Parkwalk H1 2017 update

It has been a busy first half of the year at Parkwalk. Our proprietary access to deal-flow has enabled us to deploy £46.5m in the last 12 months. Deal-flow has been enhanced by our tie-up with IP Group plc, who recently raised a further £200m to co-invest in the university spin-out sector.

The combined group has net assets of £797m, third-party funds under management of more than £200m and a market capitalisation of c.£1bn.

Posted on July 17, 2017

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk wins at EISA Awards

Parkwalk are delighted to have won both the ‘Best Investment Exit’ and ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ categories at the EISA awards on the 1st February 2017. The awards recognised an extremely strong 2016 for Parkwalk. They were presented at the House of Lords to firms, advisers, companies and individuals that achieved outstanding performance in the context of the EIS/SEIS schemes during 2016.

On the ‘Best Fund Manager’ award, the judges said: ‘Parkwalk embody the essence of the true principles of EIS, and their work with the UK’s top universities to invest in knowledge intensive, early stage technology is quite simply transformational. They are a company that backed 36 financing rounds in 2016, deploying £40 million of EIS funds.”

On the ‘Best Exit’ award, the judges described the investment as a “shining example of collaboration, between Cambridge University and venture capital, where the interests of the university, founders and shareholders were aligned, and where clear objectives were set.”
“If there were text book exits for EIS then this would certainly be one”

This follows on from the 2016 awards, when Parkwalk was again recognised in the ‘Best EIS Investment Exit’ and the ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ categories.

Further detail can be seen at the EISA website here.

Posted on February 2, 2017

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk and IP Group join forces in UK University Spin-Outs

IP Group plc acquires Parkwalk, the UK’s largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs

IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) (“IP Group” or “the Group”), the developer of intellectual property-based businesses, is delighted to announce that it has agreed to acquire Parkwalk Advisors Ltd (“Parkwalk”), the UK’s leading university spin-out focused EIS fund manager.

Founded in 2009, Parkwalk is the largest EIS growth fund manager focused on university spin-outs, having raised over £100m to date with the majority of funds coming from leading private wealth platforms and having backed over 60 companies across its managed funds since inception. In 2016 alone, Parkwalk committed over £40m to UK university spin-outs and has been a long-term co-investment partner of IP Group, having co-invested over £17m in 14 investment rounds during 2015/2016. Parkwalk is a profitable business and will be immediately accretive to IP Group’s operating results.

Parkwalk has significant assets under management, an experienced team and strong links to many of IP Group’s existing university partners. Its investment vehicles include the evergreen Parkwalk Opportunities Fund, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds, the University of Oxford Innovation Funds and the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds.

Parkwalk will retain its existing investment team and investment decision-making independence post-acquisition.

Alastair Kilgour, Co-founder of Parkwalk, said: “The acquisition of Parkwalk by IP Group gives our underlying investors the security of being part of a larger organisation which also brings with it specialist resources and expertise around developing businesses formed around hard science. The strength of IP Group will allow Parkwalk to expand and enhance its EIS fund offerings, helping to boost the UK technology base and returns to investors.”

Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP Group, said: “Parkwalk is a great strategic fit for IP Group being the market leader in the sector with fast growing assets under management run by an experienced team with an excellent track record. The acquisition reinforces IP Group’s access to a diversified pool of capital for co-funding the earlier stages of the portfolio while providing a profitable and growing platform to develop closer links with institutional investment platforms. We consider EIS funds to be an increasingly important source of financing for early-stage technology companies and believe Parkwalk’s strong links to leading institutional wealth managers and university partners will be beneficial to the Group.”

A change of controller application has been submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) and final completion of the acquisition is conditional on approval being received from the FCA, such approval being anticipated within a three-month period.

Posted on December 16, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk are delighted to have won the Investment Week ‘Best Generalist‘ in their 2016/17 Tax Efficiency Awards.

