TIDMGROW
RNS Number : 3211K
Draper Esprit PLC
13 December 2018
Draper Esprit plc
("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")
Fourth Lead Investment since October announced: FINALCAD $40m
growth round
Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital
firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology
businesses, today announces it is leading a $40.0 million
investment in FINALCAD, the leading building, infrastructure and
construction mobile software platform.
Other recent investments led by Draper Esprit include $14.0 m
Form3 Series B round, $31m Series A Fluidic Analytics round and a
GBP14.5m ($19.0m) growth round for Crowdcube, in addition to the
previously announced Secondary portfolio acquisition of DFJ Europe
X fund for GBP25.9 million ($33.7 million).
FINALCAD
FINALCAD improves construction companies' operational efficiency
through a mobile digital platform. Site engineers, Foremen,
Architects and Consultants can collaborate using FINALCAD's app,
enabling collaboration across a wide variety of workflows both on
site and at the office.
The building and construction industry has been a slow adopter
of digital technology; using predominantly manual, non-digital
processes and FINALCAD is experiencing very strong growth as a
result.
Draper Esprit invested GBP12.4 million (EUR14.0million) in the
round, alongside international investors Cathay Innovation and
Salesforce Ventures. The latest Series C funding round brings the
total funds raised by FINALCAD to $60m. The investment will be used
to extend the product platform into the energy, operations and
maintenance sectors, increase headcount globally, and to invest
further in R&D.
Crowdcube
In November, the Group, including Draper Esprit's co-investment
EIS and VCT funds, invested GBP6m, of which GBP4.0m was by the
Company, in Crowdcube. This was part of a GBP14.5 million raise
from both the crowd and other institutional investors.
Crowdcube is the UK's leading equity crowdfunding platform with
a leading share of the GBP200m+ UK market in 2017. Crowdfunding is
becoming a more prevalent form of fundraising, with one in four
entrepreneurs choosing to crowdfund over other forms of equity
finance.
Fluidic Analytics
Fluidic Analytics Ltd, the Cambridge-based protein
characterisation firm, raised $31.0 million to continue developing
its transformational products for characterising proteins and their
behaviour. Fluidic Analytics' products are based on a proprietary
technology platform from the University of Cambridge, with the
potential to help researchers understand the mechanisms underlying
major diseases, aiding in drug development and accuracy of
diagnosis.
The funding round was led by Draper Esprit, investing GBP8.0m,
of which GBP4.0m was invested by the Company. The proceeds of the
financing will be used to continue the commercial roll-out of
Fluidic Analytic's lab-tools pipeline, and to develop further
high-value clinical applications of its technology.
Form3
Draper Esprit led Form3's recent $13.0m Series B funding round,
investing GBP7.0m, of which GBP3.5m by the Company, alongside
existing shareholders Barclays Bank plc, Angel CoFund and several
private investors.
Form3, the cloud technology provider of Payments-as-a-Service
processing for banks and regulated fintech companies, has solved
one of the more challenging problems the financial services
industry faces, namely sending and receiving payments in real time.
Form3's platform significantly reduces the time taken to deploy new
propositions and reduces operating costs. Existing customers
include Ebury, N26, Tandem Bank, LHV Bank and myPOS.
Simon Cook, CEO at Draper Esprit, commented:
"These four investments demonstrate our position as one of
Europe's most active VC firms, the attractiveness of our GBP500m+
evergreen capital and global network to potential investees, and
the growing diversity of our portfolio across fintech, deep tech
and digital health. This offers our investors access to companies
with the potential to disrupt the industries that they operate
within. With new investments in FINALCAD and Form3, and follow-on
capital in Fluidic Analytics and Crowdcube, we're thrilled to see
such a diverse range of companies joining, and growing within, the
Draper Esprit family. We are further pleased to have concluded
another key secondary acquisition, having been the active pioneers
in secondary VC investments for over 12 years including single
companies and portfolios."
*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
Richard Thomas
Jamie Loughborough +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Goodbody Stockbrokers
ESM Adviser & Joint Broker
Don Harrington
Charlotte Craigie +44 (0)20 3841 6202
MHP Communications (PR)
Reg Hoare
Pete Lambie
Flo Mayo +44 (0)20 3128 8570
About Draper Esprit
Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in
Europe, helping to build and invest in disruptive, high growth
technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe
are capable of building the global businesses of the future, by
partnering with the global Draper Venture Network with VC funds in
22 countries. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access
to international networks and decades of experience building
businesses. Draper Esprit's portfolio includes global technology
leaders such as Trustpilot, Ledger, Perkbox, Revolut, and
Graphcore. Recent successful exits include Grapeshot, Clavis
Insight, Tails.com, and Movidius.
Visit www.draperesprit.com
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END
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