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Maven Capital Partners leads investment in Horizon Technologies

Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led an investment round in Horizon Technologies (Horizon) for an undisclosed amount. 

The UK aerospace OEM is a specialist in airborne signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems. Additionally, the company’s business segment, Horizon Aerospace, is a leading developer of airborne Sat Phone monitoring systems for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications.

The transaction features a significant equity investment from Maven’s VCTs alongside a debt facility from Virgin Money. This round of financing will advance the anticipated late summer launch of Horizon’s space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) technology Amber™ data service.

The Amber platform uses a proprietary method of geolocation and fingerprinting of radio frequency signals to locate and track shipping vessels worldwide. This provides an end-to-end data services solution for defence companies and national government agencies to identify illegal maritime activity such as piracy, smuggling, illegal fishing, transhipments and terrorism – a market worth over USD20 billion and growing at 9 per cent per year. Amber also has significant commercial potential for shipping companies, insurers and financial institutions to track vessels and ensure regulatory compliance.

Luke Matthews, Investment Director at Maven Capital Partners, says: “Horizon has an established track record in the sector. It has proven its ability to deliver innovative signals intelligence systems for the defence and security market, which are being used by an impressive client base of commercial companies, government agencies and government-backed bodies. The development of its new space-based solution means that the business is well placed to capitalise on global trends that are increasing the demand for maritime domain awareness data. We are excited to work with Horizon on fulfilling its growth potential.”

John Beckner, CEO at Horizon Technologies, says: “Having the financial support and domain expertise of Maven will help us execute our vision of launching Horizon’s application-ready technology into space more rapidly and broadly. With the benefit of experience, perspective, and relationships of this leading tech investor, we can demonstrate the capabilities of an ultra-reliable MDA service. The market sector is just scratching the surface in terms of applications for space-based geospatial data and is poised for rapid growth. We are already engaged in discussion with potential users of these new services within the media, shipping, finance, and defence industries.” 
 

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