Posted on December 6, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Japan’s Softbank on Monday offered £24.3bn ($32bn) in cash to acquire 100% of ARM Holdings, the UK’s smartphone chip designer that is one of the leaders in the infrastructure of the internet of things.

In 2015, Forbes ranked ARM as the most innovative company in Europe, and the fifth most innovative in the world.

The deal values ARM at 24.4x 2015 revenues or 56.8x 2015 EBITDA.

We believe this is further proof of the value of UK University spin-outs, and their global appeal – ARM have world-wide sales and are unaffected by Brexit as Philip Hammond, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Just three weeks after the referendum decision, it shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to international investors.”
“as ARM’s founders will testify, this is the greatest place in the world to start and grow a technology business,” he added.

Softbank’s investment would be the largest ever from Asia into the UK. The deal would “guarantee to double the number of jobs in ARM in the UK over the next five years and turn this great British company into a global phenomenon”.

Over 70bn ARM-designed chips have been shipped to date, with 95% of the world’s smartphones containing at least one ARM-based component, and Canalys estimate 80% of wearable devices sold in 2014 contained at least one ARM-based chip.

Last month Cambridge CMOS Sensors, another spin-out creating next generation internet of things sensors was acquired by ams AG – more detail can be seen here.

Posted on July 18, 2016

Electronics, Fund Managers Comments, Semiconductors

Cambridge, Electronics, Semiconductors

Isis Innovation will be renamed Oxford University Innovation, in order to enhance the already strong links between Isis Innovation and the University. This will strengthen awareness of the company and its services within the wider University, and better portray the University’s ownership of the company.
With a record 16 spinout companies launched and more than 450 academic consultancy contracts signed in the last 12 months, innovation activity in Oxford University is successful, growing, and making a significant contribution to the local economy. Professor Ian Walmsley, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Oxford, added his voice to the recent Oxfordshire Green Paper2 concerning the future of the region, saying: “We are very pleased that the key regional leaders have joined to frame a vision for the future of Oxfordshire that brings together their aspirations for economic growth with improved quality of life and how innovation can contribute to achieving this vision.”
Support for enterprise and innovation is at the heart of the University’s Strategic Plan3. The Oxford University Innovation Working Group4 recognised the vital role of Isis Innovation in technology transfer as a key service to Divisions, and made recommendations to establish still firmer connections. Various practical steps have already been taken to meet this objective, including establishing regular staffing at hotdesks in University departments. The new company name and branding – being introduced later this month – will further reinforce this.
An additional, secondary, consideration was the similarity of the current name to so-called Islamic State, which caused occasional business issues such as emails being blocked. However, the overriding reason for change – clearer definition of the link to the University – was compelling in its own right, and received unanimous support in our consultation process.
Managing Director of Isis Innovation, Linda Naylor, said, “Commercialising University research and expertise is important to enable wider society to benefit from the work of our world-leading academics. By changing our name to Oxford University Innovation the breadth of support from the University for entrepreneurial researchers will be more visible. We will also benefit from the global brand recognition of the University, allowing us to attract more clients and investors for the Intellectual Property-based technologies and for the many services that we provide to increase engagement with researchers. More successful engagements will contribute to greater impact from researchers’ work as well as greater financial returns to the University and individual researchers.”

Posted on June 29, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Fund Manager's Comments, Oxford, UoOIF, UoOIF I, UoOIF II, UoOIF III

Parkwalk, the EIS and Brexit

In these uncertain times post the surprise vote to leave the EU, investors are (quite rightly) focusing on macro risks and volatility.
However, as the dust begins to settle they are now looking across the fringes of their portfolios, including alternative assets such as VC and PE. As a small part of that portfolio with our knowledge-intensive university spin-out EIS funds we thought we should offer our thoughts to our investors.

