A Cornish software company has received investment of £1.45m to help develop its retail marketing campaign management application, creating 34 jobs.
Redruth-based Swoop Applications’ product, named “Collateral”, has clients including Tesco, Waitrose, Mothercare, Paddy Power and WH Smith.
Of the total package, £600,000 comes from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF). The package also includes funding from existing corporate investor, SMP Group PLC, and £250,000 via The FSE Group Investor Network.
The FSE Group is the appointed CIOSIF fund manager.
Robert Salvoni, Swoop chairman, said: “Managing in-store marketing is a massive headache for central marketing teams and somewhere between 20 per cent and 50 per cent of assets and resources are simply wasted.
“Colateral enables reduction in cost and time, whilst massively improves targeting and therefore sales and return on marketing spend.
“Our software offers an end-to-end solution, supporting and streamlining every stage, from building the initial campaign, managing the operation, through to post-event analysis.
“We are delighted to have received this funding from CIOSIF and our private investors, which will enable us to grow the team to support expansion in the UK and overseas, and to further develop the product.”
Ralph Singleton, senior fund manager at The FSE Group, added: “Having produced a unique solution that fills a market gap so well, Swoop has positioned itself to take advantage of a global opportunity worth an estimated £120bn per annum. We are thrilled to be supporting this innovative company at such an exciting time in its development.”
Ken Cooper, managing director at British Business Bank, said: “CIOSIF was launched to support innovative, fast growing companies across Cornwall. It is good to see that investment in Swoop will support the creation of new jobs in Cornwall over the next three years.”
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly LEP non-executive director, John Acornley, added: “Swoop is an example of Cornish tech business operating in a global market.
“This investment will extend their use of algorithms and machine learning and see the integration of artificial intelligence into their product. The use of AI and data is a cornerstone of the government’s Industrial Strategy and it’s vital that we invest in the industries of the future.”