Draper Esprit PLC New Investments (1280T)

TIDMGROW

RNS Number : 1280T

Draper Esprit PLC

10 October 2017

10 October 2017

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit" or the "the Group")

NEW INVESTEE COMPANIES RAISE A TOTAL OF GBP59 MILLION

WITH GBP17 MILLION INVESTED BY DRAPER ESPRIT

Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, announces that funds managed by the Group have recently committed GBP17 million into three exciting new European based digital technology businesses: Ieso Digital Health; Insurtech Company Premfina; and Verve, the world's leading word-of-mouth sales software for live entertainment.

In aggregate, these companies have recently completed fundraising rounds totaling over $75 million

In the four month period to 30 September 2017, following the GBP100 million raise in June, Draper Esprit has invested a total of GBP26.5 million from the plc and a further GBP12.0 million from across the Group, into new and existing portfolio companies including Graphcore, Perkbox, Trustpilot, Pushdoctor.

Simon Cook, CEO of Draper Esprit plc, commented:

"We want to help build large successful European technology companies that can compete on the global stage and all three of these recent investments have that potential. Premfina has innovated on the traditional insurance model, having built a strong SaaS revenue model with excellent growth. Ieso is a perfect example of the kind of company we like to invest in in the digital health space. It has a strong clinical platform and a scalable model that is delivering robust outcomes with high levels of quality control. Verve has already proven word-of-mouth is a scalable and powerful tool for live entertainment.

"We are now in a position to invest larger amounts in investee companies and retain the ability to hold and grow these companies for much longer than our non-listed competitors can. With larger sums available for later rounds entrepreneurs are increasingly realising that partnering with us maximises the opportunity to scale their businesses quickly."

The three recent investments are:

PremFina Ltd (www.premfina.com)

Draper Esprit co-led a $36 million equity funding and debt facility investment alongside Rakuten Capital, Thomvest Ventures, Emery Capital, Rubicon Venture Capital, Talis Capital and the company's founder in PremFina a UK-based premium finance company.

PremFina supplies insurance brokers with their own branded premium financing service with a software package to manage the sale of broker-branded insurance policies to consumers and businesses, and the ability to finance insurance premiums via instalments. With PremFina, brokers receive higher profit, greater autonomy and opportunity to increase the lifetime value of their customers as well as the chance to cross-sell and up-sell additional products.

Ieso Digital Health (https://UK.IesoHealth.com)

Draper co-led an GBP18 million funding round, investing GBP7.5 million alongside existing investor Touchstone Innovations, as part of round to accelerate growth in Ieso's home market and the commercialisation of its transformative technology platform in the US.

The funding round is the largest amount raised by a digital behavioural health business in Europe.

Cambridge, UK based, Ieso Digital Health's breakthrough technology, is transforming the way mental health is delivered. Ieso provides patients with access to secure, one-on-one, real-time, evidence based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programmes, delivered by accredited therapists, at a time that is convenient for patients. Ieso's intelligent technology platform is both cost effective and removes many of the significant barriers preventing treatment, including stigma and accessibility, whilst also giving its therapist network computing assisted guides and insights to continually enhance their performance and clinical outcomes.

More than 16,700 patients have been treated to date and Ieso now leads the way in digital therapy as the number one provider of on-line CBT in the UK and has also recently expanded into the USA. Unlike many other online or digital services Ieso's method was validated in a randomised clinical trial published in The Lancet in 2009. With innovation at the heart of Ieso's patient-centred approach, Ieso is continuously improving its service by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to constantly enhance its therapist support and feedback, ensuring best in class treatment for patient and therapist now and into the future.

Verve (https://verve.co )

Draper Esprit led an $18.5 million funding round including former investors, Kindred, Frontline Ventures, and Backed VC in Verve, the world's leading word-of-mouth sales software for live entertainment. Verve is building a global platform that enables people to sell the products they love to their friends in exchange for rewards. Over the last 12 months, Verve has achieved significant success within the live entertainment industry, growing from 170 to 450 clients, selling more than 500,000 tickets globally and securing major partnerships with some of the best ticketing companies around the world, including Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, Paylogic and Frontage.

Verve's customers include Live Nation, AEG, C3, Bonnaroo, React Presents, Bestival, Digital Dreams, Electric Zoo and many more.

With $28.5m raised to date, the company will use the new capital to continue its global expansion within the live entertainment sector, as well as enter new markets.

Ends

For further information, please contact:

 
Draper Esprit plc 
 Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer) 
 Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer)   [phone] 
Numis Securities 
 Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker 
 Alex Ham 
 Richard Thomas 
 Jamie Loughborough 
 Harry Trueman                             [phone] 
Goodbody Stockbrokers 
 ESM Adviser & Joint Broker 
 Don Harrington 
 Linda Hickey 
 Charlotte Craigie 
 Richard Tunney                             [phone] 
Belvedere Communications (PR) 
 John West 
 Kim van Beeck                             [phone] 
 

Notes to Editors

Draper Esprit is one of the most active capital firms in Europe, developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Currently Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies including Trustpilot, Graze, Perkbox, PushDoctor and Graphcore.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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October 10, 2017 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)