Selected Completions 2010

2011 Completions | Recent Completions

BIO-TECHNOLOGY

Additional £60,000 December

Bringing total funds raised to £279,000

This client is developing a simple urine-based diagnostic test for bladder cancer, to replace the more expensive and unpleasant test used at present. The company won the top cancer award at the prestigious Medical Futures in December 2008. It has also been awarded a £100,000 Research Grant for R&D.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Lawrence Fenelon – Midlands Region

SOFTWARE FOR THE RETAIL INDUSTRY

£1m December

The client is a software company specialising in a solution for detecting, analysing and managing internal losses for the retail sector. It has been trading for four years and has established itself in the UK market. It is now seeking to expand into Europe and the US. As a result of attending our Investment Fair they met with a Venture Capital company who made the total investment, with the majority being an equity stake.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Keith Jones – London Region

BETTER TESTING FOR FOOD TOXINS

Additional rounds October & December

Bringing total funds raised to £1.3m

First round investment came from ten Angel investors in late 2008 who included two industry insiders. A new CEO was installed shortly after. This round has attracted fresh investors and a new Chairman. An enhanced test which delivers multiple simultaneous tests is to be offered to licensees in early 2011 for supply of instruments and consumables to the food industry worldwide. The technology will allow food producers to test food for toxins inexpensively and quickly on the spot rather than send samples into laboratories. The first tests will cover four key mycotoxins. Food producers are undergoing increasing pressure to ensure that their products are uncontaminated. There is significant scale potential for use of the technology platform in healthcare applications.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

GROWING INFRASTRUCTURE SENSOR TECHNOLOGY IN THE WATER SECTOR
- IMMINENT CLOSING

£90,000 November

£90,000 raised from Beer Investors with another £75,000 likely to go in via Beer within four weeks.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – David Rich – Eastern Region

TRANSFORMING CLINICAL TRIALS, DIAGNOSTICS & TREATMENT REGIMES

£50,000 November

Beer & Partners have now raised nearly £600,000 for this client over 4 rounds. Our client was a Cambridge University spinout company, with strong links into the US, with a new approach to diagnostic tests to give medical practitioners an easy to use tool to identify at their earliest stages potential disease.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

ONLINE NICHE IN FAST GROWTH WOMEN’S RETAIL

£200,000 November

The Company approach Beer & Partners to raise its start up capital as well as introduce good calibre investors that could materially help with the development of the planned business. Through running a comprehensive campaign, a syndicate of investors formed and negotiated both investment and active role with the Company. The lead investor had experience in the online sector, and the syndicate the ability to follow its investment if required.

Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Robin Rowland Hill, Quorus & Uti Thakkar, Quorus – London Region

BIO-TECHNOLOGY

Additional £60,000 in October

Bringing total funds raised to £219,000

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Lawrence Fenelon – Midlands Region

ANIMAL DISEASE & FOOD TESTING - FAST, ACCURATE & INEXPENSIVE

Additional funding in October

Bringing total funds raised to £435,000

This company has developed products to rapidly diagnose diseases in livestock, humans and vegetables. This was syndicated amongst ten investors.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

BACTERIA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM FOR BLOOD

Additional £71,000 October

Bringing total funds raised to £123,000

This company tests blood platelets for bacterial contamination. It is currently having trials at a UK Blood Centre. This was a second round completion, bringing the total raised to date to £95,000.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Dwight Makins – London Region

BRIGHTON PAVILION ICE RINK

£270,000 October

TFinance was required in order for the Brighton Pavilion Ice Rink to open in November 2010. A small consortium of investors participated in a mix of equity and loan financing totalling £300,000.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Frank McIlwee – South East Region