The Enterprise Investment Scheme
The EIS has been in place in various guises since 1981 (the ‘BSUS’ then the ‘BES’ which was replaced by the EIS in 1993). It has had cross-party support, and successive governments of both political persuasions have increased the reliefs available over the years.
In Parkwalk’s opinion, this is understandable. Creating jobs and generating and keeping skills in the UK is vital and easy for politicians to support.
In fact, our portfolio companies have raised over £500m between them since 2010, and we have contributed £50m of EIS tax-advantaged monies to that £500m (as of Dec 2015). That means the initial tax reliefs have ‘cost’ HMRC £15m. Our portfolio companies employ c.1,200 people, over half of which are educated to MSc or PhD, and their annual NI and PAYE bill is c.£28m (nearly twice the ‘cost’ of the initial tax relief).

Economy / Currency
Many of our portfolio companies are at an early stage so the immediate impacts of a potentially weaker UK economy / currency are limited.
The majority of our portfolio companies are developing ‘global products’, so the UK economy is not the sole driver to sales – our two recent trade-sales of portfolio companies were to international acquirers.
A lower currency may also reduce global sales costs.

Funding / Grants for companies
Could a weaker UK economy affect Government backing for Research and Development?
The Oxford Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood seeks assurances the government will fight to protect access to research collaborations and recruitment of EU researchers. “They are essential to our knowledge economy,” she adds. The (current) PM says it is important to ensure advances in British sciences are maintained.
Many of our companies do receive funding from EU backed entities. Any grants already awarded are likely to continue to be honoured but there will probably be a different process in future and one assumes it may take time to implement and to access new schemes. That said, we have until at least 2019 to implement them.

Investors / Tax Benefits
Our network of high net worth individuals will have been affected by the repercussions of Brexit in the market place. That will affect their propensity to invest in the UK and in private companies.
The Government has been committed to providing tax benefits to SMEs for a long period. It is unlikely that Brexit will change this position but the nature and scale of the benefits may come under examination. That said, some consider that the EIS reliefs have been constrained by EU law historically.

Markets / Exits
We expect the London markets to be shut for IPOs in the short to medium term, but six months is a long time in politics, and the decline in sterling has made UK assets significantly cheaper to potential purchasers from abroad, enhancing their merits relative to assets in other denominations. We believe this applies more directly to assets with a high technology component and global potential.
We believe the ‘patent box’ regime will continue to make IP-heavy UK tech companies attractive to international OEMs.

Staffing
The situation with regard to staffing is likely to be mixed, with the potential for lower wages locally but a potential risk of skills shortages. Some specialised fields may be difficult to fill as access to EU workers may become more problematic – however we believe novel technologies will continue to attract global skilled workers.

Competition
There are few European VCs who compete for investments in UK start-ups and likewise there are few UK VCs who invest in European start-ups, who might re-focus on the UK, so we see little change here.

Summary
Obviously it is a difficult time with both ‘known and unknown’ unknowns ahead, but we believe the UK economy is fundamentally resilient.

Posted on June 28, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Fund Manager's Comments

We are delighted to support a new initiative from the University of Oxford, OxReach. OxReach plans to launch various projects over the next 12 months – the first of which is LIFE, who are developing ways for healthcare workers in Africa to correctly use the latest WHO care pathways in emergencies and save lives to help tackle newborn and child survival rates.

Prof Mike English is leading an Oxford team currently crowdfunding to raise at least £60,000 to build a “serious game” for saving lives. The team has reached 75% of the total with a week to go. Pledges of different sizes will receive rewards including a personal experience of the new HTC Vive with the HTC team themselves, and dinner at Oxford’s Green Templeton College

Prof English explained the importance of the campaign in the LANCET Global Health Blog this week:

“Medical emergencies are major causes of death globally, but any one health-care worker, especially in primary care or community settings, will rarely provide an emergency response.”

“At present, frequent face-to-face training for health-care workers is prohibitively expensive and difficult to access, meaning that many in remote settings are not using up to date practices. An online simulation called Life-saving Instruction For Emergencies (LIFE) may provide some of the solutions to combat these issues.”

