Forward Partners Grp - Portfolio Update
08/12/2022 09:00
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RNS Number : 9826I Forward Partners Group PLC 08 December 2022
Forward Partners Group plc
("Forward Partners" or "the Group")
PORTFOLIO UPDATE AND ACCESS TO RECENT INVESTOR EVENT PRESENTATIONS
Forward Partners Group plc (LSE: FWD), the London-based investment firm
specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage technology businesses, is
pleased to announce three significant updates within its portfolio.
● Koyo expands credit facility to £100m and completes £5m equity
raise.
● Outthink completes a seed-stage $10m raise.
● Makers completes a £7m raise.
Koyo
Koyo (www.koyoloans.com (http://www.koyoloans.com) ), a UK-based open banking
powered consumer lender, has recently completed an expansion of its credit
facility to £100m and a £5m equity raise.
The company is the UK's biggest 'open banking led' lending platform. Its
technology enables accurate risk assessment, unlocking affordable credit for
new market segments. Koyo has grown rapidly since its inception in 2018,
partnering with every major UK comparison site and has originating over £50m
in credit over the last two years.
This recent credit facility has been secured from Atalaya Capital Management,
a New York-based alternative investment advisory firm. Force Over Mass led the
equity raise, with participation from Forward Partners, Frontline Ventures,
Atalaya Capital Management and high-net-worth investors. Forward invested
£0.5m into the raise.
The company will use the funding to invest in its leadership and expand their
reach into adjacent markets.
Outthink
Outthink (www.outthink.io (http://www.outthink.io) ), a cybersecurity human
risk management platform, recently completed a $10m raise in a seed stage
funding round.
The company's technology intelligently identifies, understands and manages
human risk by improving the attitudes and behaviours of employees and building
risk-aware security cultures in modern enterprises. It has grown rapidly and
is trusted by a growing number of large, complex organisations around the
world including Whirlpool, Danske Bank, Rothschild, NatWest and other FTSE 100
brands.
The funding round was led by AlbionVC with participation from Forward
Partners, TriplePoint Capital, Gapminder and Innovate UK. Forward invested
over £0.5m into the round.
The company will use the funding to expand its leadership expertise and
accelerate international distribution as its solution continues to gain market
traction.
Makers
Makers (www.makers.tech (http://www.makers.tech) ), a market-leading platform
for technology talent through courses and apprenticeships - often with a focus
on reskilling for the expanding software development industry - recently
completed a £7m raise. The company, which is run by Claudia Harris OBE,
offers a wide variety of bootcamp and apprenticeship courses, opening up
opportunities in technology for people who would not otherwise have had access
to them and providing their clients with diverse talent across their tech
teams.
The raise was led by BGF. Forward invested £0.5m and continues to hold a
significant stake in the business.
The company will use the funding to transform more lives and more
organisations by building out its product suite across additional tech
verticals. Following the launch of its Devops course last year, these new
products will include highly sought-after technical training in Testing and
Data.
Nic Brisbourne, CEO at Forward Partners, commented: "We are pleased to update
the market on these exciting, positive developments within our portfolio.
These start-ups continue to solve acute problems for people and industries
through visionary thinking, new technology and challenger mindsets. Many
companies within our portfolio continue to grow, demonstrate strong
fundamentals and significant potential. It's great to see validation of our
convictions through these rounds led by great investors, particularly at a
time when they are being more selective in their deployment of capital.
Despite the challenging macro-economic backdrop, we operate in a market with
exciting long-term growth potential, and we remain excited about our portfolio
companies' prospects for growth."
NOTES
Material from Forward's investor event
Presentation slides and a video recording of the Company's 'Meet Forward and
the Portfolio' investor event, hosted on 23 November 2022 are available to
view on the Company's Investor Centre:
https://forwardpartners.com/investor-centre.
ENDS
Enquiries
Forward Partners Group plc via H/Advisors Maitland
Nic Brisbourne, Chief Executive Officer
Liberum Capital Limited Tel: +44 20 3100 2222
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Neil Patel
Lauren Kettle
Cara Murphy
H/Advisors Maitland forwardpartners@h-advisors.global
(Financial PR) Tel: +44 (0) 207 379 5151
Sam Turvey
Alistair de Kare-Silver
About Forward Partners
Founded in 2013, Forward Partners is an established and respected London-based
venture capital firm, specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage
technology businesses in the UK.
The Group brings together venture capital provider Forward Ventures and highly
specialised growth support from Forward Studio. This model supports founders
to build stronger businesses faster to provide better outcomes for companies
and investors alike.
The Group makes equity investments in early-stage, high-growth UK companies,
and from inception to its admission to London's AIM market in July 2021 had
made over 60 unique investments and built a portfolio with an Initial
Portfolio NAV in excess of £100m. It holds a nine-year track record of making
venture capital investments, and targets underlying NAV growth of 20% per
annum over the cycle.
The management team brings together highly experienced venture capitalists,
entrepreneurs, and expert consultants. Since 2015, Forward Partners has been
backed by BlackRock, one of the largest institutional investors in the world.
The Group receives over 4,000 start-up funding applications every year.
For more information, visit https://forwardpartners.com
(https://forwardpartners.com)
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