A Cheshire company behind an airport management platform has plans to double its headcount after raising $12.6m.
The Series A funding round into Macclesfield-based AeroCloud was led by US fund Stage 2 Capital and supported by I2BF Global Ventures, Triple Point Ventures and Praetura Ventures.
Existing investors Playfair Capital and The Praetura and Haatch also took part through the Regional Angel Programme by the British Business Investments.
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The funding round means that AeroCloud has raised $16m in total.
The business has plans to double the team of 40 by the end of the year across its headquarters as well as its offices in London and Florida.
It also has a target of reaching more than 100 customers in 2023, adding to its deals with 42 airports across Europe and the US including Manchester Airport.
AeroCloud was co-founded by former professional racing driver George Richardson, who serves as its chief executive, chief technology officer Ian Forde-Smith and head of passenger processing solutions Paul Secker.
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George Richardson, co-founder and CEO of AeroCloud, said: "The airport industry has had a difficult few years, which has only increased the need for a scalable, intelligent platform like AeroCloud. Before we launched AeroCloud, airports were forced to use legacy technology that was difficult to scale and barely fit for purpose.
"Now, it takes only 24 hours for an airport to onboard onto our platform and within two weeks, it's already driving efficiency and operation gains. In fact, AeroCloud’s technology is so easy to use that it supports millions of operational decisions a day and doesn’t require anyone to be on-site.
"Raising capital in this market has been tough but I am delighted with the results owing to our strong growth and impressive team.
"It’s been an incredible few years building this business in the North West and I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds which I am sure will be very exciting for airports globally and our investors."
Liz Christo, partner at Stage 2 Capital, added: "In only a small time, AeroCloud has become the definitive operating software for small to medium-sized airports.
"Each module is so critical to running an airport’s operations that good enough is not an option, it has to be perfect. George and Ian have built an impressive team dedicated to delivering an amazing customer experience, and we can see that it’s working with airports across North America and Europe signing multi-year contracts and putting their confidence in AeroCloud.
"I’m excited to work with the team to accelerate their growth in the US and support George and Ian as they build a generational software company."
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David Foreman, managing partner at Praetura Ventures, said: "We’re very excited to be partnering with another highly promising North West business in AeroCloud, which has made tremendous progress over a short space of time.
"There is clearly a perfect mix of sector experience, a great founding team, a huge addressable market and the potential to achieve strong traction very quickly.
"Our partner who is responsible for tech, Andy Barrow, will also be working closely with AeroCloud and drawing on his technical knowledge and experience as ANS Group’s former CTO to help guide the team at this crucial growth stage."
Chris Smith, managing partner at Playfair Capital, added: "Since we first backed AeroCloud in 2020 the company has undergone tremendous growth, winning customers around the world and providing consistent value to transform airport operations for the better.
"It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with George and Ian and the team as they scale the company and we’re delighted to be continuing this journey with them."
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