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Back to Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund News – Issue 6

Progress Story – IQBlade

Liverpool based IQBlade, the UK’s leading data-driven intelligence platform for the technology sector, recently received a six figure follow-on investment from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The fund is delivered by MSIF working with Maven Capital Partners in the Liverpool City Region.

The market insight platform for B2B companies originally secured an equity investment in 2017, through the aforementioned fund, and has now rapidly grown the business in both headcount and global demand for service.

Since obtaining the additional funding to keep up with increased demand, IQBlade has appeared alongside a host of Fortune 500 companies in the 2019 Forrester Channel Technology Stack.

Used by global enterprises to leverage, manage and improve their indirect sales processes and partner programmes, the group of technologies sees IQBlade listed alongside leading brands including IBM, Oracle, Salesforce and SAP.

IQBlade’s all-in-one SaaS platform provides data-driven B2B insights to enable technology companies to make smarter decisions and drive growth.

The platform allows technology channel companies to identify prospects or other partners of interest based on specific criteria. Boasting features such as financial benchmarking and social analysis, they can be compared based on performance and growth potential.

This latest milestone for IQBlade, with clients such as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Ingram Micro, marks the start of a growth period for the business, following product enhancements team expansion and increased investment in sales and marketing.

Going forward, IQBlade will continue to expand and achieve throughout the global market, extending the growth of working partnerships and continuing to carry out live research through their academic links with Liverpool John Moores University.

Simon Thelwall-Jones, MSIF Investment Director, who delivered the investment on behalf of Maven Capital said: “I have always been impressed with how the management team at IQBlade operate. Their rapid growth and achievements over the past year are a direct result of hard-work and, extensive industry knowledge. It has been great to see the business go from strength to strength, and to be featured in the Forrester Channel Technology Stack is a huge achievement! I am excited to see what 2019 has in store for IQBlade.”

Antony Young, Founder and Director of IQBlade, said: “The investment from NPIF has enabled IQBlade to help more clients navigate significant changes throughout the marketplace, thus growing our global presence and recognition. The delivery of the funding, once again, was invaluable. I have truly been supported every step of the way.”

“Recognition from a global player like Forrester shows the IQBlade platform is moving forward fast in the field of data insight and intelligence. The IT market is evolving quickly and our product development roadmap is clearly mapped out to meet the needs of our customer base, who are already seeing great results.”

Grant Peggie, Director at British Business Bank, said: “We are pleased that NPIF has continued to support high-growth businesses in the North, providing vital funding to enable job creation and expansion into new markets. IQBlade demonstrates how this funding can make a real and measurable difference to businesses across the Northern Powerhouse region and we look forward to seeing further growth with this follow-on investment.”

 

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