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A company that has developed software to support the health and environmental benefits associated with a more active lifestyle and making positive choices around travel has secured a £120,000 loan to fund further technology development as well as additional marketing and operational activities.

Reading based BetterPoints has created a technology platform including a web portal and smartphone app to help drive behaviour change in two key areas: public health and sustainable/smart travel. Unlike many other health and fitness apps monitoring physical activity, BetterPoints offers a rich reward mix including real-world incentives, such as shopping vouchers for high street stores, to effect a shift in the behaviour of its users. Using a reward points system, BetterPoints encourages increased walking, running and cycling activity as well as car sharing and public transport use. By teaming up with public and private organisations targeting health and travel behaviour campaigns such as local authorities, NHS trusts, corporates and health insurers, BetterPoints can create tailor-made programmes with measurable results for wide-ranging goals.

Using its innovative behavioural change technology, the company has successfully delivered programmes which engage users and drive a sustainable change in activity as Dan Gipple, Betterpoints Founder and CEO, explains: “The Birmingham Parks programme, developed for Birmingham City Council, produced some fantastic results which we were able to report clearly and confidently to the client. They included a 200% increase in average activity amongst regular app users and 80% of those tracked moving from an inactive to active status, as defined by Sport England. Alongside this we provided evidence that 50% of users were from the top 30% of health and income deprivation bands. Combining the available data the client estimated that if expanded city wide, the programme would save the local authority £13 million over a ten year period.”

It is estimated that the costs incurred across Europe due to inactivity is equivalent to over 6% of all European health spending, with this figure set to rise. This could be avoidable if individuals were to participate in an average 150 minutes per week of simple, inexpensive activities such as walking or cycling. Benefits of BetterPoints programmes include lower employee absenteeism rates, reduced health insurance claims, a decrease in GP visits and a reduction in carbon emissions. The company’s next move is to integrate Machine Learning into its software architecture. This will enable an even more sophisticated offering to the client, allowing fast analysis of complex data on a very large scale. Crucially it will also enhance the personal user experience by automatically customising the offer, messaging and rewards as the system ‘learns’ from past behaviours.

The £120,000 from Thames Valley Berkshire Expansion Loan Scheme, funded by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), will help fund this development alongside the creation of resources to support expansion.

Ian Baker, Senior Fund Manager at The FSE Group which manages the loan scheme on behalf of the LEP, says: “there is growing worldwide demand from private health care providers, corporates and insurers for digital solutions that can move service users towards improved wellbeing through self-care. BetterPoints has already demonstrated its pan-European capabilities with successful programmes in Bologna, Italy and Wroclaw, Poland and is now well-positioned to capitalise on the global opportunities as it moves behavioural change interventions away from resource-heavy engagements and qualitative measures towards a fast, scalable, customisable digital solution with the ability to deliver meaningful quantitative results.”

The Thames Valley Berkshire Funding Escalator is a £8.3m initiative funded by Thames Valley Berkshire LEP to support job creation and economic prosperity in Berkshire. The escalator, which includes four different loan schemes and a growth equity fund, provides eligible companies – from start-up to established – with loans and equity funding between £25,000 and £250,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities.

