Strictly embargoed until: 07.00 on 16th May 2018
Draper Esprit plc
("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")
DRAPER ESPRIT LEADS $29.0 MILLION SERIES B FUNDING ROUND IN AIRCALL
Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today announces a £10.0 million ($14.0 million) investment in Aircall, a French cloud-based call centre software business.
The Draper Esprit-led Series B funding round brings the total funds raised by Aircall to $40.5 million to date. The new investment will be used by the company to accelerate the buildout of its cloud-based phone system, including seamless integrations into all the software tools used by modern businesses. It will also enable the business to invest in further senior hires in both the U.S. and Europe.
Aircall was founded in 2014 to create a platform that would make phone support easy to manage. It now offers instant phone numbers in over 40 countries, provides a collaborative phone app to let teams share and follow-up on calls and connects to any CRM or customer support tool.
Other investors in the round include Balderton Capital, NextWorld Capital and Newfund.
Simon Cook, CEO at Draper Esprit, commented:
"We look forward to partnering with the Aircall team to help the company grow and develop its transformative technology further. With over 3000 business customers worldwide, they have quickly established themselves as one of the fastest growing cloud-based phone systems in the market and we are very excited to be supporting Aircall on the next stage of its growth journey.
"Our investment in Aircall adds to Draper Esprit's significant momentum this year, with recent investments in Ledger and Revolut, along with new commitments to European seed funds Join Capital and Icebreaker.
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For further information, please contact:
Draper Esprit plc Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer) Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer) |
+44 (0)20 7931 8800 |
Numis Securities Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker Alex Ham Richard Thomas Jamie Loughborough |
+44 (0)20 7260 1000 |
Goodbody Stockbrokers ESM Adviser & Joint Broker Don Harrington Linda Hickey Charlotte Craigie Richard Tunney |
+353 1 667 0420 +44 (0)203 8416202 |
MHP Communications (PR) James White Vera Prokhorenko Pete Lambie |
+44 (0)20 3128 8570 |
About Draper Esprit
Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, helping to build and invest in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future, by partnering with the global Draper Venture Network with VC funds in 22 countries. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Draper Esprit's portfolio includes global technology leaders such as Trustpilot, Ledger, Perkbox, Revolut, and Graphcore. Recent successful exits include Grapeshot, Clavis, Tails, and Movidius.Visit www.draperesprit.com
