Yeah. And they've invested it in twenty companies. Not bad. Not bad at all. 'What?! Who's done this, boss? Who's hit the milestone?' Ha, ha, ha! That would be telling, Voice. 'Come on, tell us! Tell the readers!' No, idiot!
Oh, all right.
Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund hits milestone of £50 million invested in 20 UK tech companies.
Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) is delighted to announce that its technology investment partnership with Foresight Group has hit a milestone of £50 million raised, helping a total of 20 UK-based SMEs and start-ups take their innovative products to market.
Launched in 2016, the Foresight Williams Technology EIS fund has had one aim: to help grow small and medium-sized UK technology and engineering businesses, giving them access to expert technical expertise and investment.
So, yeah, it's a PR email, kook(s). Surprise, surprise! And they go on a bit about some of the firms they've helped ...
However, I want to go straight to the voices ...
"We're extremely proud that the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund has hit a milestone of £50 million and 20 innovative UK company investments," says Craig Wilson, MD, WAE. "The opportunity to collaborate with start-ups who demonstrated transformational technology and could benefit from WAE's expertise to develop, commercialize and scale, has allowed us to address the challenge facing most new start-ups - funding. Foresight Group have allowed us to solve that issue and have been the perfect partner from the start."
Nice one!
That was Craig, that was. His voice just coming out of nowhere, like. 'Well, from the email, boss.' Yes. But where did the email come from? 'What do you mean?' I mean, I don't know how these things find me, these emails. I don't know how they choose me, you dig? 'It's a mystery!' Of course it is! And I love mysteries.
Anyway ...
"Since being introduced to Williams Advanced Engineering in 2015 and making the decision to launch an innovative and collaborative fund structure with them, I've been delighted by the significant progress that the Foresight Williams Technology EIS and VCT funds have made. I founded Foresight in 1984 to make investments into UK SME's and over the last 36 years Foresight has supported hundreds of companies. It wasn't until the launch of the Foresight Williams Strategy that we invested in collaboration with a design and engineering partner but having just completed our twentieth investment with WAE we have evidenced that such an approach brings real positives to the investment and portfolio management process," says Bernard Fairman, Group Chairman, Foresight Group.
And that was Bernard, that was. Just a name. We have no idea what he looks like. 'We could go on Google images.' No! No! Let him be ... just a name. Just a voice!
And, uh ... Matthew, I suppose ...
"When looking for businesses to invest in the ones that stand out are those with exceptional teams and defensible technology that addresses high value market needs," says Matthew Burke Head of Technology Ventures, WAE. "It is hugely satisfying to be able to combine WAE's technical expertise with Foresight's track record in investment and help so many early stage UK companies make the leap over the 'valley of death' to market."
The valley of death! That's bloody dramatic! Was that you, Voice? 'What?' Did you say that? The valley of death? 'Er ... no.' Well, take a look above. See it ... 'valley of death' ... yeah? 'That's damn strange, boss.' Was that you? 'I don't remember saying it.' Ha! Another mystery!
Okay, okay. We'll finish with a bit about Foresight -
About Foresight Group LLP:
Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing investment funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years.
Foresight has over £6.5 billion of Assets Under Management across a number of funds, including Listed Vehicles, Limited Partnerships, Enterprise Investment Schemes (EISs), Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs), Inheritance Tax Solutions using Business Relief (BR) and Open-Ended Investment Companies (OEICs).
Foresight's Private Equity Team of 30 investment professionals manages over £600 million, which it invests in UK SMEs on behalf of nine funds. The Private Equity Team is one of a small number of professional private equity managers focused on initial equity investments of up to £5 million, across a range of sectors and throughout the UK.
Foresight is headquartered in London with regional UK offices in Nottingham, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester and Guernsey and international offices in Sydney, Rome, Madrid, and Luxembourg.
Fair enough.
ENDS
...
Anything else? Yeah.
Listen! If you can ... watch Sharpe's Waterloo. (I bought it for my phone.) It's the best episode of Sharpe, and Paul Bettany is brilliant as the deranged Prince of Orange.
Later(s), drama queen(s)!