A Farnborough based business operating in the security market is the latest to gain funding from the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund. The £150,000 investment has been privately matched to complete the £300,000 funding round. TriCIS deals with secure IT equipment, TriCIS specialises in the assembly of TEMPEST equipment, which involves adapting standard communications and IT products to remove electromagnetic emissions, making them suitable for both military and other governmental use. The company also specialises in adapting equipment for extreme or ‘rugged’ environments e.g. military field operations. Having spent a number of years working for big multinationals operating in the sector, TriCIS’ founders, Antony Summerfield, Rob Cook and Tim Luxford, spotted an opportunity to launch their own business earlier this year. Capitalising on their extensive contacts and highly specialised skill set, the trio has already succeeded in winning a number of significant government contracts, which has been helped by a timely change to government commissioning processes. CEO, Antony Summerfield, explains: “the TEMPEST market is dominated by large corporates with overseas headquarters but recent changes to UK government procurement has led to an increase in the use of SME suppliers. Coupled with a move by the Ministry of Defence towards working with SME British businesses, this presented us with an opportunity to quickly establish ourselves as a preferred supplier in this niche market. As not only do we have one of the country’s few qualified TEMPEST engineers as a co-founder, but we are also the only wholly British company operating in the sector.” The £300,000 investment will be used to employ additional engineers to service the considerable contracts already secured and to facilitate further growth. Dr Mike Short, CBE, Chairman of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), comments: “Communication security is vital to the business environment we have today. So the need for start-ups like TriCIS, cannot be over-emphasised. The company has grown rapidly since it was established and we are pleased to offer support to drive their ambitious goals, generate employment and further economic growth in our LEP area.” Ralph Singleton, Fund Manager at The FSE Group which manages the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund on behalf of the LEP, adds: “it’s unusual for a new company to achieve this level of traction so quickly but such know-how in the field along with a proactive approach has prompted fantastic results in just a few months. The TriCIS team is looking to expand its TEMPEST and rugged offering into the secure server market as well as exploit further opportunities by offering its professional services for training and consultancy. The company is well positioned to take advantage of the prospects available and we look forward to working with the team to help them reach their goals.” The Enterprise M3 Growth Fund is part of the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator, a £5.5million initiative funded by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. The escalator, which also includes an expansion loan scheme, provides eligible companies with loans and equity funding between £50,000 and £200,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities.

The FSE Group, which manages a series of funds to support businesses during different stages of their growth, is now supporting Plantwork Systems with a £100,000 Enterprise M3 Expansion Loan, together with a further £100,000 South East Sustainability Loan (SESLF).

The SESLF provides funding to businesses operating in new and emerging ecologically driven market sectors or those contributing to a reduction in the region’s ecological footprint, either by delivering products or technologies that can help achieve this, or by delivering innovation in other business sectors that result in more resource efficient business practices. Trading since 2010, Plantwork Systems based in Alton, Hampshire has a current portfolio of five products that are able to work in synergy to cater for the various stages of wastewater treatment. With the constant regulatory demands for increased water quality, the Company has invested heavily in R&D which has enabled the Company to offer innovative and propriety solutions. Each of their products offers numerous advantages, whether that is a smaller footprint, ease of use, being more environmentally sustainable or cost efficient.

There are over 5,000 sewage treatment works serving populations of less than 200 in the UK and the majority of these are old and in need of replacement. The solutions offered by Plantwork Systems are an ideal fit for these locations.

John de Moraes, Executive Chairman at Plantwork Systems comments, “Our technology combines new wastewater treatment design with existing processes, to offer the industry an innovative solution to all wastewater treatment needs. The funding we have received from the FSE Group will have a two-fold impact on the company. It will allow us to research and develop new products and also significantly increase our employee numbers in order to meet demand.”

Derek Ellis, Fund Manager at the FSE Group which manages the Expansion Loan Scheme on behalf of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), “John and the team at Plantwork Systems have an enormous amount of experience and are well positioned for significant growth. We are excited to be supporting them on this stage of their journey and look forward to seeing them build upon the foundations that have already been put in place.”

Dr Mike Short, CBE Chairman of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), comments: “It is interesting to see innovative technology being applied to a vital sector such as waste water treatment to help reduce environmental footprint and optimise cost. Plantwork Systems demonstrates that there is really no limit to how, or where innovation can apply and we are delighted that they have received the funding they need to break new grounds in scientific research and contribute to the economic growth of our LEP area.”

The Enterprise M3 Expansion Loan Scheme is part of the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator, a £5.5million initiative funded by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. The escalator, which also includes an equity growth fund, provides eligible companies with loans and equity funding between £50,000 and £200,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities. For more information about Plantwork Systems please visit: www.plantworksystems.com

