Private investor network London Business Angels has backed Gloople through its LBA EIS Approved RoundTable Syndicate Fund.
London-based Gloople has built an e-commerce platform aimed at the multi-channel retail market. It provides a single point access management system for customer points such as mobile devices and social media.
Gloople’s new cash reserve will be used to launch its software-as-a-service platform across the UK to an SME market which it says stands at 4.5 million.
The £150,000 Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) round is largely made up of a £130,000 investment from the syndicate of London Business Angel investors.
The first £300,000 LBA EIS RoundTable Fund 2010 was fully committed in January 2011, making four investments in a number of sectors including medtech, cleantech, mobile and nanotech.
The 2012 fund closed for subscriptions in April 2012, with £455,000 to invest in five to six early-stage companies in the following year.
Anthony Clarke, managing director of LBA, comments, ‘Gloople is a good example of how a potentially high-growth seed stage company led by an experienced and creditable entrepreneur can effectively close a first round of external funding under the SEIS scheme in only six weeks.
‘It is also notable that the lead LBA investor in this round will be now taking an active role in the company.’
LBA has now completed three SEIS investments since May 2012 and will shortly be launching its own SEIS Fund to co-invest alongside what it describes as its ‘more active angels’.
