The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, managed by AXM Venture Capital Limited, has agreed a £100,000 follow-on investment in Camiloo, an award-winning Manchester-based software developer for online retailers.
The investment will support the marketing and sales of Camiloo’s ChannelUnity, a software service product that allows traders of any size to integrate their existing online stores into multiple marketplace websites in minutes.
The platform asks traders to describe their categories and product details. It then creates product listings on marketplace websites around the world.
The Fund also introduced angel investor Clive Grummett to Camiloo. Grummett has a track record of establishing and growing successful IT businesses and has been appointed non-executive chair of Camiloo.
The deal follows the investment of £50,000 in Camiloo in June 2011 by The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, which is part of the £185m North West Fund financed by the European Regional Development Fund and The European Investment Bank.
Mark Newby, Camiloo managing director, said: “ChannelUnity has a number of unique innovations which update multi-channel eCommerce for the post-PC, connected world of 2012. It is all about making life easier for retailers who don’t have the time to spend weeks setting up software. We are delighted to have the continued support of the North West Fund for Digital and Creative to bring it to market.”
Joanne Evans, investment manager of AXM Venture Capital, added: “Camiloo has already successfully moved from one-time sales of software licences to a subscription model for software services. Our continued investment demonstrates our confidence in the future development of the company and will enable Camiloo to grow its team to support the ongoing roll out of services.”
Camiloo was recently crowned venture capital-backed start-up of the year at Techcelerate’s Northern Tech Awards. The business recently moved into East Manchester’s digital hub, The Sharp Project, to accommodate its expanding team.