Foresight sells Idio for 2x return

The sale has made around 2x money for Foresight, with an IRR of roughly 25%. Foresight managed a total stake of 12.6% of the company, according to Foresight VCT's 2018 annual report.

Idio was a Foresight VCT and Nottingham Fund portfolio company. Foresight Nottingham closed on £39m in 2014 and is now fully deployed.

A spokesperson for Foresight told Unquote that a revenue multiple was used to value the company.

Since the firm's initial investment, the company has accelerated product development, and expanded its sales and marketing function, as well as its footprint in the US.

The acquisition is expected to enhance Episerver's analytics and personalisation capabilities. Insight Venture Partners acquired the company from Accel KKR in September 2018 in a deal valuing the company at $1.16bn.

Idio's management team will become shareholders in Episerver following the acquisition.

Previous funding
In 2013, Notion Capital provided a $2.35m round of growth capital.

Notion Capital led a $6.2m round in 2014. Further funding was provided by Hansa Capital, Juno Capital and Quayle Munro.

Foresight made its initial investment in 2016, acquiring an undisclosed stake in Idio with an investment of £1.7m.

Venture debt was initially provided by Boost. This debt was later refinanced with financing from Clydesdale Bank.

Since then, Forseight has supported the company through several follow-on investment rounds. In 2018, Foresight made a £100,000 investment.

Company
Idio uses real-time predictive analytics to automatically index, analyse and categorise unstructured data into a structured content hub for the retail sector. Founded in 2006, Idio is based in London and employs 40 people. 

People
Foresight – Rodney Appiah (director).
Episerver – Justin Anovick (chief product officer).
Idio – Edward Barrow, Andrew Davies (co-founders).

Advisers
Vendor – Osborne Clarke (legal); Canaccord Genuity (corporate finance).

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