“In Africa, 470,000 babies die each year on the day they are born, and this figure increases to 1 million deaths within the first 28 days, the neonatal period. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over two-thirds of these newborn deaths could be avoided through existing maternal and child healthcare programmes, if they were taught and implemented effectively.”

“We think we can help – LIFE is a serious game that will train health-care workers in Africa to act correctly in emergency scenarios and save lives.”

“We are raising £100,000 through crowdfunding to develop our first scenario, focusing on neonatal resuscitation for low-resource settings, and conduct extensive user testing in Oxford and Kenya.”

To find our more or donate please visit the campaign page at OxReach, Oxford’s crowdfunding platform – small or large donations are welcome, and you can follow them on Twitter @OxLIFEproject

Posted on March 31, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV launched

Parkwalk are delighted to announce the launch of the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV.

UCEF-IV-Cover-100

Launched in conjunction with Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s Technology Transfer and academic consulting subsidiary, the University of Cambridge Enterprise Funds offer alumni and investors the opportunity to invest in companies formed to develop and commercialise technology and intellectual property developed at the University of Cambridge in a tax efficient manner.

Please click here to email the funds team to request the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund IV prospectus.

Posted on February 22, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Cambridge, UoCEF IV

On February 11th 2016, Parkwalk was recognised by the judges of the EISA awards in both the ‘Best Investment Exit’ and ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ categories. The awards recognised an extremely strong 2015 for Parkwalk. The Awards were presented at the House of Lords to firms, advisers, companies and individuals that achieved outstanding performance in the context of the EIS/SEIS schemes during 2015. This year attracted a record number of high-calibre entrants.

This follows on from the 2015 awards, when Parkwalk won the ‘Best EIS Investment Exit’ and was again recognised in the ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ category.

Posted on February 22, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

University of Oxford Isis Fund III launched

Parkwalk are delighted to announce the launch of the University of Oxford Isis EIS Fund III.

Launched in conjunction with Isis Innovation, the University’s Technology Transfer and academic consulting subsidiary, the University of Oxford Isis Funds offer alumni and investors the opportunity to invest in companies formed to develop and commercialise technology and intellectual property developed at the University of Oxford in a tax efficient manner.

Please click here to email the funds team to request the University of Oxford Isis Fund III prospectus.

Posted on February 4, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Oxford, UoOIF II

University of Bristol Enterprise Fund I

Parkwalk are delighted to announce the launch of the University of Bristol Enterprise EIS Fund I.

Launched in conjunction with the University of Bristol Research and Enterprise Development Division, the University of Bristol Enterprise Funds offer alumni and investors the opportunity to invest in the development of scientific and technological innovations from the University of Bristol and from companies supported by its world renowned SETsquared Bristol Business Incubator in a tax efficient manner.

Further detail can be read on the University’s website here.

Please click here to email the funds team to request the University of Bristol Enterprise Fund I prospectus.

Posted on January 15, 2016

Fund Managers Comments

Bristol, UBEF I

Parkwalk are delighted to have won the Investment Week’s Investment Company of the Year inaugural award for ‘Best EIS Fund‘, following on from the Growth Investor Awards ‘Best Exit for 2015′ and the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association ‘Best EIS Exit for 2014′ and ‘Highly Commended‘ Fund Manager awards in February 2015.

PARKWALK ANNOUNCED AS INVESTMENT WEEK AWARDS WINNER

Investment Week’s Investment Company of the Year Awards aim to recognise and reward excellence in close-ended fund management. These awards highlight investment companies that produce consistent performance and where there is, in the judges’ opinion, a high likelihood that the investors will not be disappointed in the future. The 2015 awards will be held on Wednesday 25th November at The Park Lane Hotel, Mayfair.

