London-based Wazoku has attracted angel investors including Octopus Capital chairman Matt Cooper and B&Q CEO Martyn Philips to back its growth ambitions.
Having launched in 2011 as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) idea management platform, it is now hoping to grow European operations and build a larger US presence.
The fundraising round represents a further £297,000 to close out its seed round to a total of £500,000.
Also joining Cooper and Philips as angel investors are Sean Phelan, founder of internet mapping site Multimap.com, Ian Temple, chairman at Hydrogen and the Cambridge Angels investment group. As part of the deal, Cambridge Angel John Yeomans is joining Wazoku as chairman.
Simon Hill and James King set up Wazoku as an idea and innovation management services firm supplying online tools and associated services to help businesses to capture, discuss, evaluate and prioritise ideas for business improvement.
Hill, managing director of the business, comments, ‘The seed funding from such prominent and powerful investors will reinforce our goal to be the most prominent European idea management firm and help to continue our rapid growth.
‘We are ideally positioned to bring our software to organisations in the UK and globally, the investment will propel both the product and sales forward significantly.’
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Wazoku’s Idea Spotlight platform has facilitated a number of launches in 2012 and early 2013 including its Idea Box for start-ups and teams up to 100 people and Wazoku Funnel, a platform for filtering ideas used by university students.
New backer and chairman Yeomans, says, ‘The potential for Wazoku with organisations of all sizes and industries is vast.
‘Idea management is typically used in sales and marketing or product development, but there is an enormous opportunity to apply it as a performance measurement tool too, for creativity and creative teamwork.’
Wazoku claims to be the only UK firm cited in a recent Gartner report entitled ‘Who’s Who In Innovation Management Technology’.
