21 Dec 2018
ICON Corporate Finance has secured a Series B funding round for Imagen, the leading SaaS video management platform business. The company received funding from an investor pool led by Downing Ventures. The round also included capital from Guinness Asset Management Ltd and participation from existing investor, Cambridge Innovation Capital.
The investment represents a major milestone for the company, following significant growth in 2018 that saw Imagen post an 88% year on year revenue increase driven by clients including Formula One, The Premier League, World Tennis Association, BP, Reuters, BBC and IMG, part of Endeavor.
The investment follows a growth trajectory that has seen Imagen establish a significant foothold in the video management sector and become an essential piece of technology for sports, media and enterprise businesses looking to manage their expanding video and content libraries.
Charlie Horrell, CEO of Imagen, comments, “This funding is clear recognition of the value our partners and prospects see in the platform. We have a world class roster of clients across the sports, media and enterprise sectors and have a healthy pipeline going into 2019. We look forward to accelerating our global operations and are thrilled to be working with new investors to continue shaping the future of video management.”
Richard Lewis, Investment Director at Downing Ventures, added, “We are delighted to be backing Imagen and the exceptional management team that has developed a market leading video management platform. We are now focused on supporting Imagen’s exciting UK and international expansion plans.”
Victor Christou, CEO of Cambridge Innovation Capital, adds, “Imagen was one of the first companies into which CIC invested. It has made great progress since our initial investment, transforming itself into a globally leading SaaS video management platform with a greatly enhanced client list. We are delighted to continue to support the company as it expands from its UK base into international markets.”
Malcolm King, Fund Manager at Guinness Asset Management said, “Imagen is an acknowledged leader in video management with an enviable customer base. We are delighted to have completed our growth capital investment into the company and look forward to working with the Imagen team, CIC and Downing Ventures to help the company realise its international growth ambitions. The deal demonstrates our ongoing ability to source and deliver high quality investments for our EIS investors.”
Eddie Harding, Partner at ICON Corporate Finance who advised the company on the round, added, “I’m delighted to have helped Charlie and his team raise this funding from these three highly respected tech investors. The research shows that video continues to grow exponentially, and Imagen’s enterprise grade video management platform is ideally placed to meet the explosive demand of this sector.”
The funding will enable Imagen to expand its global operations and make significant inroads into the US and European markets. Imagen will be establishing a customer led sales and marketing presence in the US, as well as accelerating product development and the growth of its technology division.
About Imagen
Imagen is an intuitive video management platform that enables sports organisations, media companies and enterprise sectors to intelligently manage their video content with enhanced functionality, control, and insight. Imagen is being used by global organisations to manage and distribute their expanding video and media libraries – enabling fast, easy, secure and controlled access to content through the highly customisable platform.
Imagen’s customers include Formula One, The Premier League, World Tennis Association, BP, Reuters, BBC and IMG, part of Endeavour. The secure platform is also used by the Ministry of Defence, and preserves archive collections for Imperial War Museums, the British Library and the BFI.
For more information visit www.imagenevp.com
About Downing Ventures
Downing Ventures is a London based evergreen fund investing in seed to series A (and beyond) companies, providing entrepreneurs with a ladder of funding. The fund has backed over 60 ambitious businesses (as at January 2019) across a variety of technology sectors including online marketplaces, enterprise software, and health technology.
About Guinness Asset Management
Guinness Asset Management provides a range of long only actively managed funds to individual and institutional investors. We also offer an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS service) investing in private growth stage and AIM-listed companies. Founded in 2003, Guinness is independent and is wholly owned by its employees. We believe in in-house research, intelligent screening for prioritisation of research and well-designed investment processes. We manage concentrated, high conviction portfolios, with low turnover and no benchmark constraints. Since our establishment we have developed a variety of specialisms in global growth and dividend funds, global sector funds and Asian regional and country funds.
About Cambridge Innovation Capital plc
CIC combines a unique relationship with the University of Cambridge with deep financial and industry links to support rapidly growing intellectual property rich companies in the Cambridge Cluster. The company is committed to building leading businesses from brilliant technologies, with the benefit of some of the most influential figures in the sector and a patient capital structure.