The Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) programme at Birmingham Science Park Aston (BSPA) has helped tech start up CivicoLive secure a £150,000 investment from venture capital fund Creative Advantage Fund (CAF).
CivicoLive is an innovative web streaming service aimed at local councils and public facing organisations, allowing them to integrate video feeds from live meetings and events to social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.
Mentors from e4f helped CivicoLive to identify CAF as a potential funder, formalise its business plan and prepare for its pitch. The investment, which is in the form of an equity share, will now enable CivicoLive to take its product to market.
Daniel Cremin, director of CivicoLive, said: “The UK has seen a resurgent interest in the democratic process recently, following the parliamentary expenses scandal and the first hung parliament for decades. Even with talk of austere cutbacks in the forthcoming Budget, there is still increased pressure for public bodies to become far more transparent and open – very much the spirit of David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ aspiration.
“The funding from CAF will allow us to approach the 387 local councils in the UK who haven’t even experimented with webcasting in the last 24 months and demonstrate how implementing a solution like CivicoLive can them save time, resources and money.”
Thomas Dillon, Chairman of Creative Advantage Fund, said: “We exist to provide finance to creative SMEs in the West Midlands that just isn’t available in any other way. CivicoLive is a perfect example of the type of company we support, as it offers a highly original use of technology which has huge commercial potential. In future years, the returns we achieve from CivicoLive will be reinvested into other creative businesses to allow them to thrive and prosper.”
CAF is a Birmingham-based venture capital fund for the creative industries which makes investments in SMEs with a view to capital growth. Since it was founded in 2000, its portfolio has included companies in television, film, software, theatre, toy design and jewellery.
Mr Dillon added: “We are currently seeking to make investments of between £75,000 and £150,000 in SMEs based on individual creativity and the exploitation of intellectual property. If your business is located in the region and could benefit from equity investment, then we want to hear from you.”
Simon Jenner, head of incubation at e4f, said: “The funding secured by CivicoLive truly demonstrates the benefit of schemes such as ours, helping firms find a route out of incubation and into the next phase of trading. BSPA is a flexible environment, meaning we can accommodate companies as they grow, from a single entrepreneur up to a workforce of 200 people – and still provide access to the dynamic knowledge economy we’ve built here.”
e4f is a dedicated programme to help the next generation of Birmingham-based entrepreneurs deliver commercial success. The programme is run by Birmingham Science Park Aston and funded by Birmingham City Council and Be Birmingham through the Working Neighbourhoods Fund.
For further information about CivicoLive, visit www.civicolive.com or email daniel@civcolive.com.
e4f is still open to new applicants. For further information contact Simon Jenner on 0121 250 3503 or email Simonj@bsp-a.com. Alternatively, log onto www.bsp-a.com/e4f.
For further information on CAF, visit www.creativeadvantagefund.co.uk or email enquiries@creativeadvantagefund.co.uk.
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