Here we feature the latest equity and acquisition deals in Welsh business
Bridgend-based AI technology firm Clinithink has secured further equity backing from the Development Bank of Wales.
Having first supported Clinithink with an equity investment in 2012, the development bank has since made five follow-on investments with the latest funding round taking its total backing to £5m. Clinithink also has the backing of major specialist health funds in the US.
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Its technology is helping to improve patient care, relieve workloads for stretched clinicians and deliver significant savings to the NHS.
Its clinical natural language processing (CNLP) solution, CLiX, extracts valuable data from lengthy, unstructured patient notes. The patented technology uses market-leading AI technology to accurately ‘read’ and interpret up to two million clinical documents an hour generating invaluable insights in a fraction of the time it would take clinicians to review manually.
In doing so, Clinithink is helping to solve some of the most complex challenges in healthcare today. Its global clients include AstraZeneca, University of Utah, Mount Sinai, Premier Inc, and Northwell Health.
Marc Goldman, chief product officer of Clinithink said: “Clinithink is a tech company built around CLiX, the world’s first Healthcare AI capable of truly understanding unstructured medical notes.
“CLiX reveals important patterns and signals in large volumes of unstructured healthcare data that cannot be found manually. It frees up thousands of hours of clinician time, when rising workloads and staff shortages are placing health care professionals under greater pressure.
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“The Development Bank has backed the business from the very early days, supporting us through various fundraising rounds on the journey to becoming an established global health-tech brand. It’s an exciting time as we grow our team and expand our position in the US market with our platform being adopted by life science, healthcare and government organisations who want to use electronic medical data to improve patient care, clinical outcomes and resource allocation.
"We are also encouraged by the recent announcement that the 海角视频 Government is investing £3.4bn in digital initiatives to help improve NHS productivity.”
Andy Morris, senior investment executive with the Development Bank’s tech venture team. He said: “As a long-standing customer of the Development Bank with a clear purpose, we’ve worked with Clinithink over the last 11 years as one of their first investors to help them achieve their goal of providing healthcare decision-makers with better information to improve patient care.
"Our continued support, which now totals over £5 million, is helping the Clinithink team build a successful healthcare AI technology business that can change how the world manages patient care, by harnessing the power of healthcare data with proven AI technology. We’re delighted to be on the journey with them as they focus on the next stage of growth.”
Nutrivend
Nutrivend has expanded with the acquisition of sports nutrition products retailer CSN Formulations, which trades as CSN Supplements.
The value of the acquisition of the Cardiff-based company by Pontyclun-based Nutrivend has not been disclosed. Nutrivend, founded by former professional rugby player Scott Morgan, is one of the 海角视频’s leading sport nutrition providers. As well as vending machine sales and machine rentals, it also has a wholesale distribution offer and e-commerce platform.
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Mr Morgan, chief executive of Nutrivend, said: “We are incredibly excited about Nutrivend’s acquisition of CSN Supplements. This move enhances our solutions offering by incorporating CSN’s established e-commerce platform and extensive product range.
" It signifies a significant leap towards providing our customers with an unparalleled online shopping experience and access to a broader spectrum of premium nutritional supplements. This marks a pivotal moment for us as we merge our strengths to better support everyone’s health and fitness aspirations.”
Nutrivend said the merged entity will create new job opportunities and establish a Welsh brand as a leader in the 海角视频 market.
Marc Robinson, of CSN Supplements said: “By joining forces with Nutrivend, we can extend our reach, diversify our product offerings, and elevate our level of service. We are confident that this combined force will emerge as a major player in the Welsh sports nutrition market.”
Nutrivend has appeared on the Wales Fast Growth 50, which annually ranks the fastest-growing indigenous firms, five times.
On last year’s list it was ranked 30th having achieving a growth rate of 156.8% from 2020-22.
IQ Endoscopes
Medical devices firm IQ Endoscopes has plans for a multi-million-pound fund raising round as it moves closer to commercialisation.
The Chepstow-based firm, which in 2022 secured a £5.2m round backed by the BGF and the Development Bank of Wales, has created a single-use endoscopy device that has potential to revolutionise early diagnosis of a range of cancers and gastro-intestinal conditions.
