices.

The NPIF funding will allow Simul to build the product to a fully working and demonstrable prototype stage, with the view to taking the software to market in 2020.

Andy Critchley, MSIF Investment Manager, who delivered the investment on behalf of Maven Capital said: “It has been a pleasure to with Roderick and the team at Simul. They have extensive knowledge and expertise, which they have used to create yet another impressive product. I look forward to the developments 2019 will bring and I anticipate the success of the market launch.”

Roderick Kennedy, Founder and Director of Simul Software Ltd, said: “The investment from NPIF has allowed Simul Software to pursue a technological breakthrough for VR and AR. Working with Andy, we felt supported every step of the way. He took the time to fully understand our business needs and growth goals.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank. 

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit www.npif.co.uk.

ENDS

Press contact:

Callum Brookes
Account Executive, MC2
[email protected]
0161 236 1352

Maven contact:
Nikola Clarke
[email protected]
0161 233 3520

About Maven Capital Partners UK LLP   

About Maven Capital Partners UK LLP
www.mavencp.com
@maven_cp

Maven Capital Partners UK LLP (Maven) is an independent private equity house focused on the provision of flexible equity and debt funding for UK SMEs, and one of the most active managers in the UK having invested over £350 million in British businesses since 2009.

Headquartered in Glasgow, and with other offices throughout the UK, Maven has over 80 investment and support professionals providing a truly nationwide coverage. Maven has £600 million funds under management and ready to invest, and manages assets for a variety of client funds, including Venture Capital Trusts, UK regional fund mandates, and Maven Investor Partners – a syndicate of institutional, family office and experienced investors.

For more information about Maven visit: www.mavencp.com and funds.mavencp.com/npif

• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will invest in Microfinance, Business Loans and Equity Finance sub-funds which will offer financing ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.
• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity,
• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British Business Bank group company.
• The NPIF covers the following LEP areas: Tees Valley Combined Authority, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Humber, Leeds City Region, Sheffield City Region, York, North Yorkshire and East Riding
• The project is receiving up to £140,359,192 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for the European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.
• The funds in which Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in, Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and Tees Valley.
• The British Business Bank has published the Business Finance Guide (in partnership with the ICAEW, and a further 21 business and finance organisations). The guide, which  impartially sets out the range finance options available to businesses and provides links to support available at a regional level, is available at www.thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb

British Business Bank plc is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH. As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, it is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of subsidiaries, one of which is authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Financial Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, registered in England and Wales, registration number 09174621, registered office at Foundry House, 3 Millsands, Sheffield, S3 8NH.  It is not authorised or regulated by the PRA or FCA.

More information, including a legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries, can be found on the British Business Bank website.