Founded over ten years ago, Zeus has long cultivated a strong reputation for itself as a web technology developer and it is this standing that has enabled it to raise swathes of venture capital investment (to the value of more than £12 million) in the past. Despite the strength of its technology, however, the company’s products have often struggled to find a footing in the mass market, where lower-cost solutions have retained a competitive edge.

But the company’s new product, ZXTM has sparked a resurgence of interest. ‘In the old days, people had to plug in new devices to make their networks run faster, yet our technology is about adding intelligence to those systems,’ marketing director Steve Palmer enthuses.

Tod Bensen, chief executive of Cazenove Private Equity, certainly has faith in Zeus’ ability to deliver. ‘The company is poised to enter a period of rapid growth on the back of the ZXTM product line,’ he notes.

Moreover, Palmer believes the investment bank’s continued support (which began over three and half years ago) has been vital to his firm securing this latest round of funding. ‘It certainly helps that Cazenove has been with us for some time,’ he reasons. ‘They have been through the rough times and were instrumental in getting us through the process this time,’ helping to bring co-investor Scottish Equity Partners aboard too.

The £3 million raised will be used to overhaul Zeus’ sales and marketing structure. ‘Traditionally we’ve favoured a direct selling model but we are now looking to bring in a network of resellers,’ Palmer says.

For further information visit: www.zeus.com