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Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 8

Deal In Focus – Relative Insight

Relative Insight, the Lancaster-based language understanding business, has secured a £1m investment from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance as part of a wider £4m investment to support its expansion into the US.

The investment comprised a £3million package from Maven’s VCT fund alongside the £1million from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

This latest funding round brings the total invested by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund into Relative Insight to £1.6 million following the initial investment in September 2017.

Established initially as a 10-year research project with Lancaster university, Relative Insight now works with a range of blue-chip clients such as DFS, McCann and John Lewis, to help in understanding language difference between key audiences.

The Relative Insight platform is used by companies to gain significant business value from their language data assets. A companies’ language data assets can include; surveys, reviews, CRM and social media, which all represent rich sources of business intelligence. This intelligence is then applied in marketing optimisation, customer experience and employee engagement activities to improve business results.

The funding will support the company’s growth strategy as it expands into the USA with a new office in New York, while developing its technology platform to help companies drive business value from language data.

Ben Hookway, CEO at Relative Insight, added: “The support from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and Maven allows us to further accelerate the growth of Relative Insight. We have a world class language analysis development centre in Lancaster, which along with our office in London is bringing better and simpler language analysis to all kinds of businesses. Expanding into the USA is the next logical step for us.”

Dave Furlong, Investment Director at Maven, said, “Relative Insight has developed an innovative, industry leading platform using cutting-edge linguistics analytics. It’s a fascinating sector and the team has a range of industry expertise able to support the company’s ambitious growth plans.

“This investment is a great example of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund working alongside Maven’s private client funds to support a local business with a flexible funding package to enable it to grow globally. We look forward to working with Ben and the team as the business embarks on an exciting programme of growth.”

Grant Peggie, Director at British Business Bank, said: “NPIF continues to provide vital funding to Northern businesses across the region. We are pleased to continue this support and are pleased to work in partnership with Maven Capital and our other appointed fund managers to make a real impact on business communities, creating jobs and strengthening regional economies to unlock the North’s potential.”

Steve Fogg, Chairman of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership said: “This investment is a superb Lancashire example of a university spin out gaining market traction and creating jobs – the success of Relative Insight should encourage growing digital businesses in the county to access financial support for scale-up expansion. There is funding available for Lancashire SMEs needing funding to grow and they should contact NPIF.”

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Maven Capital Partners UK LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference Number 495929

Editors Notes