Cloud 8 secures £750k Seed Follow On investment from Mercia

Employee benefits platform raises £750k from Mercia

A company which has developed a digital employee benefits platform has raised £750,000 from Mercia to further enhance its product.

Cloud8’s platform BEAM at Work allows employee benefits consultancies and other advisers to deliver services online, and improve efficiency and client service. It aims to fill a gap in the market for an easy-to-use platform that is accessible to companies of all sizes, including SMEs. Launched two years ago, it is already being used by a wide range of consultancies and has recently signed a deal with a leading employee benefits provider.

Cloud8 was established by an experienced management team led by Ian Rummels, who had previously founded employee benefits business Premier Employment Solutions. The Bristol-based company raised its initial seed round in March 2020. The latest funding round, which comes from Mercia’s EIS funds, brings the total raised to date to £2.75m.

Julian Dennard, EIS fund principal at Mercia, which recently launched an office in Bristol, said: 

“There is increasing demand from employee benefits consultancies for a simple, easy-to-use and affordable technology platform that allows them to deliver employee benefit services to their clients more efficiently.

“BEAM at Work has been designed specifically to service the historically neglected SME market with a product truly fit-for-purpose. Our investment will help bring forward new features, build the team and enhance the sales and marketing activity. It has been a pleasure working with Dipa and the team over recent months and we look forward to supporting the business over the coming years.”

Dipa Mistry Kandola, CEO of Cloud8, commented: 

“I am confident that, with our current investor support and this investment from Mercia, we will continue to disrupt our stagnated employee benefits tech marketplace with simple affordable pricing, market expertise and an even faster ‘quick and easy’ client deployment process by the end of the year.”

ENDS

 

 

Press contacts

Alison Dwyer

Head of Marketing & Communications

Mercia Asset Management PLC

+44 (0) 7464 480 137

[email protected] 

Pauline Rawsterne

PR Agent

Turquoise PR

+44 (0) 161 860 6063

+44 (0) 780 163 9816

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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 Connected Capital’. 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.

The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow. Mercia currently has c.£940million of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested c.£111million gross into its direct investment portfolio.

The Group raises its own Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Funds and manages Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) 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

Safiya Marzook

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