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ONYX GROUP SECURES NORTH EAST TECHNOLOGY FUND INVESTMENT

A £250k North East Technology Fund loan is set to bolster Onyx Group’s unique cloud computing  offer, OnyxCloud.

Invested over a period of two years, Stockton-based Onyx was targeted with the funding opportunity by North East Technology Fund manager IP Group, which identified it as a mature regional business with strong growth prospects through a focus on emerging technologies.

The investment is being used to grow the national IT provider’s Cloud asset, increasing its capabilities, resilience and market presence in what is a very competitive marketplace. The funding underlines the success the company has achieved with OnyxCloud since its launch ten months ago.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is increasingly the solution of choice for businesses and is becoming even more popular in the current climate of budget cuts and cost savings.  Cloud computing in particular has transformed the way many businesses operate and communicate.  The Cloud offers a new way of computing via the internet, on demand from data centres that broadly shares computer resources instead of using software or storage on a local PC.

It reduces the need for capital expenditure on IT infrastructure and enables a ‘pay-as-you-go’ model with organizations paying for the services they want, when they want.  Employees can access information from anywhere at any time, allowing businesses to focus on organizational priorities instead of administrative tasks. 

Neil Stephenson, CEO of Onyx Group, explained: “A lot of IT providers have a Cloud offering, in fact it is common these days for technology firms like ourselves to provide such solutions. What differentiates us is that we offer a complete package - we can also provide access to the physical infrastructure that secures our customers’ data and protects their businesses.

“We welcomed the approach from the IP Group team who, as managers of the North East Technology Fund, will work with us to develop our offer. The whole process, from application to completion of the deal, has been very straight-forward. IP Group’s involvement is testament to the hard work of the Onyx team, who have been working tirelessly to develop a robust and resilient portfolio of services.“

Ian Wilson, Investment Manager at IP Group, said: “Onyx has been developing its Cloud capability for a number of years now and has strengthened every aspect of its offering, consolidating it and ensuring best practice across every element of its operation.

“With Onyx’s expertise, commercial acumen and such a compelling product, we are confident that we will get a good return from our investment into OnyxCloud and hope that other mature technology businesses will be encouraged to find out more about how we could help them too.”

To learn more about Onyx’s cloud computing service, visit www.onyx.net. For more information on the North East Technology Fund visit: www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com.

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For more information, please contact:

 
The North East Technology Fund www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com   
Sarah Hall, Managing Director, Sarah Hall Consulting Tel: +44 (0) 7702 162 704 / 0191 289 5834   
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications, IP Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7444 0062 / 07979 853 802 

About The North East Technology Fund

The North East Technology Fund is a £25m venture capital fund dedicated to investing in technology businesses with outstanding potential which are based in, or are willing to relocate to, the North East of England. The Fund is managed by IP Group plc and is backed by the European Investment Bank, ONE North East and European Regional Development Funds. It is able to co-invest with other institutional, private or corporate investors and at all stages of the business cycle from early stage to mature businesses. Its investment range is from £50,000 to £1.25m.

For more information, please visit www.thenortheasttechnologyfund.com.

About IP Group

IP Group is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company that specialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Group listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. It has made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialise university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University of Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to early stage technology venture capital funds, in 2004.
IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - the University of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, the University of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University of Bath and the University of Glasgow.
The Company's portfolio is diverse with exposure to five main sectors - Energy & Renewables, Medical Equipment & Supplies, Pharma & Biotech, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date, thirteen portfolio companies have listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been four trade sales.

For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.

About Finance for Business North East

Finance for Business North East is a £125m publicly-backed venture capital fund created by regional development agency One North East. It will support up to 850 small and medium-sized companies in North East England over the next five years, with the aim of creating more than 5,000 jobs.

The European Investment Bank is committing £62.5m into the fund, with £44.25m coming from the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 and £18.25m from One North East. North East Finance, based in Newcastle, manages the fund on a day-to-day basis.

A short summary about each fund can be found at www.onenortheast.co.uk/financeforbusinessnortheast where companies interested in accessing funding can register their details for contact by fund managers.

Finance for Business North East is part of the Government’s Solutions for Business portfolio of publicly funded help to companies to start, grow and succeed. Solutions for Business makes it easier for companies to get the advice and assistance that they need. More information on Solutions for Business can be found at www.businesslink.gov.uk/solutions.

About Onyx Group

Onyx Group is a national technology provider specialising in risk management - data security, business continuity - and managed services including cloud computing and outsourcing
Onyx has a number of assets based throughout the UK including three data centres (Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle) and three fully equipped work place recovery sites (Glasgow, Edinburgh and Gateshead). The multiple sites means Onyx is able to provide support nationally but remains accessible and customer centric by providing account liaison and support on ‘your doorstep’ from local offices.
www.onyx.net