North East Development Capital Fund invests £750,000 in SoPost
Online product sampling specialist, which helps brands get products to engaged customers, set for growth following investment

The North East Development Capital Fund (“the NEDCF”), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Maven Capital Partners (“Maven”), has invested £750,000 in the product sampling platform, SoPost. The business, which helps brand partners run highly effective product sampling campaigns online, will utilise the funding to accelerate its product roadmap, extend its publisher, retail and agency partnerships, as well as fund its expansion into new markets.

SoPost is one of the North East’s most successful start-ups in the technology sector in recent years, enjoying year-on-year growth since it was established in 2012 and ranking 49^th in the 2020 Sunday Times Tech Track 100 list of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK.  It has built up an impressive blue-chip client base over that period, including major brands within the beauty, fragrance, food and beverage markets.

SoPost’s platform allows its customers to run highly targeted and data driven product sampling campaigns through a broad range of social media platforms and display advertising. It also undertakes the associated fulfilment of the product to consumers providing a one-stop-shop from the point of activation.

Its innovative visualisation platform, ‘Campaign Manager’, enables customers to track all of the key metrics associated with a sampling campaign in real time, alongside providing highly relevant benchmark insights. Campaign Manager can integrate with a customer’s existing CRM system, allowing for the seamless transfer of data.

The NEDCF, which is part of The North East Fund, a £120 million investment programme available to businesses across Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, was set up to support the growth aspirations of innovative companies like SoPost. The business will use the capital to further invest in its proprietary data visualisation platform, increase its footprint across key territories in Europe and North America, and build out its available consumer audiences through further publisher and ad tech partnerships.

David Nixon, Investment Manager at Maven, said:

“We have been impressed by how the business has scaled in recent years and the ambition of management to continue to drive sales and platform enhancements, whilst looking to expand into new markets. SoPost is an exciting high growth business with a compelling proposition and is an excellent example of the type of company that the North East Development Capital Fund was set-up to support. Today’s funding will enable SoPost to accelerate its growth plans and capitalise on the increasing global demand for cosmetic products and online shopping.”

Jonathan Grubin, Founder & CEO at SoPost, added: 

“We’re building something really special here at SoPost, and over the past eight years have demonstrated our ability to grow quickly and sustainably. I’m delighted that our partnership with Maven gives us the ability to accelerate our growth plans, and I’m excited to ramp up our investment in Newcastle, as well as in our key markets.” 

—ends—

Further information

For media enquiries or any questions about the investment, please contact:

Maven Capital Partners
David Nixon 07483 068 704 [email protected]
Steven Ford 07580 792 608 [email protected]

Sapience (PR to Maven)
Richard Morgan Evans 020 3195 3240 [email protected]
Borja Miquel 020 3195 3240 [email protected]

Notes to Editors

About Maven Capital Partners UK LLP       www.mavencp.com

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 £500 million in British businesses since 2009.

Headquartered in Glasgow, and with eleven offices throughout the UK, Maven has over 90 investment and support professionals providing a truly nationwide coverage. Maven has £660 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.

About SoPost

SoPost is building the most powerful product sampling platform in the world, with a focus on relevance, data and analytics. Founded by Jonathan Grubin in 2012, SoPost’s platform is used by hundreds of brands in 14 countries, to deliver highly effective sampling campaigns through a range of online channels. SoPost employs 42 people across its offices in Newcastle, London and New York, and was ranked as the 49^th fastest growing company in the 2020 Sunday Times Tech Track 100’s listing of the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies.

About The North East Fund

The North East Fund is a suite of five venture capital and loan funds which was established in April 2018, to invest £120m in around 600 North East businesses in the period to March 2023.  The fund managers provide business development advice and investment finance to small and medium sized enterprises based in the seven Local Authority areas of North East England: Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle, South Tyneside, Gateshead Sunderland and County Durham.  The programme encourages investment in and the commercialisation of new technologies, including low carbon technologies, as well as stimulating new business creation, private investment and entrepreneurialism in the North East, with a view to creating over 2,500 new jobs.  The North East Fund has overall responsibility for the programme, which is delivered through five separate funds, each managed by independent, FCA regulated fund managers.  Details of these, and up to date information on the progress of the programme, is available on The North East Fund’s website: www.northeastfund.org

The North East Fund has been established with funding from the North East of England European Regional Development Fund programme, the European Investment Bank and from returns on previous North East based, publicly supported investment funds.  It is jointly owned by the seven North East local authorities.

About the European Regional Development Fund

The North East Fund will receive up to £58,500,000 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 https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

About the European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend up to £60,000,000 to the North East Fund programme.  The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.  For more information, visit: http://www.eib.org