Catapult Invests in Mobile Video Delivery Technology

The Birmingham office of Catapult Venture Managers has completed a £600,000 investment into Yospace Enterprises Limited (“Yospace”), an established mobile applications innovator and platform provider. 

This is Catapult’s fourteenth transaction of 2010 and its fourth new investment, and one that reinforces their commitment to technology innovators with market leading products being delivered into a growth market by a strong management team.

Ben Bolt, Investment Director for the £30m Catapult Growth Fund, who led the deal on behalf of Catapult, commented: “We are delighted to have backed the management team at Yospace who combine technical excellence and innovation with commercial flair and astute financial management.  Mobile advertising and, in particular, mobile video have long been the promised land but only now - with smart devices dominating the handset market and the availability of the delivery technology - is this growth set to be realised.”

Founded in 1999 and based in Staines, Yospace’s products enable digital publishers, mobile applications developers and mobile operators to rapidly and affordably deliver mobile video services.  Yospace has a strong track record of innovation within the mobile space and a growing blue chip customer base.

The investment will be used to accelerate the growth of yospaceCDS, a technology for delivering video to mobile devices, enabling publishers of online video to offer this same content within their mobile offerings.  With the internet and mobile world’s continuing to converge, yospaceCDS is at the forefront of a market set to grow rapidly, driven by publishers’ desire to monetise their content and the demand from consumers to consume rich content on an increasing variety of mobile platforms.

Tim Sewell, CEO, added: “In addition to our broadcast and publishing clients, over the last six months yospaceCDS has powered video delivery for some exciting reference sites linked to major sporting events including the FIFA World Cup, Wimbledon 2010 and the Indian Premier League. 

“The market opportunity is, however, extremely broad; from global publishers to niche application developers – anyone who wants to promote their video content to a mobile audience.  Yospace is ideally positioned to exploit growth opportunities in mobile video and establish itself as a genuine market leader in this exciting, developing sector. The investment from Catapult will help us achieve this potential, and we’re delighted to have secured a partnership with such a committed and supportive investor.”

Catapult were supported on the transaction by Adrian Cutler and Nick Dawson of Cobbetts in Birmingham (Legals) and Simon Jordan and Catherine Lister of Hurst Morrison Thomson in Henley on Thames (Financial DD).  The company was advised by Keystone Law.