Londion-based computer security company BullGuard has received US$5 million (£3.4 million) from international venture capital firm DFJ ePlanet Ventures. The company has said it plans to use the funding to expand into Germany as well as hiring a new channel sales director for the UK.
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SCOTTY Group has announced it has won €1 million (£830,000) of new orders.
The AIM-quoted company – which turned a £765,000 loss into £977,000 pre-tax profits in the year to June, on turnover up 42 per cent to £6.8 million – says latest orders include five maritime ‘Telemed’ packages for an onboard hospital for the German Navy, aircraft tracking kit for the German Army and emergency response equipment for the Chinese national railways.
SCOTTY shares, which have fallen sharply from their 103.75p June peak, now trade at 49p, valuing the company at £9.9 million.
News that Illumix has received £1.5 million in venture capital funding in order to set up a technical centre in the North-east of England.
The company’s technology aims to help large corporations with complex IT infrastructures to more accurately align IT resources with business requirements.
Chief technology officer Andrew Parker said: In many cases, businesses are supporting expensive legacy IT platforms that could be greatly optimised in terms of performance and operating costs.’
Here’s a list of the top ten IT focused companies* in the annual Fortune 500 list. Rankings are based on 2007 total revenues.
$104.3 bn
$98.8 bn
$61.1bn
$51.1bn
$46.7bn
$40.4bn
$38.3bn
$38.1bn
$34.9bn
$27.6bn
* Companies that derive the majority of their revenue from sales of information technology products or services. Excluded are technology product distributors, electronic component makers, telecoms companies and mobile phone manufacturers.
Glasgow-based venture capitalist Pentech has raised £45 million for its latest fund, which will invest in software companies in the UK and Ireland. The fund will back businesses with global potential in the enterprise software, telecoms software, internet and mobile sectors.
More info at Growth Business…
Geneva based Neo Media has subscribed for £300,000 of convertible loans in bombed out digital screen media company Avanti Screenmedia.
AIM-quoted Avanti lost £5.6 million (plus another £25 million on disposals) in the year to June 2007 and a further £2.5 million in the six months to December. Last November, the London-based company raised £987,000 in shares and convertibles at 7p and in December it tapped the market for another £150,000 at the same price.
More details at Growth Comapny Investor
Google’s latest quarterly results have been posted and the SmoothSpan blog has some interesting comments on its article: Google Anti-Gravity Ray is Fading
Information Age magazine has highlighted a couple of tech-related nuggets from the latest M&S annual report
The UK’s most famous retailer has earmarked £450 million for IT spending over the next three years in a bid to push into international and online markets and ease its reliance on the ailing UK retail environment.
“We’re planning to take more control of our logistics from source to store, allowing us to monitor our stock more efficiently and improve margins,” the report said.
The report also revealed the company’s motivation for this IT focus – it’s online business, M&S Direct, grew 70% over the year (making £300 million in sales), while international sales grew 16% bringing in £713 million.
From the online edition of Growth Business news of a shake up at Securstore, the online back-up and recovery business with data centres in the UK and Iceland.
Orn Gunnarsson is the new CEO – he stepped down recently as managing director at Saga Capital Investment Bank – replacing Alexander Eiriksson, who will become the company’s chief operating officer.
Bjarni Armannson has become a new non-exec. He is a director of US private equity firm Paine & Partners.
Both are taking a 25% stake in the business.
The Key Revolution is a technology developer that has a product allowing nomadic computer users to work from any machine without leaving traces behind them. Its main product is a USB key with an embedded SIM card and PIN protection that allows users to access standard Windows applications, browse the internet, and collaborate in a secure environment. The company’s management team consists of former employees of Vodafone, which holds a patent on the technology and is a shareholder in the company. The chief executive is Adrian Burholt.
According to GrowthBusiness.co.uk, the Key Revolution has secured a £1.25 million from Octopus Ventures via its Titan VCTs. Octopus has announced that it had received a ‘substantial’ holding in the company in return for its investment.
The product commenced beta testing with paying customers in February and a full launch is anticipated later this summer.
