The funding from PGE’s Panoramic Enterprise Capital Fund 1 (ECF1) will enable Concorde to launch a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) product next year. The product will be targeted at the data centre and cloud computing markets, and will expand the Reading-based company’s professional and managed services to markets worldwide.
Concorde has developed a SaaS product that delivers software compliance for its clients across multiple vendors, and also identifies opportunities for cost savings. It aims to provide a ‘complete solution’ for businesses to manage the contractual and financial issues associated with software licensing and vendor subscriptions.
Managing director Martin Prendergast and services director Phil Merson founded Concorde in 2007. Michael Jackson, chairman of the venture capital and investment company Elderstreet Investments, and GrowthBusiness blogger, is chairman of the business. Last year, the company turned over £1.8 million in revenue, which is up 140 per cent year-on-year.
Concorde’s customer base ranges from members of the Global Fortune 1000 as well as investment banks, mid-market companies, public sector organisations and charities. Clients have included Rexam, Plan International, Serco, Linklaters and Centrica.
According to a Gartner Group estimate, SaaS sales in 2010 have reached $10 billion worldwide, and are projected to increase to $12.1 billion this year. It estimates that SaaS revenue will reach $21.3 billion by 2015.
Venture capitalists Stephen Campbell, David Wilson and Malcolm Kpedekpo founded PGE in 2009. The fund is one of ten vehicles launched under the government’s Enterprise Capital Fund (ECF) scheme.
PGE remains the ECF’s largest fund and the only fund that has been awarded to a Scottish venture capital firm. It makes individual investments between £0.5 million and £2 million.
