Sesame Bankhall Group and Aviva have backed the technology start-up to scale its team and expand its market reach.
"After undertaking a comprehensive 12-month review of the market, we concluded that we could no longer ignore the new competitive threats circling around our profession and we had to act. Working with Aviva Ventures, we saw an opportunity to turn the threat posed by new disruptive technology on its head. Acre will bring the latest technology know-how, and that coupled with our distribution expertise will help advisers and their clients reap the benefits."
The seed round was led by TechStart Ventures and supported by Ascension Ventures alongside angel investors.
"We are delighted to close this Seed round. Not only will this investment allow us to accelerate the development of the ChilliConnect platform, developing innovative live operations and game backend features, but we can now market the platform to an even larger range of potential customers. Having access to the knowledge and networks of both TechStart Ventures and Ascension Ventures is a massive benefit. We’re looking forward to working with these top drawer early-stage funds."
Growth Capital Partners takes a minority stake in the software consultancy to support further scale and reach.
"After five years of funding growth ourselves, we are delighted to be bringing Growth Capital Partners on board as a minority shareholder. GCP specialises in supporting high-growth UK businesses, has proven expertise in the technology sector and considerable know-how and networks in our current and future growth markets. There is a very good cultural fit between our teams and we are looking forward to working together during the next phase of growth."
LDC takes a minority stake in managed IT services provider Littlefish to support its expansion strategy and future acquisitions.
"We have a fantastic team at Littlefish and with their hard work and dedication we’ve been able to grow the business into a truly formidable player. We know what our customers want and how to deliver it successfully. To embark on the next stage of our strategy we need to bring a partner on board that will give us the firepower to build on this momentum and scale, as we continue to successfully compete against our much larger rivals."
The York-based e-commerce personalisation software platform has raised £750k in its second investment from NPIF, Mercia Equity Finance within the past year.
"We are extremely excited to receive the next round of funding. Our advanced ecommerce personalisation solution is developing at a fast rate and our clients are experiencing fantastic results with increase in online revenue of 26%. This investment reflects not only the confidence in our company growth but also the unique service we are providing within the Artificial Intelligence field. Our plans to advance our AI platform and extend our marketing reach globally will help facilitate and expedite this success."
