Firm raises further £400k to expand its events platform

A company whose events software platform is used by organisers of international sports competitions has raised £400,000 to support its further growth.

Iventis has secured investment from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and the government’s Future Fund. The Lincoln-based company, which has been bucking the industry trend, is planning to use the funding to create seven new jobs.

Iventis is the leading platform of its type for large events, exhibitions and festivals. It enables large teams to collaborate online to plan and manage complex operations by bringing together mapping, architectural drawings and other data.

The company, which was founded by Joe Cusdin who had worked on the London 2012 Summer Olympics, says the pandemic has increased demand for its software. Although major events and festivals have been postponed, reorganising them while taking into account social distancing and events teams working from home has highlighted the need for online tools and more detailed planning.

The latest funding round follows a £250,000 investment by MEIF last year.

Iventis Non-Executive Chairman, Keith Greetham, said: 

“I’m delighted to see Iventis make huge leaps forward in its growth. The company is recruiting talent from within the events industry, which has suffered immensely during the pandemic. We already have high-profile early adopters of the Iventis software, many of which are relying on its capabilities to reschedule and redesign their events.”

Sandy Reid, Investment Director at Mercia, added: 

“Iventis is well positioned to help the events industry reorganise events and recover from the impact of the pandemic. The business continues to build relationships with top-level global event organisers and this investment will allow it to expand its team further as client numbers increase.”

Lewis Stringer, Senior Manager at the British Business Bank said: 

“The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is committed to ensuring Midlands’ businesses have access to the finance they need to grow. This latest investment will enable Iventis to develop its innovative software platform, whilst creating new job opportunities in the region.”

Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: 

“Iventis is a great example of an innovative Lincolnshire tech business and we’re very pleased to see its growth supported by this funding.

“The events and festivals sector has been hit hard by the pandemic and we applaud Iventis for adapting and innovating in order to support event organisers in the UK and around the world.

“It’s fantastic to see more and more businesses thriving in the emerging digital cluster we have here, and good to see that they’re being nurtured in a really supportive business environment.”

The Midlands Engine 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.

ENDS

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Mercia Asset Management PLC
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About Iventis

Iventis enables organisers and stakeholders of large-scale operations to work more collaboratively and efficiently.

They create and deliver customised and bespoke tools for major event operations, where teams can grow from small to very large in a short period of time, or for teams working across sizable geographical locations, such as construction sites or transportation networks.  

The easy to use systems can be made available to all employees and relevant stakeholders/partners. It enables efficient planning and time saving and reduces errors, inconsistencies and duplication of work. In addition, by taking advantage of connections between data sets, it highlights new insights and analytical opportunities.

About Mercia Asset Management PLC

Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of balance sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital: the Group’s ‘Complete Capital Solution’. The Group initially nurtures businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from its own balance sheet.

Mercia has a strong UK regional footprint through its eight offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia has almost £0.8billion of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over £90.0million across its direct investment portfolio.

The Group raises its own Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds and details about open offers can be found through Mercia’s website.

Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the epic “MERC” and includes the following wholly owned subsidiaries –

• Mercia Fund Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 524856
• Enterprise Ventures Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 183363
• EV Business Loans Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 443560

www.mercia.co.uk

About the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF)

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund will invest in Debt Finance, Small Business Loans, Proof of Concept and Equity Finance funds, ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding they need for growth and development.

The Midlands Engine 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 Midlands Engine 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 MEIF covers the following LEP areas: Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, The Marches, and Worcestershire in the West Midlands; and Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham & Nottinghamshire (D2N2) Greater Lincolnshire, Leicester and Leicestershire, and South East Midlands in the East Midlands.

The project is receiving up to £78,550,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for 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 www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

The funds in which Midlands Engine Investment Fund invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in, the West Midlands and East & South East Midlands.

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

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s 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. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank programmes are supporting more than £7.2bn of finance to over 93,000 smaller businesses (as at end of September 2019).

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to smaller businesses:

·         The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21 business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized companies. Businesses can take the interactive journey at www.thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb.

• The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for growth finance.

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and 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, none of which are authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.