Foresight Group has made a GBP1 million growth capital investment into Ajenta Limited, a provider of specialist video conferencing services to schools, colleges and universities and other public sector organisations. This is the fifth investment made by the GBP20 million Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, which is financed by the Scottish Growth Scheme through a combination of Scottish Government funds and the European Regional Development Fund.
Ajenta provides video collaboration software to education and public sector organisations with a focus on creating real-time environments that improve communications and enable a remote and dynamic learning and working culture. With organisations having to transition rapidly to remote structures and processes during the pandemic lockdown, Ajenta’s platform facilitates access from any browser, mobile device or room system in the simplest and most efficient way. The business was founded in 2013 by John Wilson and Gavin McKenzie who have each spent 20 years managing audio visual and enterprise software development, sales and deployment.
The Company specialises in connected classrooms, video telehealth and custom collaboration environments. Ajenta offers a range of software (Vscene) and hardware (V-Room) products, creating seamless collaboration between geographically distanced classrooms, learning spaces and meeting rooms. Ajenta is the only video collaboration platform on the JAnet network; the high-speed network for the UK education and research community as well as the SWAN public sector network in Scotland, connecting schools, local councils, health boards and government.
Foresight’s investment will help the company accelerate its growth by building the team, expanding the user base and further enhancing their software. Following completion of the investment Colin Rutherford has joined the Company as Chairman with Mark Sutherland appointed as a Non-Executive Director. Colin brings relevant sector experience as a director of Teachers Media International, a global provider of multi-media professional development and accredited training services. Mark founded G2G3, the employee engagement and business simulation software provider, which was acquired by Capita in 2013. Following the acquisition Mark progressed to CTO within Capita Plc.
John Wilson, CEO of Ajenta, says: “We are delighted to have such a strong partner as Foresight alongside us on the next part of our journey. Foresight has an excellent track record in supporting software and hardware businesses and is committed to seeing Scottish companies flourish and fulfil their potential.”
Graeme Mckinstry, Investment Manager at Foresight, adds: “We are delighted to support John, Gavin and the wider team at Ajenta as they target a significant market opportunity. Ajenta has built a best in class product which already has a strong reputation amongst education bodies and has grown quickly into other sectors. Their Vscene platform is backed up by excellent product and customer support. The business was already operating at scale before the onset of Covid-19 and has worked hard to support its customer base over the lockdown period as they have transitioned to a remote working environment.”
Foresight is one of the UK’s leading regional SME investors, with seven offices across the UK. The Group has extensive experience in technology and software services, with successful prior investments in both AppDNA (a software platform for application management) and Alaric (payments processing and fraud detection).
