EMC helps Academy Internet secure new funding

EMC Corporate Finance at Crawley has helped Brighton-based digital marketing and communications agency Academy Internet to secure new funding to support its rapid growth.

Academy Internet already ranks 34th in the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and 144th in the 2007 Deloitte Technology EMEA Fast 500 league tables. The new investment and working capital it has secured will allow it to expand further through a combination of organic growth and a series of planned acquisitions and mergers.

At the same time, the company has strengthened its boardroom with the appointment as Chairman of highly experienced IT and telecommunications executive Paul Whitwam.

EMC’s Terry Rainback, who has been advising Academy Internet, said: “The company has grown steadily over the past three years and is well placed to capitalise on the strong foundations that have been laid.

“CEO Jason Woodford and the AI team have a real depth of experience and the new funding will enable the company to pursue its growth and development plans with confidence as a key player within one of the UK’s most dynamic business sectors. EMC is delighted to have helped AI achieve this important step in its development and I look forward to helping them complete the exciting plans that have been developed for 2008.”

The investment campaign among private investors attracted international interest from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany as well as from within the UK. The company was able to complete a full funding package of over £500,000 with the aid of additional bank funding.

The bank funding element was provided by the company’s bankers, NatWest, via the DTI Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme.

AI’s CEO Jason Woodford said: “This funding provides confidence to AI’s customers, staff and other stakeholders that AI has the financial strength, as well as the ability, to take advantage of the opportunities that exist to build a powerhouse digital agency in the region.

“We have exciting plans for the development of AI over the next three years and I recognised that I would need a broader base of experience and resource to make them happen.

“Following interviews with several potential advisors, I began working with Terry in the summer of 2007 and we worked together to assemble my ideas into a comprehensive business plan that we used to raise the investment and bank funding. Having someone with you who knows their way around the corporate finance world has made an enormous difference and I know Terry’s experience will be invaluable as we implement our growth and development plans in 2008 and beyond.”

As part of the funding exercise, the company has appointed its first Chairman, Paul Whitwam. Paul has a long history in international IT services and telecommunications, with a broad professional experience in general management, mergers and acquisitions, services strategy and customer relationship management.

With its stronger financial base and management team in place, AI is well placed to consolidate its position as one of the UK’s fastest growing digital agencies.