
The £130m Investment Fund for Wales(IFW)has made its second equity investment backing the growth plans of data analytics business Assured Insights. The IFW’s £50m equity element is funded managed by Foresight Group on behalf of the UK Government’s economic development the British Business Bank.
As part of the investment Assured Insights is establishing a new office in Cardiff at Tramshed Tech, where it is establishing a data engineering hub. The value of the investment has not been disclosed, but also includes backing from the British Business Bank’s Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which has been fund managed by Foresight since 2018.
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The Midlands Engine funding element is being deployed as Assured Insights, which is headquartered in Stockport, also has an office Nottingham.
The tech company has developed DataWorks which supports its clients in consolidating siloed data from business systems into a single, trusted platform.
Current customers include financial services companies and hospitality groups, including The Ivy Restaurant Group, Sucden Financial and Vernon Building Society.
Jon Singleton, co-founder and chief executive of Assured Insights, said: “Assured Insights has discovered that most organisations find themselves in a position where their data capabilities don’t support their aspirations. There are many technologies and solutions which claim to help with this, however, these all rely on good quality data. “Achieving a state of data maturity which sees trusted data being available to the whole business is a big challenge for many companies. DataWorks addresses this and builds a solid data foundation needed to support any modern, data proficient business.
“Foresight has a strong track record of working with fast-growing businesses as they scale up and professionalise. We are pleased to select Foresight as our equity partner as we look to accelerate our growth trajectory.
Steve Galvin, of Foresight and IFW principal, said: “Assured Insights is a tremendously exciting, fast-growing business with a hugely ambitious management team. Its new Welsh office will have a positive impact on the local economy through the creation of skilled jobs. We are thrilled to be supporting Assured Insights and look forward to partnering with the team on their growth journey.
“Businesses with multiple software systems are increasingly managing complex data sets and Assure Insights’ software is a step change in the market. By creating the data architecture and combining it with analytics and visualisation, the software provides an excellent end-to-end solution.”
Mark Sterritt, director, nations and regions investment funds at the British Business Bank, said: “We are pleased to see the Investment Fund for Wales actively working for innovative businesses like Assured Insights, who are committed to expanding their operations in Wales, with the opening of their new Cardiff office.