A global syndicate of High Net Worth Individuals has launched an innovative investment scheme as a strategic alternative to the traditional model of Venture Capital (VC) funding.

• Led by successful investors Andrew Jenkins and Jeremy Middleton CBE
• First investment £1.5 million for London-based Akkroo
• £7.5 million raised in first six months
• Looking for new investors to join the partnership.

The syndicate, Conviction Investment Partners (CIP), offers ‘Just in Time’ finance to a select number of fast growing companies.

Rather than providing large blocks of expensive capital upfront, the ‘Just in Time’ model invests smaller amounts of money each year, providing that the company hits its growth targets. This means that founders of companies are typically diluted much less than if they were funded through a traditional VC model.

It also means that syndicate investors can take smaller positions and add to them only when and if the investee companies hit their high growth targets.

The CIP syndicate invests exclusively in high-growth early stage companies that employ the Cloud to build disruptive Software as a Service (SaaS) based model.

The first investment of £1.5 million was for Akkroo, a SaaS enabled Event Lead Capture solution built for B2B organisations that regularly exhibit at trade shows and exhibitions. Akkroo delivers event qualified leads from the show floor directly into existing marketing and CRM systems. It already has more than 150 blue chip clients and sales are growing 200-300% per annum, the company raised funds for its global rollout.

The Conviction partnership is led by founding shareholder Andrew Jenkins, who has invested in disruptive technologies for 10 years, most notably Mimecast, which is now Nasdaq listed at over $2bn.

Andrew is supported by Jeremy Middleton CBE, Managing Director of successful private investment company Middleton Enterprises Limited, and co-founder of home emergencies repairs business HomeServe plc, now a FTSE 250 company valued at over £2.5bn

Andrew said: “Since the success of Mimecast I have been a firm advocate of the Just in Time financing method. Mutual benefits are achieved by both the founders and investors.

“We were pleased to be able to offer the co-investment opportunity in Akkroo, which was a great success. This is being followed by Oradian, an award-winning fintech company, with a vision to boost financial inclusion by enabling financial institutions to grow and serve more clients, which is a very exciting prospect.”

Jeremy said: “We are high conviction investors, hence the name Conviction Investment Partners!  Both Andrew and I act as lead investors and always personally invest.”

If you would like to know more about the co-investment opportunities available, contact CIP COO Rebecca Roberts, on [email protected].