The judging panel is made up of some of the UK’s leading researchers and investors in investment trusts and closed-ended companies, as well as several senior board members with many years’ experience in the industry. The judges identified the most consistent performers and Investment Week reward the top managers across a range of sectors.

Visit www.investmentcompanyawards.com for a full list of all winners and runners up.

Posted on November 26, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Huge thank you to Isis Innovation for hosting an excellent evening at the Royal Society of Chemistry: Pitches were made by four inspiring potential investee companies for the University of Oxford Isis Fund III, which we hope to launch imminently now that the University of Oxford Isis Fund II is fully invested / committed.

Posted on November 12, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Oxford, UoOIF I, UoOIF II

Parkwalk are delighted to have won the Growth Investor Awards ‘Best Exit for 2015’, following on from the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association ‘Best EIS Exit for 2014′ and ‘Highly Commended’ Fund Manager awards in February 2015.

PARKWALK ADVISERS ANNOUNCED AS GROWTH INVESTOR AWARDS WINNER

Last night, Parkwalk Advisors won Exit of the Year for Tracsis at the inaugural Growth Investor Awards, which recognises impact beyond investment in the UK SME finance industry.

The Exit of the Year award is judged on investment performance against initial targets and value added to the investee business by the fund manager.

Parkwalk triumphed over Elderstreet for Wessex Advanced Switching Products (WASP) and YFM Equity Partners for Waterfall Services. The Award was presented at a black tie dinner attended by 300 guests at the Marriott Grosvenor Square in Mayfair by Lawrence Gosling, Group Editorial Director of Incisive Media – whose titles, Professional Adviser and Investment Week, are media partners for the Growth Investor Awards.

The Awards are organised by Intelligent Partnership (IP), the UK’s leading provider of research and education on alternative investment, as part of a national campaign to raise awareness of impact and innovation in growth capital.

Opening the ceremony, IP’s Managing Director Guy Tolhurst said: “Tonight we honour those innovating in financial services and putting investment to work in SME’s. They do things differently. They don’t see venture capital schemes as just a way to save their clients’ tax. They see businesses that can innovate, grow and create new jobs – and in doing so they make us all more prosperous.”

A two stage judging process to identify 12 winners from 36 finalists was supported by a panel of 35 independent judges. Daniel Kiernan, IP’s Research Director who headed up the shortlist, commented: “By designing a judging process around impact beyond investment on investee companies, the Growth Investor Awards enables the industry to demonstrate its unique contribution while differentiating its leading players. The credibility and prestige of these awards comes from an influential Advisory Board and an eminent panel of independent judges.”

Daniel Kiernan added: “Judges were impressed by the role of Parkwalk Advisors over its 3-year holding period, interacting regularly with Tracsis management, advising on strategy, and introducing institutional equity funds.”

Parkwalk’s Moray Wright said “We are delighted to have won this inaugural Growth Investor award, which celebrated the impact venture capital has on SMEs and the British economy.”

The economic importance of tax advantaged venture capital schemes was a theme for two keynote speeches at the ceremony. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke MP, highlighted the broader economic impact of the billions that has been invested in SMEs through EIS, SEIS and VCT in terms of employment and tax contributions.

David Gauke, said: “It’s important to acknowledge the key role played by growth investors in helping small businesses start, expand, and reach their full potential. The government provides a range of support to encourage this type of investment, including through the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes which have supported more than 22,000 companies to access over £17.5 billion of investment. Without access to the finance they need to develop their vision, companies with great ideas would struggle to fulfil their potential, and Britain would lose out.”

Visit www.growthinvestorawards.com/winners for a full list of all winners and runners up.