CHOCOLATE THEMED CAFES

Additional £200,000 September & October

Bring total funds raised to £425,000

This concept has been developed over several years by the client, who had extensive negotiations with Cadbury plc. It is intended to be the first Chocolate Themed Café of its kind and unique to the High Street. The café will feature the ‘Cadbury’ and ‘Green & Blacks’ brands, will attract the chocolate loving shopper, and will include a ‘Chocolate Chef’ in every store, creating ‘Theatre’ from Chocolate, and an interactive ‘Kids’ Play Tray’ where the younger generation can create their own chocolate edible ‘masterpiece’ to take home and enjoy. This brings the total raised to £425,000.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Mike O'Brien – South East Region

NEW ANTIBIOTICS PLATFORM - EFFECTIVE AGAINST SUPERBUGS

Additional round in September

Bring total funds raised to £245,000

This round is still open. There is a queue for EIS eligible shares as soon as they come free under EIS rules which limit the amount which may be raised in any 12 month period. Non-EIS funds welcome and can be accommodated immediately.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

COMPARISON WEBSITE IN ARGENTINA

£150,000 September

Our client operates the very first broadscale price comparison website in Latin America. Internet penetration is rising sharply across the continent and the main economies are growing fast. The concept has already been established for the majority of bus timetables (the main mode of transport in Latin America) and is being extended to include insurance and other basics over the next twelve months. Two investors have put in initial funds of £150,000 in a UK investment vehicle with further optional rounds totalling up to £100,000 to follow in 2011. It is expected, however, that the project will take off rapidly and a further and much larger funding round will be required that could supercede the optional rounds mentioned above. Sourcing the investment in the UK is regarded as a smart move in that what seems like a small fund is quite substantial when deployed in Argentina, where the operational headquarters are located.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Tony Maynard – Thames Valley Region

INFLAMMATION & CANCER DRUGS

£60,000 August

Beer Investors made a very useful contribution to the convertible loan fund-raising for this extremely tightly run Southampton based drug development company. The loan will convert at a discount in the forthcoming major investment round. The Company is developing proprietary drugs that have best-in-class potential to treat inflammatory disease and cancer by targeting epigenetic mechanisms and lipid kinase signalling. They have four drugs in their pipeline. The lead candidate has entered formal pre-clinical development stage on schedule. It is likely to be of relevance to treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Investors will most likely enjoy an exit through big pharma acquisition(s) prior to approval. The highly experienced, efficient and proficient management team is a very attractive feature of this investment.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

HIGH SPEED VEHICLE LEASING QUOTATIONS

£50,000 July

iData Systems Ltd owns a software package developed by our client which considerably reduces the amount of time required to assemble a range of competitive quotations (from various finance providers) for the lease or contract hire of a motor car. This enables an operator to process a far greater number of enquiries during the working day, and agencies to reduce their staffing levels considerably. Due to the user friendliness of the interface, even those unused to assembling such quotes can do so with ease. The Investment arranged by Beer & Partners not only enables the client to complete software development, but the Investor owns a company which is well able to bring the product to market.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Malcolm Rash – Midlands Region

ONLINE DATABASE FOR WASTE PRODUCERS

£210,000 July

Second tranche funding, bringing total raised to £210,000. This company is establishing a web-based data base of tax-exempt waste sites for waste producers, who would not normally be aware of them and can thereby save £48 per ton of delivered waste.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Dwight Makins – London Region

BEER & PARTNERS EIS SCHEME

Additional £50,000 July

For a minimum subscription of £25,000, investors have access to a portfolio of early stage companies of high potential, chosen and managed by a team led by Simon Hunt, an experienced and professional private investor with proven track record who has invested his own funds in the scheme. The first closing of the scheme took place in March 2009 and the first two investments were made within the 2008/9 tax year. Subsequent closings are arranged to reflect the timing and amount of further subscriptions to suit investors. There is no shortage of high potential deal flow. Returns in excess of 20% pa are targeted within a 5-7 year timeframe, plus variable tax benefits, including income tax relief, CGT deferral and proceeds except from CGT and IHT.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Hunt & Mandy Hutchison – London Region

