Wednesday January 1st 2020

biotech developer - takeaway app

- outdoor advertising -

perfume house

Crescendo Biologics | easyFood | Wildstone £15.7m | Ormonde Jayne £5.1m

News about 4 UK growth companies and/or accelerators + turnover in the GRID marketplace 29th April – 5th May 2018:

CRESCENDO BIOLOGICS: biotech developer - Cambridge

Cambridge cancer team Crescendo Biologics wins £50m injection | Sabah Medding, The Sunday Times. April 29.

DZ profile:   Crescendo Biologics Limited

Business: biopharmaceutical developer has developed “humabodies” cancer drugs, which are a fraction of the size of antibodies and can be linked together in a “daisy chain” to fight tumours much faster than conventional antibodies. With fewer side effects the drugs have the potential to replace chemotherapy

Launched: 2007

Location: Cambridge

Staff: chief executive Peter Pack

Investment: latest $70m (£50.8m) funding round led by European fund ANDERA PARTNERS (previously Edmond de Rothschild Partners). Others included QUAN CAPITAL, and existing investors SOFINNOVA PARTNERS, IP GROUP, EMBL and TAKEDA.

News: has a partnership with TAKEDA, the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and Asia and a top 15 pharmaceutical company in the world (over 30,000 employees worldwide and $16.2bn revenues in 2012. Takeda is attempting to take over SHIRE plc (LSE listed, Main Market).

EASYFOOD: takeaway app - Birmingham

Sir Stelios orders a takeaway — to challenge Just Eat | Robert Watts, The Sunday Times, April 29.

DZ profile: Empowered Restaurants Ltd (t/a easyFood)

Business: charge restaurants and takeaways £100 a month or £195 for a premium service, which includes payments and data hardware - that allows them to change their menus and prices quickly - and helps them build their own websites and apps. Targeting DELIVEROO, UBER EATS and JUST EAT (£5bn business; charges 14% commission). Two hundred takeaways and restaurants have signed up for a soft launch in Birmingham last Thursday, with 800 more are forecasted to come on board soon.

Launched: 2006

Location: Birmingham

Founders: Gurpreet Sidhu, 38 and Jeewan Sagu, 36.

Investment: Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, EASYJET founder paid a six- figure sum for one-third of the business. He met the founders after sending a “cease and desist” letter about use of the “easy” name. He and his family own 33% of easyJet and the easyGroup controls nearly 24% of easyHotel. easyGroup licencees include include easyCoffee, easyCar, easyTennis and easyDogwalker.

News:

1. The market has 2 models:

·       “new delivery” services – i.e. DELIVEROO and UBER EATS - which take orders through their websites, often for higher-end restaurants, and transport them by car, scooter or bicycle for up to 30% commission. Deliveroo operates in 100+ towns and cities, for 8,000+ restaurants and is planning a £1.4bn float in 2019. Uber Eats, part of Uber, has customers in 40+ UK locations and 300+ world-wide.

·       “aggregator” services – i.e. JUST EAT and subsidiary HUNGRYHOUSE - takes orders for takeaways that do their own deliveries. Just Eat services more than 20,000 UK outlets.

2. The founders built the consumer-facing front end of their websites and the back end, including the online payment platform.  

3. Brokerage is a potential revenue stream – taking wholesaler and supplier commission for channelling ingredients and other goods to restaurants.

WILDSTONE: outdoor advertising - London

Show us a sign and we’ll make it worth your while | Liam Kelly, The Sunday Times. April 29

DZ profile: Wildstone Capital Limited (t/a Wildstone)

Business: outdoor advertising business which buys land for billboards and gives advice on ad space to clients that include British Land, local councils, airports and corner shops. The business began as a consultancy and has helped more than 30 councils to earn £120m through advertising on their properties. Wildstone has four divisions: consultancy, specialist construction business, planning practice and an investment fund - a joint venture with US company LANDMARK DIVIDEND - which generates most of the income and buys leases on billboard sites across Europe.

Launched: 2010

Location: HQ in Hammersmith, west London, and in Germany, France, Ireland and Spain.

Founders: Damian Cox, 43, Chief executive, and Patrick Fisher, 37, who met at OCEAN OUTDOOR, an advertising business, where Cox hired Fisher to be a developer.

Staff: 55

Financials: turnover £15.7m and pre-tax profit of £1.8m in the year to October. Forecast to more than double turnover this year.

Investment: Cox and Fisher each own 25%. 30% held by investors that put in £1.1m. 20% held by management.

ORMONDE JAYNE: perfume house - London

Sweet smell of success for boss of perfumes firm Ormonde Jayne | Joanna Bourke The Evening Standard, 30 April

DZ profile: Ormonde Jayne Limited

Business: luxury fragrance and candles business. £110 bottles of perfume Manufactures goods near Regent’s Park. Clients include actresses Goldie Hawn and Emma Thompson. Bond Street store opened in 2001 and has a mini lab in the basement where “made-to-measure” perfumes can be created, allowing shoppers to add higher oil strengths.The candles are also stocked by UK retailers including HARRODS.

Launched: 2000

Location: Mayfair, London

Founder: Linda Pilkington, 47

Financials: Sales forecasted to rise 20% to £5.1m this year

Investment: 100% owned by Pilkington and her husband

News: Planning US expansion with a deal to be stocked in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Has concessions in the Far East.