Posted on October 23, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk are delighted to have sponsored the first joint Oxford and Cambridge University spin-out investor event, which was held at the London Stock Exchange yesterday.
Dame Carol Robinson, the first female professor of chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, gave an excellent speech on her work in mass spectrometry and there were great presentations by:

Bodle Technologies – commercialising a new class of active smart glazing products, providing substantial performance and cost benefits to the architectural and automotive glass markets
Quethera – a gene therapy research and development company which is evaluating products for common ocular conditions, including glaucoma
Orbit Discovery – a powerful drug discovery platform that allows for quick and inexpensive identification of peptide drugs
JukeDeck – software that writes unique, personalised music at the touch of a button

Thank you very much to Cambridge Enterprise, Isis Innovation and the London Stock Exchange for organizing a hugely interesting event.

Posted on May 15, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Cambridge, Oxford

Parkwalk appoints Chairman

Parkwalk are delighted to announce that Gordon Lawson has been appointed non-executive Chairman of Parkwalk.
Gordon has 30 years City experience, as head of equity proprietary trading and EMEA equity, derivatives and convertible bond risk at Salomon/Citigroup and then as the founder of Pendragon Capital, the event-driven hedge fund.
He is an adviser to several hedge funds, fund-of-funds and sits on the Advisory Board of Bridges Ventures, the sustainable impact investment fund.
Gordon has Chaired various listed investment Trusts and is a Justice of the Peace and sits as a magistrate in London.

Posted on May 6, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk University of Oxford Isis Fund II Closes Oversubscribed

University of Oxford Isis Fund II reaches funding target of £2m, closes

24 February 2015

Isis Innovation and Parkwalk announced today that the University of Oxford Isis Fund II has raised over £2 million, exceeding its funding target, and will close to new investors. The fund achieved its initial target in less than four weeks and will close at almost twice that level.

Isis Innovation executive director Linda Naylor said: “In 2014, Isis Innovation oversaw a record £2.6m in proof-of-concept funding flow into over twenty new Oxford technologies and ventures. The first University of Oxford Isis Fund was a cornerstone of this achievement, and we already have a pipeline of promising technologies which will apply to this second Fund over the coming year.

“These Funds will again play a critical role in providing finance so new companies are properly resourced for the initial stages of commercial product development.”

The University of Oxford Isis Fund I invested in stroke-diagnostics specialist Brainomix which went on to raise £1.2m and won numerous awards and grants, Oxtex, the developer of a novel intelligent tissue expander, Salunda, the manufacturer of a contactless sensor for condition monitoring and automated sentiment analysis company TheySay.

Parkwalk Advisors’ Moray Wright said: “These Funds provide private investors, particularly University of Oxford alumni and friends, with quite a unique chance to invest in early stage technology companies as they spin-out of the University.

“And as these companies become successful, investors in the funds also stand to gain from the tax reliefs offered under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.”

Since 1987, Isis Innovation has been responsible for creating spin-out companies based on academic research from the University of Oxford. It has spun-out a new company every two months on average. Over £266 million in external investment has been raised by Isis spin-out companies since 2000, and five are currently listed on London’s AIM market.

Parkwalk is a UK technology-specialist EIS fund management firm. Parkwalk aims to launch the University of Oxford Isis Fund III in Q4 2015 or Q1 2016. For further details please contact the Parkwalk funds team on 020 7759 2285.

About Isis Innovation

Isis Innovation is the research and technology commercialisation company of the University of Oxford. We provide access to technology from Oxford researchers through intellectual property licensing, spin-out company formation and material sales, and to academic expertise through Oxford University Consulting.

Isis is the highest university patent filer in the UK and is ranked 1^st in the UK for university spin-outs, having created more than 100 new companies in 25 years. In the last financial year we completed 503 licenses and consulting agreements. Isis Enterprise, our innovation management consultancy, signed 85 deals with university, government and industrial clients from offices around the world.

Isis was named ‘Technology Transfer Unit of the Year 2014’ by Global University Venturing.

For updates on innovations from Oxford, follow Isis on LinkedIn and Twitter or subscribe at www.isis-innovation.com

About Parkwalk

Specialising in University spin-out companies, Parkwalk invests in innovative UK high-growth companies across various stages of their development: from growth, development and commercial capital through to acquisition finance. Investments range from early stage to AIM-listed. Parkwalk’s EIS Funds seek significant capital gains with the substantial benefits offered under the Enterprise Investment Scheme.

