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
• Currently raising £10M for two high-growth companies, the first being London-based Akkroo
• Looking for new investors to join the partnership.

The syndicate, called 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 models. It is currently raising £10M for two high-growth companies, the first being London-based Akkroo.

Akkroo is 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. They already have over 150 blue chip clients and sales are growing 200-300% per annum, they are now raising funds for their 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

The syndicate has been co-funding ventures since the mid-2000’s, and is now looking for new investors to join the partnership.

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 are pleased to be able to offer the co-investment opportunity in Akkroo. There is a large total addressable market and Akkroo has a huge global opportunity to become the de-facto leader in this emerging space. To date all of our deals have oversubscribed due to their quality and we expect the same of Akkroo.”

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.”