LUXURY FURNITURE RETAILER

£300,000 July

We assisted this luxury furniture retailer offering a wide range of unique, quality products and a robust online shopping experience in raising £300,000 investment in 2010. The company presented at our May Investment fair and received the funding in full within 7 weeks from one sophisticated investor. The company had annualised turnover approaching £300,000 and required the investment for importing containers of stock, increasing marketing spends and developing the website.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – James Leay – London Region

PROFIT FROM A FULL HOUSE: LONDON'S FIRST AND ONLY FULLY LICENSED GAMING CLUB

£200,000 June

Fully licensed gaming club in London. It also has the only remaining unused Gaming Licence, so no more can open. With excellent premises in Shaftesbury Avenue, the club will open in July/August.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Dwight Makins – London Region

BETTER TESTING FOR FOOD TOXINS

£295,000 June

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

ELECTRONICS FOR HIGH BANDWIDTH TELECOMMUNICATIONS & SECURITY IMAGING

£300,000 May

Beer & Partners Investors have contributed a total of £400,000 of EIS qualifying equity as part of a £900k equity investment. The company has patented technology that enables the roll out of high bandwidth mobile telecommunications (including 4G) and that also applications in security screening and imaging. The equity investment has greatly assisted the unlocking of a further £500,000 venture loan from an institutional investor. The funds will be used as working capital to allow the company to meet its first major orders for its products, to take the company into profitability and to position it for an acquisition by one of the major electronics / communications players.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

LOW COST TREATMENT FOR SKIN CANCER

£125,000 May & June

A group of Beer Investors have invested alongside both existing and other new investors into this spin out from St Andrews University. The company has developed and launched a range of products that allow treatment of commonly occurring skin cancers to be carried in the primary care arena rather than within specialist dermatology clinics. This funding round of £1.7m will take the business into profitability and allow the company to roll out its technology into other common skin treatment areas.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

NEXT GENERATION TELEPHONY SYSTEMS

£50,000 May

In May 2010, the first tranche of investment of £50,000 was invested by a single investor. This enabled the company to launch and take its first sales whilst the balance of the round is sought.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Robin Rowland Hill, Quorus – London Region

SPECIALIST FOOD PROCESSING SOFTWARE

£320,000 April

The client is an emerging market leader in specialist food processing software, helping to reduce waste, cost and improve efficiency in large scale food production environments. The client came to Beer in early 2009 to raise capital to take the company to market. Beer & Partners found them a main strategic investment fund to help them grow the company. The first tranche of £200,000 was received in January, followed by a further £100,000 at the end of April. Additional investment is yet to follow. The funders were also able to introduce meaningful match grant funding. This combination of money and other facilities is what attracted the founders of the company to these investors.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Robin Rowland Hill, Quorus – London Region

NEW GENERATION DEVICE FOR EYE CHECKS

£50,000 March

Additional £25,000 completes the first round investment of £50,000 for this spin-out from Warwick University. The company is producing a novel ophthalmoscope that can take photographs of a patient's retina and will greatly aid primary eye care. The investment has provided matched funding for a Proof of Concept award from Advantage West Midlands.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Lawrence Fenelon – Midlands Region

NEW ANTIBIOTICS PLATFORM – EFFECTIVE AGAINST SUPERBUGS

£150,000 March

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

ENERGY SUPPLY

£125,000 March

20 of our investors have invested a total of £815,000 into a rapidly growing utility company targeting the niche tenanted property sector. The investors provided funds as a mix of EIS qualifying equity and convertible in amounts from £5,000 to £100,000 per investor.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

BEER & PARTNERS EIS SCHEME

Additional £125,000 March

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Hunt & Mandy Hutchison – London Region

WIRELESS CCTV SYSTEMS – DESIGN, MANUFACTURE & DISTRIBUTION

£100,000 March

After investing £1m as new capital, the investor introduced by Beer & Partners then agreed to buy out an existing shareholder for a further £100,000, bringing his investment in this company to £1.1m since November 2008. The company was then sold to a trade buyer, enabling the investor to double his investment held for an average of 12 months.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Tony Maynard – Thames Valley Region