The firm is now seeking further growth capital with a new equity investment round that could raise £5m to £8m. The business said the investment would support the creation of 100 new jobs over the next three years. The medtech firm, which currently employs 30, already has regulatory approvals in the US and 海角视频 with plans to bring its product to market early next year.
Its chief executive Matt Ginn said: “IQ Endoscopes has undergone rapid acceleration. Funds from our 2022 investment have enabled my team to focus on market access strategy ahead of product launch.
“We’re now pushing forward at speed to develop a device which will soon transform the way patients undergo vital treatments and procedures, as well as boosting the economy with up to 100 new jobs.
“To support this growth, we’re looking to raise further investment in the near future and as such, we’re keen to explore interest from further 海角视频 venture sources.”
Secretary of State for Wales and Conservative MP for Monmouth, David Davies, said: “IQ Endoscopes is an outstanding example of how a business can excel with the right support and investment, which has allowed the team to innovate, grow, create jobs and bring value to the community.”
“IQ Endoscopes is a fantastic company on the brink of an extraordinary achievement as they push the boundaries of medical technology, but these pioneers could not have turned their bold vision into reality without the backing of BGF and Development Bank of Wales.”
Dr Richard Thompson, senior investment executive at the Development Bank of Wales, said: “We’ve worked closely with IQ Endoscopes since our initial investment in 2020 attracted them to Wales. Having secured regulatory approval in the 海角视频 and US, they’re making significant progress.”
“The company is one of many that is helping to position Wales at the forefront of the health-tech sector and we’re proud to be playing a part in their global success story. We’re looking forward to the difference their technology can make to help patients and to reduce the NHS waiting times for endoscopy services.”
Moneypenny
Wrexham-based Moneypenny Group, a leading outsourced communication services provider, has further expanded its presence in the US with the acquisition of Sunshine Communication Services.
Sunshine is a provider of bilingual (English and Spanish) call management solutions to businesses of all sizes. The value of the acquisition for the Florida-based business, which was founded in 1975 by the Gross family, has not been disclosed.
The deal marks Moneypenny’s fourth acquisition in the US. It employs more than 1,000 people globally delivering virtual receptionist and phone answering services, live chat, switchboard, fully outsourced customer service teams and a host of AI and technology-enabled services. It handles more than 20 million calls and chats annually for thousands of businesses, from sole traders to multi-national corporations.
The company has ambitious growth plans and its latest acquisition will take its US operations to almost a third of the group turnover.
Joanna Swash, group chief executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sunshine Communication Services to Moneypenny Group. This is our fourth acquisition in the US following Alphapage in 2022. Sunshine Communication Services is a successful brand and its acquisition will further complement the services we can offer to our clients in the US. Our aim is to be the number one provider in the US for outsourced communications.”
Brothers Andrew Gross and Peter Gross, from Sunshine Communication Services, said: “We are excited about the opportunities this next phase presents for our business, and more importantly, for our team and customers. “From the moment we met Moneypenny, it was clear our companies have a great fit, not just with our products and services, but also more importantly, with our strong culture and ethos.
“Looking after our people and putting the needs of the customer front and centre are at the core of both of our companies.”
Veezu
The 海角视频’s biggest and fastest-growing private hire firm, Veezu, has further expanded with the acquisition of Aqua Cars in Portsmouth.
Aqua Cars will become part of Cardiff headquartered Veezu Group, alongside Bridge Cars in Gosport and Andi Cars in Havant. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Ronnie Leng, co-owner of Aqua Cars, said: “Joining forces with Veezu is a natural next step for us to further support our local community by improving the passenger experience. The implementation of new technologies will ensure a more reliable, safe, and easy service for passengers and will aid more than 600 drivers that we partner with across the region.”
Arnie Singh chief operations officer of Veezu, said: “We’re so pleased to welcome the whole Aqua team to
“As our first acquisition of 2024, following a number of successful acquisitions last year including Britannia Taxis in Merseyside, it highlights that our growth strategy continues. We’re thrilled to expand further south and develop our strong network of areas across the 海角视频.”
Since launching in 2013, Veezu, has made a string of acquisition. It remains track for further acquisitions and is seeking to raise additional finance to support its growth strategy.
Last year than more than 16,000 fully licensed Veezu driver-partners helped more than three million passengers complete an average of one ride every 1.5 seconds.
Veezu directly employs around 500 and is actively recruiting.