London, 21 December 2010 - Notion Capital is on track to build the premier Cloud and Software-as-a-Service (so called ‘SaaS”) portfolio in Europe following successful investments in eight early stage and fast growth internet-based businesses, totalling £8.5m in the past year. With a founding team that brings a ‘think big’ approach to its portfolio companies, Notion Capital is already fast becoming the go-to venture fund for entrepreneurs and start-ups in the Cloud and SaaS space who recognise the added-value the team’s entrepreneurial experiences and market understanding will bring.

“Early stage businesses need a number of key ingredients to be successful, including attitude, funding, talent and a supportive government,” said Jos White, Notion Capital partner. “We bring funding and a bigger, bolder mindset that comes from a proven track record in building businesses on a global scale. In the past year we have seen some encouraging moves from the government towards more support for the venture ecosystem and we are hopeful that 2011 will see improved funding flow and confidence for these start-ups.”

“We are dedicated to investing in the long-term mega trends of Cloud and SaaS and our aim is to build Europe’s premier portfolio in this segment within two years. With the huge amount of entrepreneurial talent and innovation in the UK and across Europe in this space there is no reason why the next Google shouldn’t be from this side of the pond,” concluded White.

Portfolio highlights include:

Brightpearl (May 2010, £0.3m, co-investment with Eden Ventures). BrightPearl is growing by more than 10% a month and in just five months, the company has been able to draw on Notion Capital’s experience to establish a US market presence and also to secure a world-class CEO. “It’s great to see an early stage company like BrightPearl take a ‘think big’ approach and we are very excited to see the business take their on-line business management service to an increasingly global audience. Something that is really accelerating their global expansion is that most customers can buy and set-up the service on-line without the need for any human touch,” said Chris Tottman, a partner at Notion Capital.
eSellerPro (September 2010, £1.7m). This ecommerce SaaS business has seen growth of more than 100% per annum since inception in 2006, and the business had a record December with more than £20M of transactions processed through its system. With its unique proposition aimed at a huge untapped market, eSellerPro has caught the attention of Europe’s venture community and was listed as finalist at the ETT 2010 Cloud & ICT 2.0 Summit in November 2010. Notion Capital has been advising the business on how to scale its operations quickly and globally, and 2011 will see expansion into European and US markets.
NewVoiceMedia (May 2010, £1.6m). Having already established itself in the UK and Europe as a leading provider of internet-based contact centre solutions, NewVoiceMedia is ideally positioned to take advantage of a global market shift from on-premise to cloud based solutions. Notion Capital has been advising the company on the next stage of its growth to meet expected increased demand for its services.

With Notion’s five founders covering a breadth of management disciplines, along with proven entrepreneurial successes that has generated nearly $1bn of shareholder value across three exits and a global advisory network, Notion Capital has quickly become an important player and partner within the UK and European venture market.

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About Notion Capital

Notion Capital is a venture fund and advisory business that invests in growth businesses in the IT sector, with a particular focus on Internet based services with recurring revenue models. Notion Capital creates value by helping companies and management teams to accelerate growth through financial injection combined with strategic and operational participation. The partners are all proven entrepreneurs and line executives, having founded and built a number of highly successful IT businesses. For more information please visit: www.notioncapital.com

Notion Capital press contacts:

Nicky Savage / Rebecca Gregory / Simon Matthews
Speed
0207 842 3200 / 3243
notioncapital@speedcommunications.com