ONLINE DATABASE FOR WASTE PRODUCERS

£105,000 February

First half of completion with second half in new tax year. This company is establishing a web-based database of tax-exempt waste sites for waste producers, who would not normally be aware of them and can thereby save £48 per ton of delivered waste.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Dwight Makins – London Region

SECURITY OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

£100,000 February

Our client required a 12 month loan and offered security over a musical instrument valued at £300,000. We arranged a £100,000 loan from one of our investors secured against the instrument.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Martin Atkinson – London Region

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION & LEAD GENERATION

£500,000 February

The client is a market-leading Search Engine Optimisation, Lead Generation and Online Marketing business, providing a truly distinct offering to the largely untapped UK SME sector. The client came to Beer in late 2009 to raise capital to expand the company’s existing profitable growth. Beer & Partners found them two private investors with relevant expertise, one of whom has joined the Board. This combination of money and skills is what attracted the Founders of the company to these investors.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Robin Rowland Hill, Quorus – London Region

PICCADILLY CIRCUS TOURIST ATTRACTION

£200,000 February

‘Quest for the Crown Jewels’ is an extension to Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not!’. Because of the unique nature of this Piccadilly Circus tourist attraction, footfall and therefore revenues were always likely to be immediate and strong. A single investor was quick to grasp the opportunity; by investing £200,000, this enabled the fit-out to go ahead.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Angus Milne – London Region

CADBURY CHOCOLATE THEMED CAFES

£225,000 February

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Mike O’Brien – South East Region

UNIQUE SECURITY FOR PORTABLE DEVICES

£45,000 January

Through blue tooth technology our client's product provides a first line of security against loss or theft for valuable items such as laptops and smart phones. Beer investors provided the initial working capital to fund the product launch of the first version. In the 18 months since the investment the company has developed international sales and distribution, manufacture in the far east and successfully launched version 2 of its technology in August 2010.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

ENERGY SUPPLY

£135,000 January

This was a further round of funding to provide working capital for this rapidly growing business. There was an extremely high level of interest from our investors, particularly as the issue was in bonds and equity with high interest returns. A syndication of 14 investors supplied funds from £5,000 up to £150,000. The total raised for this client now approaches £700,000.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Patrick Angier – North East / Scotland / Northern Ireland Region

ANIMAL DISEASE & FOOD TESTING - FAST, ACCURATE & INEXPENSIVE

£385,000 January

This company has developed products to rapidly diagnose diseases in livestock, humans and vegetables. This was syndicated amongst ten investors; £335,000 investments were made from September to December and a further £50,000 in January this year.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Simon Heywood & Richard Silberbauer – London Region

TYRE RECYCLING: THE HOLY GRAIL

£200,000 January

This company will build a large tyre recycling pyrolysis plant on Teesside. With grants and other money raised, this sum enables the company to reach the commencement of a turnkey building project in 2010.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Dwight Makins – London Region

‘HEALTHY FAST FOOD’ RETAILER

£900,000 January

Completing this third round of fund-raisings through the Beer Investor Fair brings the total raised from Beer Investors to nearly £900,000, on the back of which this company were able to raise a further £1m from four outsiders, to enable them to open the next series of outlets for their popular style of 'healthy fast food'.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – Angus Milne – London Region

ESTABLISHED PROFITABLE MUSIC/CLUB VENUE, STUDIO & ARTISTS RIGHTS BUSINESS

£100,000 January

We sourced and assisted with negotiations leading to an investment of £100,000 into our client's business, allowing them to move ahead with the purchase of their chosen music venue and start to grow the business. They are growing well and presently looking towards a further raise to expand into a number of other music venue hubs, as well as raising funds for the artists' rights side of their business.

• Acting for Beer & Partners Ltd – David Rich – Eastern Region

Welcome to Beer & Partners Funding Site

Selected Completions 2010