For updates from Parkwalk, please follow us on Twitter

Media enquiries to:

Renate Krelle
Media & Business Communications Manager, Isis Innovation Ltd
renate.krelle@isis.ox.ac.uk
T: 01865 280867

Posted on February 24, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Oxford, UoOIF II

FT: Parkwalk and the University of Oxford Isis Fund

How to invest in enterprise investment schemes – FT Money:

It is nearing the end of the tax year. You are a high earner who likes to invest in a tax-efficient manner and have stashed the maximum amount into an individual savings account (£15,000) and reached the tax-free annual pension allowance of £40,000…..

Read the full article by Adam Palin here (paywall / registration)

Posted on February 21, 2015

Fund Managers Comments

Parkwalk cleans up at EISA Awards

Parkwalk last night won the ‘Best EIS Investment Exit’ award and was recognised by the judges of the EISA awards in the ‘Best EIS Fund Manager’ category. The awards recognised an extremely strong 2014 for Parkwalk. Read the full press release below.

EISA AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Enterprise Investment Scheme Association’s annual awards recognise excellence in the EIS and Seed EIS industry
Friday 13th February 2015, London: Last night was the annual ‘EISA’ (Enterprise Investment Scheme Association) Awards Ceremony which saw the EIS and SEIS industry come together to celebrate another year of success. The winners, who were chosen by an influential panel of independent judges, were announced at the House of Lords as a highlight of the EISA Chairman’s Reception.

Mercia Fund Management won two awards last night, being named the Best SEIS Fund Manager/Sponsor, as well being named joint winners of the award for Best Innovation or Newcomer. This award was won jointly with Intelligent Partnership. Calculus Capital won the award for Best EIS Fund Manager of the year. Grant Thornton was named Best EIS/SEIS Tax Adviser and Bovill was awarded Best EIS/SEIS Legal or Regulatory Adviser. Parkwalk Advisors won the award for Best Investment Exit of the year, for the exit from Tracsis, a developer of resource optimisation services for the transportation sector.

The individual Rising Star award went to Simon Thorn from Acceleris, while Green Shoots, a new organisation for younger members in the EIS/SEIS industry, was highly commended.

The EISA Awards were judged against set criteria by an illustrious panel of judges: Martin Fox, Managing Director of Bulletin Marketing; Lee Moran, Chairman of the Investment Committee at Baigrie Davies; Lord Lee of Trafford; Justin King, former CEO of Sainsbury’s; and Sarah Wadham, Director General of the EIS Association.

Sarah Wadham, Director General of the EIS Association, said of the awards: “Last night was a great event for the whole EIS industry and it was wonderful to bring together so many talented individuals from the UK’s early-stage investment industry. We were enormously impressed by the high standard and number of entries for the Awards. I would like to congratulate all the winners and the highly commended entrants, and to thank the judges for their time and expertise.”

“The EISA Chairman’s Reception and the Awards are always a terrific start to the year for the EIS Association, and we’re really looking forward to seeing continuing development and growth of the EIS/SEIS industry over the coming year. EIS and SEIS investment continues to play a vital role in providing funding for start-up and early stage UK companies which contribute so strongly to the growth of the economy and the creation of jobs.”

Ends

About EISA

The EIS Association (“EISA”) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, the aim of which is to assist in the flow of capital and resource available to UK small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed EIS (SEIS).

The EIS Association, its founder members and board have been involved with the EIS since inception. The organisation dates back to 1994, and has an established history of dealing with tax effective investments in small to medium sized companies over a long period across various economic cycles.

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For media enquiries:
Emma Parrott, FieldHouse Associates
emma@fieldhouseassociates.com, +44 (0) 7988696059

Posted on February 13, 2015

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