Farnborough based shipping technology company, Locus Software Limited, are the latest company to be supported through the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator. The company have successfully secured a £150,000 Expansion Loan to help increase their resources to facilitate the next stage of their growth. Established 10 years ago Locus Software offers an Enterprise system that acts as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for ocean shipping companies. This pioneering approach to container tracking, operations management and document handling brings the somewhat outdated back-office processes of the shipping industry up to speed and onto the cloud. Locus’s Odyssey platform is already proven to the market, becoming popular thanks to its powerful integration with ecommerce capabilities and collaboration tools. Existing customers and strategic partners alike reap the benefits of working with a company where the management team have in-depth industry knowledge and proven technology business experience. Partnerships with influential members of the shipping sector, WNS and INTTRA, only strengthen Locus’s growing reputation, ensuring that Odyssey is the obvious software solution for the liner shipping industry. In order to keep up with growing demand Locus Software will be using the funding to expand the development team and enhance their working facilities. Thus allowing them to quickly and efficiently implement the system for new customers. John Squire, Founder & CEO at Locus Software comments, “Our Odyssey Platform is currently the only cloud based solution available in the ocean shipping sector. So many other sectors have made the transition to cloud based databases and management systems and now the shipping industry is ready to embrace this upgrade too. Odyssey can deliver fantastic features in a much more cost effective and speedy process than traditional software with the added bonus of not needing to maintain multiple versions and the disruption of major upgrades.” Derek Ellis, Fund Manager at the FSE Group, “The Odyssey platform is a complete game-changer in the shipping industry. It already has users in more than 40 countries across the world and the potential is there for rapid growth. These are really exciting times for the company and we wish John and his team all the success for the future.” Dr Mike Short, CBE Chairman of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “This is a great timing for Locus Software and a testament to the recently released Science and Innovation Audit for the South of England, which demonstrates our regional economy’s strength in applying innovative technology to the Marine & Maritime sector. We are excited that the company has secured the loan they need to expand, drive efficiencies in the maritime sector and create more jobs for our LEP area.” The Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator is a £5.5m initiative funded by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. It includes a growth equity fund and provides eligible companies with loans and equity funding of £50,000 to £200,000 for activities delivering high-growth and employment opportunities. For more information about Locus Software visit: www.locussoftware.com

A business specialising in software for customer contact centres is the latest company to receive investment from the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund. The Farnborough based venture has secured the funding as part of a £900,000 round which includes £195,000 angel monies facilitated by The FSE Investor Network, alongside institutional investors.

Sentiment’s offering focuses on providing large businesses with an effective platform to deal with the increasing amount of customer contact that is made via social networks and messaging apps. Within the next few years it is anticipated that social media and messaging apps will overtake phone and email as the primary method for customer service interactions. However, the majority of contact centres do not believe their technology is fit for purpose and are looking for better ways to manage these exchanges.

Leon Chaddock, Sentiment Founder, CEO and CTO, explains: “our software allows large enterprises to manage enquiries and complaints on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, from within their contact centres – currently this is mostly done separately as it requires different skills and technology. By bringing these functions together, our clients benefit from significantly reduced spend in this area along with a facility to integrate their contact with other areas of the business and improve their customer relationships – a large retail clients has, with our software, become one of the fastest social media responders in the UK.”

With a platform offering a solution unmatched by its competitors, Sentiment has a strong and growing pipeline adding to its list of existing clients, which currently includes several top 20 retailers, a global online marketplace and a parcel delivery company. The funds raised will be used to scale up sales and marketing both within the UK and overseas, particularly the US where it is already growing traction.

Ralph Singleton, Fund Manager at The FSE Group which manages the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund, adds: “this is a sector experiencing huge growth that is set to continue; spending on social monitoring and management tools is expected to grow nearly tenfold in the 5 years between 2014 and 2019, which will see global spend reach around £18 billion in that time. With its superior product offering, growing blue chip client base and first mover advantage, Sentiment is well-positioned to take advantage of this upsurge and we are delighted to be supporting them on their journey.”

Dr Mike Short, CBE Chairman of Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), comments: “We are excited that the growth ambitions of Sentiment can be supported by the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund. Our LEP area is a powerhouse for digital enabling technologies and we are always keen to support businesses like Sentiment that demonstrate strength in this important sector.”

The Enterprise M3 Growth Fund is part of the Enterprise M3 Funding Escalator, a £5.5million initiative funded by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership. The escalator, which also includes an expansion loan scheme, provides eligible companies with loans and equity funding between £50,000 and £200,000 for activities that will deliver high-growth and employment opportunities.